Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 Smart Speakers Revealed in Marketing Images

[TapDatApp]

I tend to agree but they aren't alone in fudging what constitutes atmos or even basic surround sound. Certainly Apple stretches it to the limit.

Break it down further though. It doesn’t make sense by their own logic.

Arc + Sub + 2 Ones = 5.1.2
Beam (Gen 2) + Sub + 2 Ones = 5.1.2

Arc + Sub + 2 Era 300s = 7.1.4
Beam (Gen 2) + Sub + 2 Era 300s = 5.1.4

The extra “2” in the first figure of the second group would be the addition of the side channels, provided by the multidirectional sound of the Era 300s. By their own previous admission, the Arc and Beam Gen 2 are both 5.x.x systems used alone and therefore should both become 7.x.x with the addition of the Era 300s.

I don’t know, I’m a huge Sonos enthusiast and obviously Apple loyalist, but not gonna be pleased if they just start making up their own rules on how home audio works or is rated. We’ll see how it actually shakes down in official documentation soon enough.

 

[pup]

True, they should be consistent.

But I'm all together suspicious of the x.x.4 with the 300s though. I mean, given the shape of the case, and the fact that rear surrounds are usually placed relatively close to the listener, it will be interesting to see if they can get enough of an angle on any internal speaker to really make it effective. I would think for up-firing rears to be effective, they'd have to almost aim directly up, and have a very narrow spread as well.

 

[bodonnell202]

Admittedly, as maybe we all are, I’m an Apple fanboy and a bit of a sucker. Of all the weird choices they’ve made and defended in the last half decade or so, this one is arguably the most idiotic. Truly mind-boggling.

Yeah, the Wifi 4 thing is weird - yes Wifi 4 has enough bandwidth for what the Homepod needs, but it is missing the features that newer standards have, which help to improve the efficiency of wifi networks. Disappointing decision by Apple to save a buck on manufacturing costs.

 

[TapDatApp]

Yeah, the Wifi 4 thing is weird - yes Wifi 4 has enough bandwidth for what the Homepod needs, but it is missing the features that newer standards have, which help to improve the efficiency of wifi networks. Disappointing decision by Apple to save a buck on manufacturing costs.

The spin they tried to put on it by coming incredibly close to claiming that WiFi 4 is somehow better suited or more efficient for home audio is just an outright lie. And maybe they didn’t have to upgrade it to the latest, but downgrading it over the first gen HomePod? Insanity.

 

[Chiromac81]

have you ever... ever had to 'troubleshoot' Sonos speakers? they are an absolute nightmare.

I tried to replace my wifi network, and doing something as seemingly simple as changing the wifi on Sonos was a total and utter nightmare - took hours, and was the most unintuitive thing ever. Being expected to plug one Sonos speaker into ethernet in order to make such a change... when the router with an ethernet port on is in a totally different room.... and thats the ONLY way to change the wifi network..!? come on Sonos...

A friend with Sonos also had problems when moving house and getting his Beam to work again - things happen but the software is a nightmare for this.

Apple is NOT spotless here at all and im not sure its much better...

But Sonos might be easy to set up - sure it is...... but when things go wrong they go W R O N G!

I've had only good experiences any time I've had to use customer support. Tech support was helpful and easy, maybe not so much on the other end??

 

[CarlJ]

The Era 100 is interesting, being double the price of the One and only $50 less than a HomePod. That should be an interesting comparison.

Double the price?

The Era 100 is expected to cost around $250 and is likely to replace the Sonos One, which currently sells for $219.​

Are you perhaps comparing some sale price on an existing model to a rumored retail price on an unreleased model? Because otherwise “double” seems wildly inaccurate. Looks like roughly a 14% increase to me.

 

[CarlJ]

Why are they specifically mentioning Airplay 2 support? Don't the current devices support Airplay 2 already or is it only Airplay 1 (Legacy Airplay?)

Current Sonos speakers support AirPlay 2.

