To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
It takes a lot to impress John Archer. The man who reckons he’s “reviewed more home entertainment products than anyone working in AV journalism today” has tested many soundbars for us and has only awarded a handful of coveted Best Buy badges. So, when there’s a Prime Day soundbar deal on a model he drooled over, it’s worth taking note.
The model in question is the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9, which John had no hesitation in putting “right up there among the standalone soundbar gods”. The deal in question sees its price fall to £899, a full £500 cheaper than it was when Mr Archer wrote his review.
Before you get too carried away, let me put that price in context. Retailers rarely sell this soundbar at its RRP of £1,399, and Amazon offered it for £899 for two months after Black Friday last year.
Despite Amazon not breaking any records here, this is still a very attractive price for a phenomenal soundbar that rival retailers like John Lewis and Currys are selling for £999. You’ll need an Amazon Prime membership to lock in the discount; if you haven’t signed up yet, make sure you take advantage of Amazon’s 30-day free trial.
Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 Prime Day soundbar deal: Supreme sound in a svelte standalone package
So, what makes the Bravia Theatre Bar 9 so great? Its primary appeal – as you’d hope – is sound quality. The bar houses 13 drivers that combine to create a 7.0.2-channel output that handles immersive spatial soundtracks excellently. It supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, covering you for both spatial formats — something even expensive soundbars like this one don’t always offer.
It sounds bigger than its predecessor, filling your living space more ably and creating a broad, convincing soundstage within which it places effects. It’s incredibly precise when placing even the subtlest of audio cues, and the balance with which sounds across the frequency spectrum are articulated is top-notch.
Height effects – so crucial to an immersive experience – are clear and contribute to an “intimate, three-dimensional wall of sound” that elevates any TV show or movie soundtrack you happen to be watching.
The absence of a dedicated low-frequency channel is barely noticeable, with John Archer commenting that “the Bar 9 pumps out deeper, richer, more distortion-free low-frequency sound than I’d honestly thought possible from such a compact, speaker-packed device.”
The compact nature of the Bravia Theatre Bar 9 is another of its big draws. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a small soundbar by any means, but it’s 40% smaller than the HT-A7000 that came before it, and it doesn’t stand out too obviously beneath a reasonably sized television. Nor is it likely to obscure the bottom of your TV panel.
An additional HDMI input would have been nice, but the single HDMI port you do get supports 4K at 120Hz, which is a big boon for gamers. The Bravia Theatre Bar 9 also includes an “S-Center” output, which lets you connect it to a compatible Sony TV and have that handle centre-channel duties.
Unmissable TV deals and more elsewhere on the site
The Sony Bravia 7 and Sony Bravia 9 Mini LED TVs are two such Sony televisions, and both are also on offer for Prime Day. The 55in Bravia 7 is available for £1,099 (down from an average 180-day price of £1,378), while the 65in Bravia 9 costs £1,979 (down from £2,187).
So, if you’re really looking to elevate your home entertainment experience, you could buy the Bravia Theatre Bar 9 with one of those and never want to leave your house again.
Time is running out to access these deals, though. Prime Day ends at 11.59pm this evening (Friday, 26 June), and I expect prices to rise again sharply after that. That leaves you just over 12 hours to fill your boots with Prime Day bargains.
We’ve rounded up the best deals on home and tech products in our Prime Day hub and have bespoke lists of the best offers in the coffee machine, TV, laptop and smartphone categories.
