Hello

I have a few things to “unpack” in this post regarding the following:

• Sonos Era 300 Stand vs. Sanus Era 300 Stands (static and adjustable)
• Setup of Sonos Era 300 stands with Era 300 speaker
• Era 300 Speaker in stereo pair vs Five stereo pair
• My opinion as to why the Era 300 has no center channel in surround mode
• Era 100 vs Sonos One (Gen1/Gen2)
• Era 100 designation in System > About My System when connected via Ethernet

Sonos Era 300 Stand vs. Sanus Era 300 Stands (Fixed and adjustable)

• The Sonos Era 300 Stand is an engineering marvel. The assembled height is perfect (IMO) for the vast majority of installations when the Era 300’s are used as surround speakers (and when they are used as a front stage stereo pair). 
• There’s a lot of Calculus engineering principles employed to achieve a minimalist design that balances a 9.85 lb., ( 4.47kg) speaker on a 37.634 in (956 mm) pole. The stress points obviously zero out which allows the massive speaker to float; as if no external support is used. The entire assembly only requires 4 screws per stand!
• By contrast the Sanus stands for the Era 300 are (IMO) a non-starter. The fixed position stands at 32in (812.8 mm) does not (IMO) provide the optimal height for the Era 300’s when use das surround speakers. Although the height may be sufficient when the Era 300’s are used as front stage speakers in stereo pair. 
• One would think the Sanus adjustable speaker stands are a better choice. Having purchased a set I’m not impressed; as they failed to support the weight of the Era 300’s. The slide mechanism didn’t lock into place firmly thus the Era 300’s would slip below the adjusted height. Also, the Sanus stands employed 5 screws and 2 locking washers per stand. Can anyone say…helicopter? 
• To be honest I have used Sanus stands with Play 1 and Sonos One speakers with success. However, (IMO) the application with the Era 300’s leaves much to be desired.

Setup of Sonos Era 300 stands with Era 300 speaker

• The instructions provided to assemble the Era 300 stands are quite good. However, when connecting the speaker to the stand (fig 5) as shown in this link; requires a balancing act unless you have someone to help. 
• As I was too impatient to wait (or too stubborn) for the wife to help I came up with this idea. Position the base of the stand under your bed or sofa. Cradle the speaker in one arm over the bed or sofa while you attach the “speaker support” (connected to the speaker) to the “stand post” (pole). If you fumble the speaker during installation; it (the speaker) has a soft landing spot from which you can hopefully recover from without damage to the Era 300.  
• Also make sure the connection between the “speaker support” and the “stand post” (pole) are flush to ensure proper alignment and support.

Era 300 Speaker in stereo pair vs Five stereo pair

• Fortunately I have a stereo pair of Five’s. I was able to set the Era 300’s in stereo pair next to them. Grouping the Five’s and Era 300’s gave me the option to play the same song and alternate volume levels. 
• As unscientific as my testing may be the Five’s in my opinion were better at creating a traditional sound stage and produced a better low-end. That should come as no surprise as Sonos in their marketing promotes the Five’s over the Era 300’s for the ultimate in stereo listening. 
• I only provide this information as guide to those who may question the Sonos logic. However, there are probably those who will disagree  

My opinion as to why the Era 300 Center speaker is silent in surround mode

• My belief is that it has to do with dialogue. When watching a movie it has always been the general consensus that the main dialogue should sound as if it is emanating from the screen. That assumes the speaking character is not off camera. 
• That said if the main dialogue (IMO) were heard from the Era 300 the direction would be thrown off thus confusing the viewer. I know there are arguments that having dialogue emanate from the surround speaker would be helpful to the hearing impaired. To that end Sonos might develop a switch in the controller to direct dialogue to both front and rear speakers; much in the same manner as the rears can play at full output for music.

Era 100 vs Sonos One (Gen1/Gen2)

• The Era 100 is a definite improvement over the Sonos One. However, that improvement is more pronounced with a stereo pair of the Era 100’s versus a stereo pair of the Sonos One’s. The Era 100’s have a much improved low-end to that of the Sonos One’s. IMO you don’t notice a great improvement of a single Era 100 over a Sonos One beyond 10 feet.  

Era 300/100 designation in: System > About My System when connected via Ethernet

• This may come as no surprise but the Era 300/100 show as WM:O like any other wired Sonos speaker.

I hope you found this useful