 

[macjonny1]

B&O for the win - I’ve got some vintage Pentas and Redlines, myself. Their whole home setup was revolutionary for the day and is still the most reliable option out there. I was very close at one point to buying a bunch of 2nd hand B&O kit off eBay to wire up my whole house. But very few people, then nor now, want to hard wire their home for whole home audio (nor connect multi-thousand dollar speakers ). And of course most people want to stream their music.

So, we have wireless speakers and software, deal with the issues that involves, and hopefully enjoy the benefits as well.

I have 2nd hand B&O for my surround and their wireless kit works great. Beolab 3s and Beolab 8000s connected via the beolab transmitter. Just need preouts on your receiver. (just noticed you have powered speakers so would need adapters for that which wouldn't work great and be to clunky)

 

[CarlJ]

Say what you will about Sonos but there isn’t an easier system to set up, use, and the sounds is great. Just because it’s not an Apple product doesn't mean it sucks.

With the proviso that Sonos speakers will find misconfigurations in your home network that many other devices tolerate. Last I looked, the Sonos subreddit gets regular complaints from people saying “Sonos is terrible it won’t work on my network and my network is perfect because it’s super fast” (yes, that last part doesn’t make sense but people will jump to defend their network without knowing anything serious about networking).

If set up properly (ideally one speaker like an Arc or Beam on Ethernet and the rest allowed to make their own Sonos WiFi network), and on a network without hidden problems, Sonos speakers rival Apple for an out-of-the-box it Just Works experience.

The sound is very good, they nailed the multi-speaker/room sync, it works with basically any streaming service on the planet (like, literally, hundreds), Sonos Voice Control works very well with Apple Music (probably others too but my only experience is with AM), without sending voice off-device for analysis, and Sonos actually really does do home theater. Apple is inching closer to home theater but they’re still not there yet, so after a lot of waiting for Apple, I finally went Sonos a year or two back (I have a couple HomePod minis for Siri commands only - if they ever play music it’s because they’ve misunderstood a command).

 

[CarlJ]

I like Sonos a lot, but is that Era 300 going to sound $150 better than a new HomePod?

In isolation, possibly not. But the Era 300 will connect with other Sonos speakers into a coherent system. Apple doesn’t yet do that, beyond a stereo pair, to my knowledge.

Plus you have to buy a dongle to get Ethernet… nah.

In a Sonos system, you should only have one speaker connected via Ethernet. If you have an Arc or Beam (or most of the older speakers), they already have Ethernet. I see the lack of Ethernet as a little short-sighted, but not a deal breaker.

 

[CarlJ]

I’m not crazy about the $250 price of the 100. It’s ‘only’ $30 more than the One - but you know they’ll charge at least $30 for the Ethernet dongle, …

You probably don’t want Ethernet - for a single Sonos speaker it doesn’t matter. For a multi-room system you only want one Sonos speaker on Ethernet. If you have a Sonos home theater setup, use the ethernet on the Beam or Arc.

 

[KobeMamba]

I am split between Apple/Bose and Sonos.
I have the following setups and currently I think Sonos is the winner currently.

1. Living Room Sonos Arc 2 Subs and 2 Play ( Fives) for rears. Wondering if a pair of 300's would sound better then the Play(Fives for rears.
2. I have 4 Homepod OG's and 2 new Homepod 2. These can't compete with Sonos setup when set with the Apple TV unit.
3. Bedroom I have the Bose 900 soundbar Bose Surround Speakers 700 and Bose Bass Module 700
4. Rec Room Sony HT- A9 with SW5 Subwoofer

Sonos setup (Arc 2 subs and 2 Play fives for First Place and it's a Tossup between the Sony and Bose for 2nd Place and 3rd Place. I love the Homepods for streaming throughout the house with the 4 OG's and 2 New homepods but they can't compete with systems with dedicated subs (especially 2 subs)

 

[TapDatApp]

You probably don’t want Ethernet - for a single Sonos speaker it doesn’t matter. For a multi-room system you only want one Sonos speaker on Ethernet. If you have a Sonos home theater setup, use the ethernet on the Beam or Arc.

