Sony Bravia HTCT350 Soundbar Review-Overpriced Space-Saving Quality

Soundbars are actually a really exciting idea.  Sure, they’re not as powerful as some systems, and sometimes you can even get stronger systems at lower prices.  But for sheer space saving capability and power in one easy package, soundbars just can’t be beat.  Today we talk about the Sony Bravia HTCT350, a surprisingly potent little speaker system.

The Sony Bravia HTCT350 is a three channel soundbar system with a subwoofer and four hundred watts total power.  It also includes a variety of built-in surround sound decoders (including Dolby Digital, DTS-HD master audio and TrueHD), a 24-bit S-Master digital amplifier, iPod port (comes in an optional cradle that’s sold separately), three HDMI inputs, one HDMI output, HDMI repeater for simpler setup, BRAVIA Sync capability, and AM/FM radio.

I’m amazed, frankly–you can see from the pic at right that this isn’t a very big system.  It’s downright tiny, in all honesty.  But the sound coming out of it is a huge surprise, given the system itself.  And the setup is pretty easy to work with besides, which is extremely welcome.  As usual, I’m distressed about the lack of love for the older components with this–it’s HDMI or nothing with this system–but throw on a newer, even more space saving flatscreen with HDMI and you’ve got a pretty sweet home theater in a very, VERY compact package.  And admittedly, the package costs four hundred bucks out at Best Buy, but for those who have more cash than space, it’s a great package.

The Sony Bravia HTCT350 is a sweet package–overpriced for what you get, but if you need to conserve on space and still want a good quality sound system, then this is definitely the package to consider.