Sony Soundbar HT-S40R

Sony Soundbar HT-S40R – 5.1 Channel Home Theatre System with Wireless Rear Speakers

The Sony HT-S40R is a complete 5.1 channel home theatre system, not a soundbar doing surround effects on its own. A three-channel bar speaker handles the front left, centre and right channels, a separate subwoofer covers the low frequencies, and two rear speakers, driven by a wireless amplifier, place genuine surround sound behind your seating position. Total system output is rated at 600W, with Dolby Digital decoding for film and television soundtracks.

That physical layout is the point. Dialogue comes from the centre channel, effects move across the front, and directional sounds arrive from behind you – what separates real 5.1 from a single bar widening its output. The wireless link runs between the front of the room and the rear amplifier, so no speaker cable crosses the room; the rear speakers connect to that amplifier with short cables.

Key features

• Real 5.1 channel surround: bar speaker, subwoofer and two rear speakers
• 600W total system output, including a 180W subwoofer
• Wireless amplifier for the rear speakers, so no long front-to-back cable run
• Dolby Digital and Dolby Dual Mono decoding, with LPCM 2-channel support
• S-Master digital amplifier
• HDMI ARC, optical, analogue stereo mini and USB Type-A inputs
• Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless music streaming from a phone or tablet
• Cinema, Music, Standard and Auto Sound modes, plus Night and Voice modes
• Wall-mountable bar speaker with a metal punching grille
• Remote control supplied, with subwoofer volume adjustment

Set up around your room

The bar speaker measures 900 x 52 x 74.5 mm and weighs 2 kg, so it sits neatly under most televisions on a cabinet or mounts on the wall below the screen. The subwoofer, at 192 x 387 x 366 mm and 7.8 kg, connects by cable and can be placed beside the TV unit or in a front corner of the room. At the back, the wireless amplifier (about 0.8 kg) needs a power socket, and each compact rear speaker (83 x 74.5 x 180 mm, 0.6 kg) wires into it. Plan those two power points – one at the front, one at the rear – and the rest of the installation is straightforward.

Connections and everyday use

For television sound, HDMI ARC is the simplest route, with optical as the alternative for sets without ARC. The analogue stereo mini input covers older equipment, USB plays WAV, MP3 and WMA files from a drive, and Bluetooth handles everyday music streaming. Sound modes let you match the system to the content: Cinema for films, Music for stereo listening, and Auto Sound, which adjusts to what is playing. Voice mode lifts dialogue when speech is buried in a mix, while Night mode keeps dynamics under control for late viewing at lower volume.

Who it suits

The HT-S40R suits living rooms where the television speakers are the weak link and a full AV receiver system feels like too much equipment, cabling and cost. You get discrete rear speakers and a proper subwoofer in one matched package, with a single remote and no component matching to work out.

If you want surround sound you can hear from behind the sofa rather than simulated from the front, and a system that is installed in an afternoon, the Sony HT-S40R is a well-judged, complete answer.