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Sony's been on a roll this year with home theater product releases, expanding its Bravia line with individual devices that let you build a modular system at your own pace. Sony's modular Bravia lineup is more comprehensive than that of Bose, Sonos, Denon, and Samsung, and at the top of the hierarchy lies the Bravia Bar 9, Theater Quad, and the new Trio.
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I previewed the Bravia Theater Trio in April before its official release, and now I've had the opportunity to set one up in my house and see how it stacks up against the industry's best -- including Sony's other products. If you can overlook the Trio's staggering $2,200 price tag, here's what else you should know about it.
Design matters
Like the Theater Quad, the Bravia Trio is a uniquely packaged home theater system that offers greater performance, convenience, and flexibility than standard soundbars for people who still want a high-end experience. Instead of speakers you place around the room, the Bravia Trio includes three front-facing speakers to be placed directly in front of and on both sides of your TV, which can be mounted or placed flat on an entertainment stand.
Each left and right speaker includes one upfiring speaker for upward sound reflection, and a two-way woofer and tweeter for low and high frequencies. The center channel features rectangular speaker units, which Sony says maximize diaphragm area, maintain sound pressure, limit distortion, and clarify dialogue. With all three speakers, you get a 3.0.2-channel configuration.
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The center channel also features two-way drivers with two woofers and one tweeter. The result is an incredibly powerful sound profile, with exceptional clarity, immersion, and cinema-level dynamism. Though all three speakers in the Trio are front-facing, Sony's proprietary technologies make purchasing surround speakers unnecessary for those with the right room dimensions.
With its large sound presence (and price tag to match), the Trio makes a great high-end home theater for larger rooms and TVs. The center channel should be centered with respect to your TV, but you do have some wiggle room with the left and right speakers. If your space doesn't allow for even placement on either side of your TV, you can place them asymmetrically and let Sony's calibration technologies compensate for the uneven distances. You'll still need to keep them forward-facing.
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