I’m typically skeptical of claims that  everyone on the internet wants feature x.  For one thing, the person making the claim is always one of the people that wants feature x, and tends to be rather subjective, and surely informal in their information gathering.  It’s just human nature to assume that everyone else wants exactly what they want.  Not at all saying that you’re wrong for what you want, or that other people don’t feel strongly, just that that desire doesn’t mean there is a market out there that justifies a product or feature...guaranteed.

It is also often that people like the idea of something much more than the actual reality of it.  I think rear surrounds with upfiring speakers is one of those cases.  How much better atmos sound will you actually get from 4 speakers over 2?  How much content is out there where you would really notice a difference?  And the geometry of the  speaker placement, listening area, and room/ceiling dimension work out optimally?  I mean, my couch is essentially back aginst the wall, and surround speakers are about 2 feet behind seating area.  Upfiring speakers would need to be at about an 85% degree angle for me to hear them as coming from above.  I would bet these speakers are designed to be about 5 feet or more behind seating area.

I’m not trying to knock the idea really, and I would bet that Sonos is going to make these speakers usable for rear surrond and atmos.  I think it’s going to be a lot like high res audio.  People want it and may feel good about the purchase, but aren’t really going to notice any audio difference in their room.  They’ll be able to feel good about having 5.1.4 setup though.  And Sonos will be happy to give the people what they want.

I disagree. The desire for two more height channels is not just so people can “feel good about having a 5.1.4 setup”. For me, there is a pretty significant and noticeable difference between listening to Dolby Atmos content compared to stereo or regular 5.1 content. I can CLEARLY hear the height channels when watching movies or listening to music in Atmos. But currently, with a 5.1.2 setup, the height channel audio can only be heard on the front half of my room, not the back half. Since Dolby Atmos audio is object based, when there should be height audio on the back half of the room, it is missing without those two rear upward firing drivers. Adding two more height channels at the rear for a 5.1.4 setup would only add to the immersive experience and complete that “bubble” of sound that Dolby Atmos audio creates.

Maybe you know this already, but the war movie “1917” on Dolby Atmos/4K Blu-ray, night flare scene is at least in my environment and Sonos arc 5.1.2 setup, a repeatable height speaker effect bonanza. I've a small list of other digital content I have had the opportunity to verify and single out audible height effect for myself as well. 

I’m hoping 5.1.4 would bring that effect all the way from the front to the back of the sounds stage, but I’ve never had the opportunity to hear 5.1.4 before. 

I think the key aspect that at least I read out of @melvimbe ‘s response was the amount of Atmos content out there is relatively low. It’s effective for those few (less than 5%?) movies that have it, but it isn’t a common thing yet, so if Sonos were indeed to jump on that bandwagon, they’d be jumping on a currently unproven source. Kind of like how many TV manufacturers jumped on the 3D bandwagon, before it was a common technology.

But it does beg the question of the egg and the chicken, too, so who knows. 

I agree that atmos is better than a typical 5.1 setup.  I just have my doubts that 5.1.4 setup with all the atmos audio coming from upfiring speakers is going to be noticeably better than 5.1.2 given the limitations and geometry of the typical home setup.  Here’s the setup guide for a 7.1.4 system, and I will not be able to properly place the surround speakers to get the right effect from rear surround. Happy to be wrong if that’s the case.

It’s not really about atmos content alone, but atmos content where you’re going to have noticeable improvement between 2 and 4 atmos speakers.  It could be more than I imagine since atmos audio isn’t created in channels, but in coordinates where the sound should be coming, with the audio system then deciding which speaker is best for approximating the proper coordinates.  But you are correct that the number is likely to grow as more people have atmos system, more content is created and atmos, and producers learn how to better take advantage of the technology.

But, I honestly think having the proper room to take advantage of the tech is a bigger concern.  I don’t think most people are going to move their couch 5 feet forward so that they can hear atmos properly.  Sure, you are supposed to do that with surround sound at ear level anyway, but you still get a reasonably good effect if you don’t….rather than the audio completely missing the listening position.

If you went and demo'd the Sony HT-A9 I'm sure your perception would soon change to how much of a difference it is, or the new Samsung Q990B. 

As for content, pretty much everything released now is in Atmos. 

I actually have 1917 on Blu-ray but haven’t had the chance to watch it yet. I saw an early screening of the film in the theater and thought it was pretty incredible. I’ll be sure to check out the night flare scene for the height channel effects. I’m sure it will sound great.

Yes, many users will have limitations with their room setup. And those people will probably not gain any noticeable improvement with rear upward firing drivers. Your room limitations are probably why you haven’t been that impressed with Dolby Atmos content from the Arc in general. But many other users (including myself) do have an ideal room setup where the Arc’s upward firing drivers are very effective at producing height effects, and the addition of two more height channels will only result in a more immersive experience.

