Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 vs Sonos Beam Gen 2: which of these mid-range soundbars delivers the goods?

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) has been fending off pretenders to its mid-range soundbar crown for four years now, and the latest challenger comes in the form of the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6.

Often similarly priced, but with some key differences that set them apart from each other, both of these soundbars have probably cropped up during your research if you’re in the market for a Dolby Atmos soundbar to upgrade your TV’s sound.

So, which one should you buy? We've reviewed both models and tested them side by side. Below, we’ve compared the two based on their price, design, features, and performance, so you can be completely sure which one suits your needs best.

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Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 vs Sonos Beam Gen 2: price

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is officially priced at £449 / $499 / AU$799, but unless you’re in a real hurry to own one and money is no object, you shouldn’t need to spend that much on one.

Discounts come along fairly frequently, and in the UK, we’ve seen it drop to £400 or lower on a pretty regular basis. It’s even fallen as low as £300 before, but that’s fairly rare.

The Sony Theatre Bar 6 only made its debut this year, so discounts are less likely than on the four-year-old Sonos. Most places are still asking for £499 / $650 / AU$899 for the system.

Given the fact that its RRP is cheaper, and it’s often available with a meaningful discount that makes it even more affordable, we’ll have to give this round to the Sonos.

**Winner: Sonos Beam Gen 2**

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 vs Sonos Beam Gen 2: design

There’s only so much you can do design-wise with something that’s essentially just an elongated rectangle, but there are fundamental differences between these two products.

The most obvious is that the Sony Theatre Bar 6 comes with a separate subwoofer, which means you need more than just a thin sliver of space underneath your TV to accommodate it, but the main unit itself is also a full 30cm wider than the Beam.

In terms of depth and height, though, they’re much of a muchness, and despite that extra width, the Sony only weighs 300g more.

So, how much space do you need for that sub? It’s wireless, so it’s about as flexible as you can get in terms of placement, but with dimensions of 39 x 39 x 21cm, it’ll still take up a fair chunk of floor space.

The top of the Sonos is home to some touch-sensitive controls, and that’s it, whereas the Sony has a couple of upward-firing drivers and no buttons at all, although it does come with a basic but functional remote.

Neither of the soundbars has a display, but most of your interaction with both is more likely to go through their respective companion apps anyway.

This is more of a practical decision than an aesthetic one, which will depend entirely on your particular setup and circumstances, so we’re going to call this round a draw.

**Winner: Draw**

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 vs Sonos Beam Gen 2: features

As briefly touched on above, both of these soundbars support Dolby Atmos, but they go about it in different ways. The Sony has those two upward-firing drivers on top, whereas the Sonos uses clever processing to create virtual height channels. More on both approaches later.

Elsewhere, the Beam is clearly the more feature-packed of the two. Whether it’s the Trueplay calibration system, which tunes the soundbar to the specific sonic signature of your room; the built-in voice control; or the fact that its wi-fi connection allows you to incorporate it into a multiroom music system, the Beam is an all-round speaker system.

The Sony Theatre Bar 6 is also easy to set up using the Bravia Connect app, but you will need to manually input a few distances, such as how far it is between the soundbar and the ceiling, if you want to hear it at its best.

If you own a recent Sony TV, some of the Theatre Bar’s settings can be controlled through the TV’s menus, but the app is probably a more intuitive way to do things.

Sonos made headlines for all the wrong reasons last year when it launched a new version of its app that introduced all kinds of issues, but those largely seem to be fixed now.

For a lot of people, once setup is complete, you’ll have little reason to reach for the app again anyway.

The Theatre Bar is also slightly lacking when it comes to ways of playing music through it.

While the Beam has support for the likes of AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, plus more or less every other music streaming service via the Sonos app, you’ll have to make do with Bluetooth on the Sony, which feels a little old-fashioned in comparison.

**Winner: Sonos Beam Gen 2**

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 vs Sonos Beam Gen 2: sound

With its 3.1.2-channel configuration, the Sony has a more ‘traditional’ setup than the Beam’s quintet of front-facing drivers, and the impact that makes on the performance is obvious.

The Theatre Bar 6 is capable of filling a moderately sized living room in a way that the Sonos can only dream of, and the Atmos effect is much more pronounced, particularly with the way it places sounds directly above you.

It has no trouble making your sofa shake when a scene calls for it, although unless you turn the subwoofer volume down, it’ll also do it when it doesn’t. We’ve got no qualms with its heft, then, but it struggles with anything more subtle.

Things are better when it comes to dialogue, retaining plenty of emotion in the actors’ voices, although during quieter moments they can take on a slightly synthetic quality. Turning the Sound Field setting off seems to solve this, but doing so downgrades the Atmos presentation, so you have to weigh up whether what you’re watching will make it worth what you’ll lose in spectacle.

In contrast, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 might not be able to compete in terms of sheer scale, but it’s more balanced overall.

As our five-star review points out, the Beam delivers a rich, refined sound with plenty of nuance and dynamic range.

In a direct comparison with the Sony, there’s more detail and definition from the Sonos, with crisper, more sparkly treble.

It’s also more precise when it comes to positioning effects within the soundstage, even if genuine overhead sounds are beyond it due to that lack of upward-firing drivers; the technology just isn’t capable of faking that convincingly yet.

That’s not to say the Atmos performance isn’t impressive. It still provides tangible motion, depth and space, but if it’s height you want, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

When it comes to playing music, the Sonos is streets ahead of the Sony. The Beam sounds clear, punchy and rhythmic, while the Theatre Bar is lacking in warmth and roundedness. Unsurprisingly, its bass performance is also a bit woolly and overenthusiastic.

If you value sofa-shaking explosions over subtlety, then you might prefer the Sony Theatre Bar 6, but for everybody else, this one’s a no-brainer.

**Winner: Sonos Beam Gen 2**

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 vs Sonos Beam Gen 2: verdict

There might not be much difference in price between these two soundbars, but when you pit them against one another, it’s clear that they’re actually quite different propositions. And while the Sonos triumphs in almost every category, it's perhaps not quite the clean sweep that it would first appear.

In almost every instance, we’d recommend the Sonos Beam Gen 2 as the best, most cost-effective way to improve the sound of your TV, even if its Atmos performance is perhaps a little lacking from a height perspective.

Where the Sony Theatre Bar 6 stands out is when it comes to filling a space. The subwoofer might need reining in a little to prevent it overpowering the rest of the frequency range, but if it’s a big, bombastic performance you’re after, the Sony certainly delivers.

**Overall winner: Sonos Beam Gen 2**

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