Or get a Sonos Boost. I have a great network setup at home, but this made it even better. Puts all your Sonos equipment on an entirely separate level. No skips ever.

 

[TapDatApp]

In isolation, possibly not. But the Era 300 will connect with othernSpnos speakers into a coherent system. Apple doesn’t yet do that, beyond a stereo pair, to my knowledge.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if Apple had really wanted to get serious about getting into wireless audio they should have just bought Sonos. Any Apple user who really, really cares about wireless audio and wants a dedicated and compatible ecosystem within its own bubble is likely already a Sonos user.

I truly feel like Sonos products are the closest it gets to a comparable Apple level quality across any product category. Very similar ethos, capability, design language, and ease of use.

 

[atomic.flip]

That's my biggest complaint about these (based on current leaks). I wouldn't mind upgrading my Ones to 300 if I can get 7.2.4 support. But I haven't heard that being supported. I'd settle for the 100 if I could get 5.2.4 support. But nope. I don't find the 300 ugly, but I assume they're going to require a lot more space than my Ones.

I would love for them to offer 7.2.4 support but something tells me the limiting factor there is likely the ARC soundbar itself.

It should be possible with software but it may be limited by practical reasons we haven’t been advised of yet. A few that come to mind are bandwidth and interference using 2.4ghz for the Sonos Proprietary Network and network congestion and latency using your standard home Wi-Fi network.

Not to mention that Wi-Fi 6 will be somewhat useless if pairing these with a Sonos Arc.

Idk. This product seems more like Sonos is fishing for something to sell and they aren’t sure what they want to sell yet.

And why begin with saying they’re for spatial audio but technically no spatial audio being used today will stream to them? LOL

And I’m saying this as a loving owner of two 5.2.2 Sonos Arc setups.

 

[atomic.flip]

Break it down further though. It doesn’t make sense by their own logic.

Arc + Sub + 2 Ones = 5.1.2
Beam (Gen 2) + Sub + 2 Ones = 5.1.2

Arc + Sub + 2 Era 300s = 7.1.4
Beam (Gen 2) + Sub + 2 Era 300s = 5.1.4

The extra “2” in the first figure of the second group would be the addition of the side channels, provided by the multidirectional sound of the Era 300s. By their own previous admission, the Arc and Beam Gen 2 are both 5.x.x systems used alone and therefore should both become 7.x.x with the addition of the Era 300s.

I don’t know, I’m a huge Sonos enthusiast and obviously Apple loyalist, but not gonna be pleased if they just start making up their own rules on how home audio works or is rated. We’ll see how it actually shakes down in official documentation soon enough.

Just because they have multiple drivers (upward or side firing) doesn’t mean they can receive multiple independent audio streams and funnel them to each driver separately.

Or even if they can do that. It doesn’t mean that the ARC can deliver more than 3 separate audio streams in addition to the 5 it already handles.

 

[enc0re]

The Arc does great Atmos sound. Not sure how much more sound one would need with surround speakers. Maybe in a very large room. The idea, provide levels of sound options adjusted by price and quality. Something Apple needs to learn. One speaker no options Apple Sound today.

I cannot agree with that. My primary Sonos home theater system is Arc+Sub+Ones. Even at +10, the height effects are very weak.

I would like Sonos Atmos surrounds if they meaningfully add height effects. But I gotta say, the 300s seem awfully big and overpowered for rear speakers. Ideally I'd want something like a 100 but with height speakers. I think the 300s will be a good stereo pair for music but seem to not have the right tradeoffs for rear surround speakers.

 

[MichaelAdam]

I think I would prefer an Apple Soundbar of some fashion with two rear HomePod … I love my Atmos HomePod duo and the features they offer …

 

[enc0re]

I've had only good experiences any time I've had to use customer support. Tech support was helpful and easy, maybe not so much on the other end??

