SONOS PLAY:5 Smart Wireless Speaker, Black

Product Information

Connections . Sonos Arc needs to be connected to your TV with an HDMI cord (one is provided with Arc) via an ARC or eARC port (eARC is required for Dolby TrueHD and Dolby MAT).

Bass and treble can also be adjusted in the Sonos app, although you're unlikely to feel the need, and the Loudness function can be disabled here, too. There's also a Night Sound feature that flattens dynamics and reduces bass, ideal for when you don't want to wake the rest of the household, while Speech Enhancement aims to project dialogue more clearly. Sonos' goal with the Era 100 was to deliver stereo sound from a single unit while eliminating the idea of there being a 'sweet spot' to listen to it from, and to add more bass – the last of these is something I've always bemoaned as missing from the Sonos One. Even in acoustic music, you're not getting the full effect without rich bass. The driver arrangement also mimics the older Play:5 – six class D amplifiers powering three 10cm mid-woofers and three tweeters. Each Five speaker can be switched to mono for a more traditional stereo pair configuration, or you can use them as rear surrounds with aSonos Arc soundbar.

The Era 100 checks off almost everything we wanted to upgrade in the Sonos One

Basically a re-branded Play:5 with extra processing power, the Sonos Five is the least intelligent speaker in this line-up. It has the same design, the same six drivers inside and still no voice assistant support. So what does it have? Sound quality in spades. Designed to deliver outstanding audio over Wi-Fi, the Sonos Five serves up big, authoritative sound. If you’re replacing a full Hi-Fi system with a Sonos speaker, this is the one to do it with. Some devices may not pass Dolby Atmos by default without making some adjustments to audio settings. The Arc's Dolby Atmos sound field is generated by 11 Class D digital amplifiers that power 11 custom drivers. Eight of those drivers are elliptical woofers evolved from those in the Beam (four along the front, two on top and one in each end), while the other three are silk-domed tweeters that are all built into the front but with two firing diagonally into the room.

Updated results since this setup now features a height level adjustment feature, following the 13.1.2 firmware update. This is a well made product. I held off buying a soundbar becuase I thought that it might impede the view of the bottom of my TV screen, but I have no issues with this product. If you think of it as cross-platform, flexible alternative to the HomePod 2 that's a little cheaper (even if its sound isn't a little more constrained) then it looks like good, if not spectacular, value. Soundbases appear to have had their day; there aren't many around any more. People clearly prefer soundbars that sit in front of your telly to soundbases that are designed to go underneath them. That said, if that isn't you, the Sonos Playbase is a very decent option and, yes, probably the best one out there for its significantly reduced price.That aside, the Roam SL mimics the Roam with an IP67-rated waterproof design, Bluetooth, wi-fi and AirPlay 2, dual Class-H amplifiers, Qi wireless charging capability and more. Functions can be controlled via the superb Sonos app. Head’s up—we’ll be talking about things like “codecs,” and “audio formats” below, but don’t panic. We’re here to make sure you understand why those things are important in setting up Arc to play Dolby Atmos. Rest assured that no matter what you’re listening to with Arc, it’s going to sound great. But to get the most out of Arc, it’s worth ensuring that your system is set up to deliver Dolby Atmos. And, as always, we’re here to help. If you have questions, feel free to ask. The speaker will connect to your home wi-fi when in range, and switch over to Bluetooth when you're on the go, such as connecting to your smartphone (it'll reconnect automatically after you've connected for the first time).