u/lordrevanator

With the latest sale, I bought the Sony Trio + Rear 9’s + Sub 9 and the Sony Quads. 

Coming from a Sonos Immersive Ultra Set with the Era 300’s (traded the set for Custom Built PC (5080/98003xd with 64RAM G Skill Trident/6TBSSD - felt like I made out nicely). Wanted something that felt more like an AVR Surround type -  I just lack the ideal spacing for it so need something wireless that can get as close as possible. 

Have had both for a week. Thought I’d share my experience and see what others experienced. I have 60 days to return one of them. 

Pricing I got 
Quads Open Box Excellent $1520 + $599 Sub 9 - $2120 pretax

Sony Trio $1599 + $599 Sub 9 + $550 Rear 9’s - all new - $2750 pretax 

I figure I’d get the 4 year warranty on the Quads if I end up keeping those for 215

Tested both with 

4K Blu-Rays
Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, Mad Max Fury Road, HEAT, Ready Player One, 2001, Inception 

Netflix Streaming - Unbroken, 1917 

Apple Library - Mission Impossible Fallout, No Time to Die, F1, Top Gun 1 + 2

HBO Streaming - Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings 

Streaming World Cup Games 

Gaming on ps5

Tv is A95L

Impressions 

Sony Quads + Sub 9  AND Sony Trio and Rear 9’s and Sub 9

I lack the knowledge to properly explain the nuances here but I’ll try my best. The first few days, I used the phantom center - which is impressive. Now having a center channel was a bit jarring at first compared to the Arc Ultra - but it somehow manages to work. There is a space bubble immersion quality to all - like you are inside the sound. I adapted to it after a few days and the Quads do a pretty magical job of just making sound appear in places where their aren’t any speakers - the throwing of sound if you will just manages to create a level of immersion that wasn’t there with the Sonos. But there were times I did miss the dedicated center when I use the Phantom version.

I hooked up the Acoustic Center Sync to the Sony TV and it took some tinkering but it definitely balances the missing center channel out - and i felt myself preferring the ACS option to the phantom center. The front 2 speakers do a good job at blending the sound with the TV - and it never feels like the system over powers the TV which is what I thought would happen. Even when I watched the Sopranos - it sounded damn good. 

I toyed with the 360 sound the default option comes with and the DSV. I stuck with the 360 option. I also turned on the Auto Volume Option on since the system initially felt a little quiet and that seemed to make the speakers pop a little more. I set the Sub to -2 and the rears to +2. I haven’t really changed any other settings. I have read what others do but so far the 360 option seems to be working for me.

The Sony Trio System feels like a mini AVR. I didn’t change too many options as there isn’t much to customize which is disappointing. The Front Stage Sound really reminded me of Sonos if it had a 3 speaker front - it’s hyper clear and loud and does a great job at separating sound without too much bleed in. A core difference tho is I felt the Trio’s volume needed to be pumped up to at least 10+ difference
In some situations compared to the Quads when streaming. I toyed with DSV and the 360 sound and the DSV seemed to make the subwoofer 50% louder during the same scenes. When I was watching some of the Nolan movies like Dunkirk or inception, I didn’t notice too much of a difference outside of the sub being much more loud in the same scenes when I use DSV.

During the Ready Player One Race Sequence, the best way to really describe the quads is as if you are in the sound. The separation as the Gorilla chases after them is really good but some of the details are a little muddy and less precise compared to the Trio’s setup - where you really get a sense of him stomping around the entire scene - the isolation is anchored to the 5 speakers and its more noticable when mapping his path on the screen - the Trio gives you pretty distinct separation and the Quads make it feel more immersive. I also have the Quads much wider in the Rear’s than the Sony’s. The Trio’s are on the wall behind the couch (not too much clearance only a few feet) - where as the Quads are to the left and right of the couch. If I had to guess the distance between the rear quads, I’d say right around 12 feet. The front quads are probably around 10 feet and distance.

It’s a similar experience in Mad Max Fury Road. It’s a wave of sound vs complete channel separation and vocal presence. When Furiosa is initially escaping Immoratan Joe, the Trio is awesome - it’s front stage heavy but man the booming voices here really stand out - and when the rig gets chased - it feels like a solid 5.1 setup. The biggest difference between the 2 is the front stage - Having the Sonos Immersive Set for a year - its easy to think this is what the Sonos could have been if they have 3 separate front speakers. The Quads drown you in sound - it’s like everything is everywhere. I had the ACS on here too - which makes up a lot of ground to the trio compared to the phantom center - but where the Trio is front stage heavy and I think handles the details much better the Quads feel more immersive with the wind sounds or the ghost whispers. 