Total disagreement. Sonos customer support is some of the worst I've had of any company. Here is a thread on their official forums. There is a long-running compatibility problem where many users of Apple TV and Xbox cannot use Atmos on Arc because it will make a loud bang sound and lose sound. Sonos has acknowledged the problem in-thread and officially recommends to turn Atmos off if you use Apple TV and Xbox.

This has been going on for two years. Every time a new user comes into the thread, they are looking for answers because Sonos support will tell them to factory reset, buy new HDMI cables, etc; even though they know it's a problem that has nothing to do with that. There is no official statement, warning, or FAQ either.

Just recently some users in the thread have patched together a solution that works for some (disabling CEC on Xbox and power cycling everything). Of course that does nothing for the affected users who don't even own Xboxes.

Sonos supports continues to be missing-in-action or gaslighting users that the problem is not with Sonos. It is shameful.

 

[NT1440]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if Apple had really wanted to get serious about getting into wireless audio they should have just bought Sonos. Any Apple user who really, really cares about wireless audio and wants a dedicated and compatible ecosystem within its own bubble is likely already a Sonos user.

I truly feel like Sonos products are the closest it gets to a comparable Apple level quality across any product category. Very similar ethos, capability, design language, and ease of use.

And if Sonos is a garbage fire of technical debt, no documentation, etc?

The idea that any company should buy another because the consumer facing part might “fit” is a fools errand.

Signed,

An IT guy that just spent a whole year merging his company with a company that was and remains a total garbage fire on the IT side.

 

[TapDatApp]

Just because they have multiple drivers (upward or side firing) doesn’t mean they can receive multiple independent audio streams and funnel them to each driver separately.

Or even if they can do that. It doesn’t mean that the ARC can deliver more than 3 separate audio streams in addition to the 5 it already handles.

I don’t disagree. The whole thing is bologna.

 

[matsan]

Or get a Sonos Boost. I have a great network setup at home, but this made it even better. Puts all your Sonos equipment on an entirely separate level. No skips ever.

I second that. This is especially true in a network environment where you have meshed technologies and multiple APs (UniFi I am looking at you) where Sonos is a nightmare if you try to put it on "normal" WiFi.

 

[TapDatApp]

And if Sonos is a garbage fire of technical debt, no documentation, etc?

The idea that any company should buy another because the consumer facing part might “fit” is a fools errand.

Signed,

An IT guy that just spent a whole year merging his company with a company that was and remains a total garbage fire on the IT side.

This is totally fair. Can relate to working as a technical support engineer undergoing a dumpster fire company merge. I should have said it would have been ideal for consumers.

 

[TapDatApp]

Total disagreement. Sonos customer support is some of the worst I've had of any company. Here is a thread on their official forums. There is a long-running compatibility problem where many users of Apple TV and Xbox cannot use Atmos on Arc because it will make a loud bang sound and lose sound. Sonos has acknowledged the problem in-thread and officially recommends to turn Atmos off if you use Apple TV and Xbox.

This has been going on for two years. Every time a new user comes into the thread, they are looking for answers because Sonos support will tell them to factory reset, buy new HDMI cables, etc; even though they know it's a problem that has nothing to do with that. There is no official statement, warning, or FAQ either.

Just recently some users in the thread have patched together a solution that works for some (disabling CEC on Xbox and power cycling everything). Of course that does nothing for the affected users who don't even own Xboxes.

Sonos supports continues to be missing-in-action or gaslighting users that the problem is not with Sonos. It is shameful.

Worst part for me is Sonos let go of nearly decade long tendered community managers and support personnel in the beginning of the pandemic (ugly move). Everything is outsourced now and crappier than ever. Had some genuinely quality & insightful interactions and escalations with technical managers beforehand.

 

[chachawpi]

Sorry Sonos we’re all in HomePod now.

Uh, no. Completely different product categories.