Sonos Era 300, full sound

Sonos is a company that for more than 15 years has developed independent speakers with two main objectives: sound quality and a connectivity system and software designed to offer the best experience to play music in multiple rooms. Unlike other manufacturers of wireless speakers, Sonos does not start from previous experience in the world of hi-fi, but is a one hundred percent technological company and this is reflected in the advances that have been applied to successive generations. of products.

We have been lucky enough to have the latest generation of them in our hands and in this case the Sonos 300, destined to position itself at the top of the Sonos product range and which, as usual, offers a technological evolution and in the quality of sound in addition to maintaining excellent connectivity and compatibility with the company’s renowned control software. The truth is that the first contact with this Sonos Era 300 is peculiar. The engineers of the Santa Bárbara company have opted for an unusual design at the service of efficiency when it comes to reproducing surround sound.

And this is precisely the first declaration of intent with which this speaker is presented on the Sonos own product website: “Era 300 not only surrounds you, but immerses you fully in the music.” This is a large speaker for a wireless speaker category (albeit smaller than the Sonos 5) and as we’ve anticipated the design is somewhat perplexing and hard to describe. It is made up of two elements of different sizes to shape a kind of flattened hourglass that is placed leaning horizontally (it has a sensor that stops working if it is placed vertically).

This shape is not an attention-grabbing whim, but rather a watchmaker’s job of incorporating all the different speakers it has into the device and positioning them to point in the right direction for surround sound. In total there are four tweeters for the medium frequencies, one of them facing forward, two on the sides to give a stereo effect and another inserted in the upper directional piece so that the sound is reflected on the ceiling to obtain a spatial sound effect. The woofers are placed on the sides to minimize vibrations and contribute to the stereo effect.

At the top of the Era 300 we find the complete block of touch controls. From these controls, in addition to accessing the playback volume of the speaker with a haptic sensor, we can pause playback or advance songs and activate or deactivate the voice assistant that we have activated in the application. On the back we also find a selector to physically activate or deactivate the microphone to protect our privacy. The only cable that needs to be connected is the power cable on the back, but we also find a USB-C connection for a sound source.

This connector also allows, through accessories sold separately, to connect an analog audio source or also connect the speaker via ethernet. On the back of the speaker we also find a button for the Bluetooth pairing of the speaker. This is one of the news about the new range of Sonos speakers since previously the brand’s speakers that could connect via Bluetooth were only the portable Roam and Move range. Note that Dolby Atmos surround sound content cannot be played via Bluetooth and cannot be controlled via the app for multi-room playback.

However the Bluettoth connection but it is a good solution for a fast connection with a smartphone or a tablet. The era 300 is compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 and has a front light that lights up in blue to show the different states of the wireless connection system as well as playing a sound when the speaker is able to pair. It should be noted that the pairing has always been immediate, one of the fastest and easiest we’ve seen.

The installation of the Sonos era 300 is very similar to the one we follow for any product of the brand and, as usual, the first thing to do is to install the Sonos application on our phone or tablet. We have to have an account in the system or create a new one to take the first steps. Then we will tell the application to find the speakers that are in the range of action of the device so that the application recognizes it and integrates it into the Sonos sound system in our house. Once the application is incorporated, it will suggest that we activate the Trueplay configuration system.

When doing so, the speaker will emit sounds of a frequency and with a certain intensity using different speakers within the equipment. The Era 300 will use its microphone to detect the characteristics of the room and its position in it to optimize the performance of stereo and surround sound. If we use the application with an iOS device such as an iPhone, the configuration through Trueplay will be done through the device’s microphone. This is more precise and we will have to move around the room to obtain a more precise configuration of the speaker. If we do not have a device with these characteristics, the configuration will be done from the speaker itself.

Within the application we will have the usual options for audio content to be played in several rooms, define groups of speakers within the same room, pair speakers with external subwoofers or the possibility of using two speakers to pair them to achieve a discrete stereo system. It also allows you to configure a home cinema system by combining an Arc or Beam sound bar with two era 300 speakers. At the presentation of the new Sonos era we had the opportunity to listen to an installation like the one we discussed with trailers for various films such as Top Gun and the truth is that the result is impressive. Finally, the application allows you to pair the speakers with music services and streaming audio content.

From the Sonos application we can configure the speaker to work as an Amazon voice assistant and with the Sonos system itself, which however only works for music playback and for now only in English and French. Unlike previous versions, it is not compatible with Google Assistant due to certain new technical requirements that Google asks of third-party devices that Sonos has not had time to incorporate but may do so in the future. Regarding compatibility of audio content services, the system is compatible with the usual ones, including Airplay, although for Dolby Atmos surround sound content it only allows playback with the Sonos, Apple and Amazon Music system and not with Tidal.

Due to power and features, although sound power is not a figure provided by Sonos, it is a speaker more suitable for a living room than for a bedroom. Once the ideal space for its installation was found and configured through the application and the Trueplay system, the real fun began: the playback test. The first tests were carried out with stereo contents following the list of parts suggested by the brand for the test. It must be said that they are well chosen to appreciate the channel separation that is achieved despite being a single speaker and the richness of tones that it manages to reproduce.

However, we quickly commit ourselves to our own playlist with varied musical content, from Wagner or Mozart to Heavy metal through Ennio Morricone or Queen and Jazz pieces. What we found most notable in these tests, in addition to the separation effect of the two channels that we have mentioned (very appreciable in Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody) is the forcefulness of the woofer when it comes to reproducing the percussion and the richness of nuances. at high frequencies, something we notice above all in classical pieces. The warmth of the midtones in ballads and jazz pieces have also seemed remarkable to us.

Overall the Sonos Era 300 excels across almost the entire frequency range with a richness of textures typical of more advanced multi-speaker systems. It’s hard to tickle the ero 300 and you have to turn up the volume to unreasonable levels to even see the seams in the audio reproduction of this speaker. When it comes to surround sound, once again we have first resorted to the suggestions of the Sonos test guide. The result is impressive, the room seems to be filled with the different instruments and the sound fills the room rather than enveloping us. There is a sense of continuity even though the sounds from each element of the recording are projected to different parts of the room.

This is a remarkable effect since instead of recreating the effect of clearly showing where each sound comes from, Sonos engineers have preferred to create a sound atmosphere that also adapts well to all types of music that we have been able to test. More convincing than gimmicky. It’s not an easy thing to achieve and shows that not only has the technology been used to its fullest but many hours of listening and fine-tuning have gone into it by musicians and sound experts alike. In fact, in the presentation, that is precisely what Sonos told us: the fundamentals of its collaboration with this type of professional.

conclusions

It is not an easy task to surpass yourself being a company like Sonos with a range of products taken care of to the maximum detail and at the forefront in terms of sound quality, connectivity and technology, but with this Era 300 there is no doubt that the Santa Bárbara company has raised some steps. We are not only talking about sound quality but also the way in which this sound quality is delivered to the ear. Dolby Atmos support is not used as an artifice to impress but becomes a true instrument to enjoy music. And it was time.

As if that were not enough, this speaker can be coupled to another equal one to increase the quality and the stereo effect and a series of them can be joined to the brand’s sound bars to achieve a very high quality home theater system. The Sonos application allows playback control and the Era 300 can work as a team with the rest of the brand’s speakers that we may have at home. In short, the design of the speaker and the price are the only two obstacles that come to mind for not wanting a Sonos Era 300 in our living room.