For gaming, I liked the Quads better. I played the Last of Us Part 2 & Red Dead Redemption 2. I liked the immersion much better on the Quads during gameplay but the Trio handled the cutscenes better even with the ACS on the Quads. The forest segment in TLOU2 on the quads are freaking awesome. I mainly game with a headset but the quads are pretty fun for gaming. 

For the World Cup games - I tended to use the Trio - but the Quads are good and the crowd noise is 1000000% better on the Quads - happened to be watching the Mexico game in the first knockout stage and when they scored and it felt surreal . 

The one weird thing on the Trio tho, is at times, it felt like the center channel was no different than the Quads ACS. But this was rare - This happened during the opening of Unbroken streaming on Netflix and during some segments of Saving Private Ryan. No clue if it was the sound mix or what as I had read this was a common issue - for the most part I didn’t have any issue with the Trio center. It’s loud and clear and having the Arc Ultra for a year, i kept comparing it to that as far as dialogue clarity. 

I’m leaning towards keeping the Quads since I’d save a bit of money even with the 4 year warranty - 2100 for the quads and Sub feels solid. With the ACS as a center it brings much better clarity to the dialogue-  but the more I use the Trio, the more I’m appreciating the precise separation. We’ll see in a few more weeks - but you can’t go wrong with either one of these systems. I’d have been fine had I just bought one and not been a mad man. 

With the latest sale, I bought the Sony Trio + Rear 9’s + Sub 9 and the Sony Quads. 

Coming from a Sonos Immersive Ultra Set with the Era 300’s (traded the set for Custom Built PC (5080/98003xd with 64RAM G Skill Trident/6TBSSD - felt like I made out nicely). Wanted something that felt more like an AVR Surround type -  I just lack the ideal spacing for it so need something wireless that can get as close as possible. 

Have had both for a week. Thought I’d share my experience and see what others experienced. I have 60 days to return one of them. 

Pricing I got 
Quads Open Box Excellent $1520 + $599 Sub 9 - $2120 pretax

Sony Trio $1599 + $599 Sub 9 + $550 Rear 9’s - all new - $2750 pretax 

I figure I’d get the 4 year warranty on the Quads if I end up keeping those for 215

Tested both with 

4K Blu-Rays
Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, Mad Max Fury Road, HEAT, Ready Player One, 2001, Inception 

Netflix Streaming - Unbroken, 1917 

Apple Library - Mission Impossible Fallout, No Time to Die, F1, Top Gun 1 + 2

HBO Streaming - Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings 

Streaming World Cup Games 

Gaming on ps5

Tv is A95L

Impressions 

Sony Quads + Sub 9  AND Sony Trio and Rear 9’s and Sub 9

I lack the knowledge to properly explain the nuances here but I’ll try my best. The first few days, I used the phantom center - which is impressive. Now having a center channel was a bit jarring at first compared to the Arc Ultra - but it somehow manages to work. There is a space bubble immersion quality to all - like you are inside the sound. I adapted to it after a few days and the Quads do a pretty magical job of just making sound appear in places where their aren’t any speakers - the throwing of sound if you will just manages to create a level of immersion that wasn’t there with the Sonos. But there were times I did miss the dedicated center when I use the Phantom version.

I hooked up the Acoustic Center Sync to the Sony TV and it took some tinkering but it definitely balances the missing center channel out - and i felt myself preferring the ACS option to the phantom center. The front 2 speakers do a good job at blending the sound with the TV - and it never feels like the system over powers the TV which is what I thought would happen. Even when I watched the Sopranos - it sounded damn good. 

I toyed with the 360 sound the default option comes with and the DSV. I stuck with the 360 option. I also turned on the Auto Volume Option on since the system initially felt a little quiet and that seemed to make the speakers pop a little more. I set the Sub to -2 and the rears to +2. I haven’t really changed any other settings. I have read what others do but so far the 360 option seems to be working for me.

The Sony Trio System feels like a mini AVR. I didn’t change too many options as there isn’t much to customize which is disappointing. The Front Stage Sound really reminded me of Sonos if it had a 3 speaker front - it’s hyper clear and loud and does a great job at separating sound without too much bleed in. A core difference tho is I felt the Trio’s volume needed to be pumped up to at least 10+ difference
In some situations compared to the Quads when streaming. I toyed with DSV and the 360 sound and the DSV seemed to make the subwoofer 50% louder during the same scenes. When I was watching some of the Nolan movies like Dunkirk or inception, I didn’t notice too much of a difference outside of the sub being much more loud in the same scenes when I use DSV.

