Playbar refresh in 2018?

In the DTS WLAN1 PDF it mentions io cables for the test, power rj45 and HDMI. Looking at the label PDF I think the super connect idea looks like a possibility or it's a really big label on a square playbase. 🙂

Looking again though the description of the unit says high performance all in one home theatre smart speaker?

Wouldn't it be great if rather than update the playbar that they released a HDMI enabled Connect type device that acted as an updated ‘brain’ for the playbar and took over the control aspect from the playbar for the 5.1, 7.1 or whatever co-ordination and then linked to the playbar (to simply act as a speaker) for centre channel duties. I’m assuming here they could address this through a software update to the existing playbar.


The problem with that is the playbar is designed to hang on the wall, so you're Superconnect (that seems to be the popular name for it) would also need to hang on the wall in aesthetically pleasing fashion. Like the playbar, it needs power and an hdmi/optical connection to the tv.

Also, customers would not want to be limited to using a playbar as the only center channel option...and there probably isn't a tech reason it has to be. Give customers to option to have the playbar as L-R-Center, just center, or use a different sonos speaker as the center.

Personally, I like the idea of having a speaker built in to the superconnect to acts a center channel. You can design the unit so it sits well on a wall. You may even be able to set it so the speaker could be setup as L-R, rears or some other speaker assignment in the setup, if the customer wants the speakers to be identical and is ok with extra cost. You wouldn't be able to use the playbar with this, but I'm betting customers who are interested in this don't really want a soundbar anyway.

But I could absolutely be wrong.

That’s the one downside of sonos, wireless but still needs the power cord, so never going to be as elegant as custom install options. I’ve never really been a fan of a ‘bar’ solution, asthetically or in terms of the limited seperation. I’d rather a fully blown option that gave the option of using whatever speakers from the range could be paired as LCR. Ideally Play 5s. But as things stand the overall flexibility and relative ease of using Sonos far outweighs the limitations and the sound is good enough to great (never expected reference at this relatively cheap price point).

I’d like an option in their HT ecosystem that seperated the brain/processing device from the speakers rather than an all in one being the only option. But that’s just my preference.

The DFS report is worth a look. It mentions play 1s as slave speakers.

So that sounds like it'll be able to use DFS channels in the 5 GHz band... that gives it a lot of flexibility in terms of making sure it's got a clear channel for the surrounds/sub. If they can meet the low power requirements of those DFS channels, and quickly change channels if other transmissions are detected without affecting the audio, that gives them lots of extra 5 GHz channel space to use that most regular routers won't even touch.

Edit to add: If that FCC report ends up being final, that's 18 more non-overlapping 20 MHz wide 5 GHz channels available for Sonos to use for the rear/sub speakers. Most routers won't consider using those channels mainly because of the low power requirements reducing the coverage area of the 5 GHz signal. Of course, that isn't a big concern when all of the devices are all in the same room a few feet from each other.

One of the German websites suggested that the new device included the optical and hdmi port - good news for me if true

That would make a lot of sense. I'm sure there are many non-tech people who can plug in an optical connection, but can't figure out which HDMI port on their TV is ARC enabled.

I think it's just a complete rumor.

Sonos is a wireless, multi-room music company. They design their products with the expectation of their buyers combining music and movies into one system. It doesn't seem fitting to the Sonos brand...

Don't get me wrong I would LOVE Atmos on a Sonos bar, but it's, well, Sonos. I can't expect it. Music is their thing, multi-room etc.

One unusual detail in the FCC data, I first saw it pointed out by Dave Zatz on Twitter, is that whatever it is, it has Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support. This isn't regular Bluetooth, so no, you won't be able to stream audio from your phone or tablet... but it does make one wonder what it'll be used for...