I'm sitting here today with the Era 300, part of Sonos' next generation of speaker. We've got all
the functionality for multi-room compatibility that we've come to love, but this is built from
the ground up for spatial audio. My name is Rodell, and I'm a team leader here at Crutchfield. We sat
down with Sonos and got the lowdown on the new speaker design. Turns out, the headline is spatial
audio. Now what is spatial audio? Typically when we listen to music we're listening to it in either
mono or stereo; mono we're using one channel of sound or one speaker. and with stereo we've got
two channels, usually a left and a right. With spatial audio, they're adding a third dimension,
which is creating an immersive field that they can place sounds in. It means it's not just left
and right, but all around you. With all that in mind, the engineers at Sonos created a solution
that resulted in the Era 300's unique design, with a forward-facing driver, an upward-facing
driver, two side-firing drivers and then two bass woofers. Spatial audio on the Era 300 is powered
by Dolby Atmos, which is the leading technology for dynamically mapping these 3D sounds. The Era 300 is
going to use its driver array in combination with wave guides and beam-forming technology
to make sure that every sound is accurately placed in your space. That means that it'll
work great as a single speaker or listening to it in a stereo pair for great sound, but
also will really shine when you use it as rear surrounds when paired with the Sonos Arc and Sub,
giving you a true 7.1.4 experience, something that was not possible before the Era 300.
There are all sorts of ways to connect to the Era 300. You have Bluetooth options, so when your
friends come over they don't need to use the app to share their music with you. You can also stream
using Apple AirPlay, there's Sonos Radio, and of course it will be compatible with all the other
Sonos gear in your ecosystem. In addition, there's a port on the back that will allow you to connect
an adapter that will give you an option for a line-in three-and-a-half millimeter, or an ethernet cord
if you're looking to hardwire your internet connection. Now the USB-C port won't allow for
USB audio transfer; Sonos actually chose the USB-C format to allow for adaptability and flexibility
when it comes to connections. A great quality-of-life feature on the Era 300 is the touch slider
volume control. No more pressing of digital buttons over and over again, you can swipe
your finger left or right to turn the volume up or down. There's also a play/pause button, a skip
track button, and a digital microphone button that allows you to switch the mics on or off.
For those with privacy concerns, there's a hard toggle switch on the back of the speaker that
will allow you to permanently turn the microphone off. It's also worth remembering that everything is
processed locally, so no audio is being uploaded to the cloud and your conversations stay in your home.
The microphones built into the Era 300 allow you to take advantage of Sonos Voice. That
means you can ask your speaker what time it is and get to hear Giancarlo Esposito respond.
In addition, the microphones allow not only iPhone users but Android users to
take advantage of Trueplay. Trueplay is a room calibration technique that allows users to take
their phone, walk around their room, and customize the sound specifically for the speaker's location.
I got to take a pair of the Era 300s home and test them out for about a week or so.
Their design makes them sound great as a single standalone speaker, when they're paired together
in stereo or where they really shine is using them as rear surrounds. I paired them with the Sonos
Arc and the Sonos Sub, which allowed me to get a true 7.1.4 experience, and I was absolutely blown
away by that home theater immersive experience, all with Sonos gear. If you're looking to take
advantage of the Sonos convenience but want that home theater experience, I cannot stress
enough how great these Era 300s are and how this is a huge step in the right direction overall for
Sonos. If you have questions about setting up your Sonos gear or any other multi-room
products, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at Crutchfield, we'll be happy to help.