I am probably the exception, but I have a collection of about 200 Blu-ray discs and over 90 of those titles have Dolby Atmos audio. And many new, high-profile releases on Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ have Dolby Atmos audio. The Batman is a perfect example. I also recently watched the first two episodes of the new documentary Our Great National Parks with Barack Obama on Netflix and it has Dolby Atmos audio. And if you go on Apple Music or Amazon Music Unlimited, the amount of music available in Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio is pretty extensive.

All of that to say, I believe there is A LOT of really good Dolby Atmos content out there both on physical media and streaming, and it will only become more common in the years to come.

For me, this looks interesting as a speaker for my home office. 21 inches or so will fit under my main monitor easily.  

You quoted me saying that atmos is better than 5.1, so I don’t  know how you concluded that I’m not impressed with dolby atmos or the Arc.  I’m just not convinced that 4 upfiring speakers is better than 2, in a typical home environment.  I would love to be wrong about that.

To be clear on this point as well, I agree that there is a lot of Atmos content out there.  I am not convinced, and I am mostly guessing here, that there is a lot of content that’s created to sound better with 4 atmos speakers than 2.  Again, happy to be wrong about that.

I think that’s going to be another good use for this, although I think a lot of computers/laptops don’t have optical output.  An HDMI→ optical, or analog → optical, convertor will be required.

Looks like it’s just me then, that wants to use this small soundbar with my little ol’ Kitchen TV .. ha

My Wife thinks it’s the best idea Sonos as ever had, as it means I will likely do more of the cooking and washing up too .. oooeERR !!

I would want it for that purpose, if it made sense for my case.  I have a open space kitchen/living room, and the kitchen tv is setup to play in sync with the living room TV (w/Arc).  First world problems, but I can operate in the kitchen without turning around to catch what’s on TV.  I just don’t need or want sound with the kitchen TV.  Every other TV, and there are too many of them, is already connected to a Beam or Amp.

I do think people in general will want to use as a straight TV soundbar though.  If you bought a TV for under $250, which is pretty easy to do, you probably don’t want to spend almost twice that on a soundbar.

I’m pretty excited about the potential with this one! Seems like a super versatile all purpose speaker if Sonos allows it on the software side. Like others have said, it works under a TV or a monitor laying horizontally. It works as discrete front LR or upfiring surrounds in the vertical orientation. 

I CANNOT WAIT FOR MAY 25th!

https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/4/23056593/sonos-ray-soundbar-name-features-price-leak

@Simmz called it.  We have a winner!

Here’s  additional news; with actual images of the device.  Confirms optical port on the rear.  Also shows a tapered back end and mounting points in the back

It would be great to see the option of using two Rays in the vertical orientation as a stereo pair and being able to stream Dolby Atmos music to the Rays from the Sonos app.

darn, seems like if I were to get a pair for surround, it would have to be mounted - I’d like a vertical stand so I can use them where I currently place my Play:3’s on top of. 

Agreed,  and based on that picture, it certainly won’t be able to stand vertically on any side tables, like I’ve done in the past with PLAY:1s.
 

Should be an interesting time for makers of stands/mounts, which includes at this point, Sonos, I believe. The question then becomes if they’ve shared some info with other makers, such as Sanus and Flexson, etc. 

For Atmos, I assume you mean when bonded as surrounds with a Beam/Arc, right?  I can’t imagine this will do atmos music as stereo pair.  It could cover 2 fronts and 2 height channels at the most as a pair.  No center or rear channels...unless they do some psychoacoustics like they do with the Beam.

I was think there would surely be an option to add floor stands or table stands….but maybe not.  The speaker layout is symmetrically, pointing left/right when laying horizontal.  In vertical position, that means it has up firing speakers AND down firing speakers.  So perhas the intention is that these would need to placed above seating height (maybe 5-6 ft)  so rear channels point down to the main listening position?  Just guessing.  That may actually improve the height channels if the speaker is placed higher as well.  And still guessing the distance between back wall and seating area could be shorter...which is the case for a lot of living rooms I’d guess.

If that’s the case then wall mount is pretty much the only option as surrounds….or a really tall floor stand.

Do I get a free one for getting it right.

You get 15-30% off, if you own an existing older Sonos speaker.  

Well the ones will be placed elsewhere in the house if this is true. Based on the pictures I'm still not confident they will be able to be used as rears. Just the design, the size the shape... Even the badge would look odd when rotated unless it can also be moved. I'm trying to stay positive though and hope that these will be new upfiring Atmos rears. Sadly if it's not true then my Sonos days are over, as I just want that extra immersive experience which unfortunately the current rears can't provide. 

More leaks.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/5/23058306/sonos-ray-leaked-marketing-images