If this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
I dunno, Danny. In the tradition of confusing names, like Arc which uses ARC, I could see them calling it PLEX, which can use Plex.
Sounds like a lawsuit. Although ‘Flex’ is a powertool brand now I think, I imagine it’s a common enough word, and drastically different product, that it wouldn’t be a concern.
I think
There’s a link to the webcast here...but I don’t know if you need an invite password or something to get in. Never watched it myself. I believe I read the transcript from the last earnings call, and it wasn’t that interesting if you aren’t an investor.
I would bet that if there is a product announcement, they won’t go into too much detail about it on the investor call. That will focus on how the product will help the company...pretty much what investors want to know. There will likely be a separate press release about the new product for the press and general public to get information about it. And likely a Sonos announcement thread in the forums where questions can be addressed. But I guess.
If this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
If this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
I am confident Sonos is well aware their Sonos 5.1.2 customer base is waiting and waiting with money in hand for a Sonos ARC 5.1.4 solution. So while I am disappointed once again that Sonos seems silent or ignoring the many requests for an ARC 5.1.4 solution all over the internet, I was somewhat encouraged by this new products “potential” for 5.1.4 as you wrote and I post below, but then again maybe wishful thinking on the part of the rumor’s author. 21” tall surround speaker does seem a bit on the unusual maybe even ridiculous, but if it does deliver 5.1.4 to my Sonos ARC, I’ll buy it.
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.
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.
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
But it does beg the question of the egg and the chicken, too, so who knows.
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 this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
If this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
I am confident Sonos is well aware their Sonos 5.1.2 customer base is waiting and waiting with money in hand for a Sonos ARC 5.1.4 solution. So while I am disappointed once again that Sonos seems silent or ignoring the many requests for an ARC 5.1.4 solution all over the internet, I was somewhat encouraged by this new products “potential” for 5.1.4 as you wrote and I post below, but then again maybe wishful thinking on the part of the rumor’s author. 21” tall surround speaker does seem a bit on the unusual maybe even ridiculous, but if it does deliver 5.1.4 to my Sonos ARC, I’ll buy it.
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.
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.
+12
For me, this looks interesting as a speaker for my home office. 21 inches or so will fit under my main monitor easily. 🤔
Meh let down. It's been a good journey Sonos, sadly it's the end of the road. I pick up my Sony HT-A9 tomorrow. :)
Meh let down. It's been a good journey Sonos, sadly it's the end of the road. I pick up my Sony HT-A9 tomorrow. :)
Honestly, I’m happy if the Ray won’t be used for surrounds. I never really liked the idea of using that size/shape speaker as surrounds to begin with. And $558 for a pair of surround speakers is a little pricey.
If I were you, I would wait for the May 25 announcement. I have a feeling what they announce on the 25th will be much bigger than what was released today.
The Verge sort of let us down on the surround sound idea and on the price. Leaks are not always accurate.
There is a chance that the feature will be added later on, but if you look at the wall mount for the Ray, it doesn’t really look like it would work vertically. And I somewhat doubt they would build a separate mount for veritcal placement, if they didn’t need to.
On a positive note, it does look like you can easily slide the Ray on and off it’s wall mount, without tools or anything. I don’t know why you would really need to do that...but you can.
Goodbye old, hello new. Had to buy a new TV stand for them to fit. Hates me to say it, but they sounds miles better than the Arc, sub and rears. 😞 Trying to convince the wife to let me use the Sonos in a different room and not sell though, so shall see how that goes.
Have you got the sub also? Tempted to change my ARC for the sony setup… How do you find it with no dedicated centre channel?
No, haven't got the sub yet. I will be adding it, but need to save some more cash haha. Center channel is fine upon the tests I've done. Only tried it for around an hour so far, but can't say I notice not having a center channel. The height effects though are so good and that's where it really makes the arc sound weak. I like new technology and hats of to the Sony engineers on this one.
I prefer the aesthetics of the Arc over the Sony, but I’m sure the Sony system sounds great.
I think the important question is does the Sony system sound $650 better than the Arc system?
Here’s a great comparison of the two systems:
https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/tools/compare/sonos-arc-with-sub-one-sl-speakers-vs-sony-ht-a9-with-bass-module/15256/28848
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!
If the news is true here, then (after I’ve checked things out with a tape measure) I would certainly consider purchasing one of these for use with the small TV in our Kitchen, as we already have 2x Sonos One’s in that area, plus the ‘old’ 28” TV has optical/no Arc port - so it seems ideal for that use-case, particularly if all can be ‘bonded’ together.
Even better, if I can perhaps also keep using ‘Alexa’ on the ‘Ones’ when their acting as surrounds.
Using two as vertical surrounds … I just can’t see SWMBO allowing me to fix two of these Soundbars vertical to our Lounge wall as surrounds to our Arc, but maybe if there is a ‘nice’ stand that holds them in that orientation I might take a closer look at that option.
I’m thinking Fury will not be the final product name. Sticking along the same theme as Beam and Arc, here are some similar/synonyms.
joist
purlin
girder
spar
support
strut
stay
brace
scantling
batten
transom
lintel
stringer
balk
board
timber
plank
lath
If I had a vote, I’d go with ‘Strut’.
Sonos Crossbeam seeing how it's a cross between the beam and rear speakers :p
Plus also continues the alphabet - