Sonos is a company that has been developing independent speakers for more than 15 years with two main goals: sound quality and a connection system and software designed to offer the best multi-room music experience. Unlike other manufacturers of wireless speakers, Sonos does not rely on previous experience in the world of hi-fi, but is a 100% technology company and this is reflected in the advances that have been applied to subsequent generations of products.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on their latest generation and in this case the Sonos 300, destined to be at the top of the Sonos range, offering as usual technological advancements and sound quality 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 strange. Santa Bárbara engineers opted for an unusual design in the service of efficiency when it comes to surround sound reproduction.

And that’s exactly the first statement of intent with which this speaker is presented on Sonos’ own product website: “The Era 300 doesn’t just surround you, it immerses you fully in the music.” It’s a big speaker for the wireless speaker category (though smaller than the Sonos 5), and as we’d expect, the design is somewhat confusing and hard to describe. It consists of two elements of different sizes to form a kind of flattened hourglass that is placed horizontally (it has a sensor that stops working if it is placed vertically).

This shape isn’t an attention-grabbing whimsy, but rather a clockwork task of incorporating all the different speakers it has into the device and positioning them to point in the right direction for surround sound. There are a total of four tweeters for the midrange, one facing the front, two on the sides for a stereo effect, and another inserted in the upper directional section so that the sound bounces off the ceiling for a surround sound effect. The woofers are placed on the sides to minimize vibrations and contribute to the stereo effect.

In the upper part of the Era 300 we find a complete block of touch controls. From these controls, in addition to accessing the volume of the speaker playback, we can use the haptic sensor to pause playback or move songs and activate or deactivate the voice assistant that we have activated in the application. On the back we also find a selector for physically activating or deactivating 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 the audio source.

This connector also allows you to connect an analog audio source or connect a speaker via ethernet via accessories sold separately. On the back of the speaker we also find a button for Bluetooth pairing the speaker. This is one of the novelties 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 series. Note that Dolby Atmos surround sound content cannot be played via Bluetooth and cannot be controlled via the multi-room playback app.

However, the bluetooth connection is a good solution for a quick connection with a smartphone or tablet. The era 300 is Bluetooth 5.0 compatible and has a front light that lights up blue to show various wireless system states, as well as playing audio when the speaker is able to pair. It should be noted that pairing has always been instant, 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 this brand and, as usual, the first thing to do is to install the Sonos app on our phone or tablet. For the first steps, we need to have an account in the system or create a new one. We then tell the app to find speakers that are within range of the device so that the app can recognize them and integrate them into the Sonos sound system in our home. Once the app is incorporated, it will suggest that we activate the Trueplay configuration system.

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

Within the application, we will have the usual options of playing audio content in multiple rooms, defining groups of speakers within one room, pairing speakers with external subwoofers or the option of pairing with two speakers to achieve a discrete stereo system. It also allows you to configure a home theater system by combining an Arc or Beam soundbar with two era 300 speakers. During the presentation of the new era of Sonos, 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 app allows pairing speakers with music services and streaming audio content.

From the Sonos app, we can configure the speaker to work as Amazon’s voice assistant and with the Sonos system itself, but it only works for playing music, and so far only in English and French. Unlike previous versions, it is not compatible with Google Assistant due to certain new technical requirements that Google is demanding from third-party devices, which Sonos has not yet incorporated, but may do so in the future. In terms of audio content service compatibility, the system is compatible with the usual ones, including Airplay, although for Dolby Atmos surround sound content it only allows playback with Sonos, Apple and Amazon Music and not Tidal.

In terms of performance and features, although the sound performance is not a figure provided by Sonos, this is a speaker more suitable for the living room than the bedroom. Once the ideal space for its installation was found and configured through the app and the Trueplay system, the real fun began: the playback test. The first tests were performed with stereo content according to the list of parts proposed by the brand for the test. It has to be said that they are well chosen to appreciate the channel separation achieved despite being a single speaker and the richness of tones it can reproduce.

However, we quickly commit to our own playlist with varied musical content, from Wagner or Mozart to heavy metal via Ennio Morricone or Queen and Jazz. What we found most remarkable in these tests, apart from the separation effect of the two channels we mentioned (very appreciable in Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody), is the power of the woofer in terms of percussion reproduction and richness of nuance. at high frequencies, which is especially noticeable in classical compositions. We also found the midrange warmth in ballads and jazz tracks remarkable.

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

This is a remarkable effect, because instead of recreating the effect of clearly showing where each sound is coming from, Sonos engineers preferred to create a sound atmosphere that also adapts well to all types of music we were able to test. More convincing than gimmicks. It’s not easy to achieve and shows that not only has the technology been fully exploited, but musicians and sound experts have spent many hours listening and fine-tuning it. In fact, that’s exactly what Sonos told us in the presentation: the basics of working with this type of professional.

conclusions

It’s not an easy task to outdo yourself as a company like Sonos with a range of products cared for to the utmost detail and at the cutting edge in terms of sound quality, connectivity and technology, but with this Era 300, there’s no doubt that the Santa Bárbara company has taken things up a notch. We are not only talking about sound quality, but also about the way in which this sound quality is transmitted to the ear. Dolby Atmos support is not used as an artificial impression, but becomes a real tool for enjoying music. And it was about time.

As if that wasn’t enough, this speaker can be connected to another equivalent to increase the quality and stereo effect, and a number of them can be connected to branded soundbars to achieve a very high quality home theater system. The Sonos app allows for 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, speaker design and price are the only two obstacles I can think of if we don’t want the Sonos Era 300 in our living room.