During the Ready Player One Race Sequence, the best way to really describe the quads is as if you are in the sound. The separation as the Gorilla chases after them is really good but some of the details are a little muddy and less precise compared to the Trio’s setup - where you really get a sense of him stomping around the entire scene - the isolation is anchored to the 5 speakers and its more noticable when mapping his path on the screen - the Trio gives you pretty distinct separation and the Quads make it feel more immersive. I also have the Quads much wider in the Rear’s than the Sony’s. The Trio’s are on the wall behind the couch (not too much clearance only a few feet) - where as the Quads are to the left and right of the couch. If I had to guess the distance between the rear quads, I’d say right around 12 feet. The front quads are probably around 10 feet and distance.

It’s a similar experience in Mad Max Fury Road. It’s a wave of sound vs complete channel separation and vocal presence. When Furiosa is initially escaping Immoratan Joe, the Trio is awesome - it’s front stage heavy but man the booming voices here really stand out - and when the rig gets chased - it feels like a solid 5.1 setup. The biggest difference between the 2 is the front stage - Having the Sonos Immersive Set for a year - its easy to think this is what the Sonos could have been if they have 3 separate front speakers. The Quads drown you in sound - it’s like everything is everywhere. I had the ACS on here too - which makes up a lot of ground to the trio compared to the phantom center - but where the Trio is front stage heavy and I think handles the details much better the Quads feel more immersive with the wind sounds or the ghost whispers. 

For gaming, I liked the Quads better. I played the Last of Us Part 2 & Red Dead Redemption 2. I liked the immersion much better on the Quads during gameplay but the Trio handled the cutscenes better even with the ACS on the Quads. The forest segment in TLOU2 on the quads are freaking awesome. I mainly game with a headset but the quads are pretty fun for gaming. 

For the World Cup games - I tended to use the Trio - but the Quads are good and the crowd noise is 1000000% better on the Quads - happened to be watching the Mexico game in the first knockout stage and when they scored and it felt surreal . 

The one weird thing on the Trio tho, is at times, it felt like the center channel was no different than the Quads ACS. But this was rare - This happened during the opening of Unbroken streaming on Netflix and during some segments of Saving Private Ryan. No clue if it was the sound mix or what as I had read this was a common issue - for the most part I didn’t have any issue with the Trio center. It’s loud and clear and having the Arc Ultra for a year, i kept comparing it to that as far as dialogue clarity. 

I’m leaning towards keeping the Quads since I’d save a bit of money even with the 4 year warranty - 2100 for the quads and Sub feels solid. With the ACS as a center it brings much better clarity to the dialogue-  but the more I use the Trio, the more I’m appreciating the precise separation. We’ll see in a few more weeks - but you can’t go wrong with either one of these systems. I’d have been fine had I just bought one and not been a mad man. 

I couldn’t decide on which I’d like better so I just bought both of the quads and sub 9 and the Sonos set. . Been testing them out for about two weeks. The spacing I have in my apartment doesn’t really allow any type of AVR equipment that would make sense so I wanted to do something a little bit simpler. It’s a bit of an open space type studio apartment with only a little room behind the couch, only a few feet. I mounted the era 300s on the wall behind the couch and I have the quad set up on the left and right and then also on the left and right of the TV.

They are honestly both so close as far as quality goes - I think the only real massive difference is when listening to music, which sounds much much better on the Sony quads. I think that’s the one aspect where the comparison isn’t close. I bought the SW3 and the SW9 but quickly returned the 3 because it just didn’t compare to the sub four from Sonos and didn’t feel it was equivalent at all.

I have the era 300s set at +4 and the base at +1. I’ve been toying with using the TV as a center channel and haven’t decided whether I like it better or not with the phantom center. With the Sony settings, I’m not sure what to change. I’ve turned the spatial sound setting off and on, and I do find that with it off somehow it gets louder than with it on but then maybe it’s in my head because I feel like you lose a little bit of the immersion.

I’m not sure if it’s because I have the era volume turned up 2+4 but I feel like the rears stand out so much more on the Sonos than with the Sony, but maybe that might be due to the fact I have not calibrated the Sony system properly. The use case is primarily gonna be movies and TV for gaming. I generally will use a headset.

I have four more weeks to decide what to do and still I’m a little bit torn. Use case for me. I do have quite a bit of physical media that I use, but I also stream as much as the average person. I honestly didn’t expect this to be such a tough decision and probably would’ve been better off just choosing one and not having to deal with this.

I couldn’t decide on which I’d like better so I just bought both of the quad and sub 9 and the Sonos set . Been testing them out for about two weeks. The spacing I have in my apartment doesn’t really allow any type of AVR equipment that would make sense so I wanted to do something a little bit simpler. It’s a bit of an open space type studio apartment with only a little room behind the couch, only a few feet. I mounted the era 300s on the wall behind the couch and I have the quad set up on the left and right and then also on the left and right of the TV.

They are honestly both so close as far as quality goes - I think the only real massive difference is when listening to music, which sounds much much better on the Sony quads. I think that’s the one aspect where the comparison isn’t close. I bought the SW3 and the SW9 but quickly returned the 3 because it just didn’t compare to the sub four from Sonos and didn’t feel it was equivalent at all.

I have the era 300s set at +4 and the base at +1. I’ve been toying with using the TV as a center channel and haven’t decided whether I like it better or not with the phantom center. With the Sony settings, I’m not sure what to change. I’ve turned the spatial sound setting off and on, and I do find that with it off somehow it gets louder than with it on but then maybe it’s in my head because I feel like you lose a little bit of the immersion.

I’m not sure if it’s because I have the era volume turned up 2+4 but I feel like the rears stand out so much more on the Sonos than with the Sony, but maybe that might be due to the fact I have not calibrated the Sony system properly. The use case is primarily gonna be movies and TV for gaming. I generally will use a headset.

I have four more weeks to decide what to do and still I’m a little bit torn. Use case for me. I do have quite a bit of physical media that I use, but I also stream as much as the average person. I honestly didn’t expect this to be such a tough decision and probably would’ve been better off just choosing one and not having to deal with this.

I couldn’t decide on which I’d like better so I just bought both of these. Been testing them out for about two weeks. The spacing I have in my apartment doesn’t really allow any type of AVR equipment that would make sense so I wanted to do something a little bit simpler. It’s a bit of an open space type studio apartment with only a little room behind the couch, only a few feet. I mounted the era 300s on the wall behind the couch and I have the quad set up on the left and right and then also on the left and right of the TV.

They are honestly both so close as far as quality goes - I think the only real massive difference is when listening to music, which sounds much much better on the Sony quads. I think that’s the one aspect where the comparison isn’t close. I bought the SW3 and the SW9 but quickly returned the 3 because it just didn’t compare to the sub four from Sonos and didn’t feel it was equivalent at all.

I have the era 300s set at +4 and the base at +1. I’ve been toying with using the TV as a center channel and haven’t decided whether I like it better or not with the phantom center. With the Sony settings, I’m not sure what to change. I’ve turned the spatial sound setting off and on, and I do find that with it off somehow it gets louder than with it on but then maybe it’s in my head because I feel like you lose a little bit of the immersion.

I’m not sure if it’s because I have the era volume turned up 2+4 but I feel like the rears stand out so much more on the Sonos than with the Sony, but maybe that might be due to the fact I have not calibrated the Sony system properly. The use case is primarily gonna be movies and TV for gaming. I generally will use a headset.

I have four more weeks to decide what to do and still I’m a little bit torn. Use case for me. I do have quite a bit of physical media that I use, but I also stream as much as the average person. I honestly didn’t expect this to be such a tough decision and probably would’ve been better off just choosing one and not having to deal with this.

Odd shaped living room but the quads I can put in 4 corners and 300s inverted on back wall 2 feet behind couch.

There’s a Best Buy outlet near where I live and it has the Sony quads for 1700. Went and inspected them in person. Everything seems to be there as far as accessories and items there’s just two snags onto the speakers so the material was ripped. They marked it down from 2600. The rips are in the front of the speaker so I’m not sure the OCD andme would be happy with that in the living room but was curious on if open boxes is a good idea. I do have total tech though.

The space in the apartment isn’t that great and almost pulled the trigger on the sale this weekend with the Sony quads and their new sub but for 3100 pretax, LA has close to 10% sales tax too. I have this in my cart and was gonna go pick this up tomorrow. I already a good receiver. Was going to shop around for used rear speakers to complete the set. But wall-to-wall distance in the living room room is right around 14 feet. The Sony quads here would work just fine considering the unusual spacing, but it is a significant investment for not being AVR. I’m just sort of focused on getting the rear speakers because not sure how important those are it trying to create surround sound. I can’t really put anything on the ceiling as far as Atmos or speakers related.

Walked into a magnolia and talked to a friendly audio rep who showed me all of the high-end sound equipment and I was blown away. We were initially going to double our budget and get something basic to go under the TV with some rears, but after listening to that special audio room really want to try to put together pieces to make something within our budget. We sort of want to stay in the 2 to 3K range.