Adventures in AV: Sony’s latest Dolby Atmos soundbar system makes it obvious what so many rival soundbars are missing

So far this year, we have had a range of soundbars passing through our test room. From the cheap and cheerful Majority Bowfell Halo Atmos system to the meaty LG Sound Suite package, and everything in between.

The most recent competitor to come through our door is the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 7 + S, a Dolby Atmos soundbar and subwoofer. You can also get the soundbar on its own, for £699 / $870, but when you add the Bravia Theatre Sub 7 into the mix, the price goes up to £799 / $1100.

The system offers a 5.1.2-channel configuration. Under the hood of the main bar, you will find 9 drive units, split between side, centre, up-firing and bass channels. As the up-firing drivers indicate, the Bravia Theatre Bar 7 supports 3D Audio, in both the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats. Inside the subwoofer there is a 13cm driver with a total power output of 100W.

When we put the soundbar package through its paces in our dedicated test room, we were blown away by its punchy, balanced sound, which delivers a huge improvement on the majority of TV speakers.

Voices are much clearer, cleaner and more expressive from the soundbar. Watching Top Gun: Maverick, as Tom Cruise's protagonist delivers a speech to his new pilot cohort, the balance between dynamic subtlety and clarity is well navigated.

Later in the film as Maverick attempts to reach hypersonic speed in a jet, the Sony bar delivers height effects above the TV screen as the vehicle soars into the atmosphere with an excellent level of precision, by soundbar standards.

On top of that, the agile bass gives action scenes an extra punch, but never dominates the rest of the frequencies.

However, when we remove the Bravia Theatre Sub 7 from the mix, it's a different story.

As we say in our review: "While it still delivers clear vocals and convincing height effects, the sound is thinner and lacking the sense of scale and authority that we get when the subwoofer is added."

To put it simply, the soundbar on its own no longer sounded quite worth the price. The sub and soundbar feel like they are tuned to work together, which is why we dubbed the overall system a "match made in heaven" in our review.

We must admit that we were not expecting this dramatic of a difference considering the size and cost of the subwoofer.

Let's not forget that subwoofers, especially on the more affordable side of the market, are hard to get right and can often be the weakest link in a system.

This means that many of the soundbars without subwoofers that come through our test room often fall short on bass, so Sony offering a bundle at a reasonable price that directly addresses this issue is certainly a promising step.

And this has certainly got me thinking: should more manufacturers be adding cheap, compact subwoofers to take their soundbar system's performance to the next level? On this evidence, I really think so.

MORE:

Here is our full review of the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 7 + S

Check out the best Sony soundbars

And these are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars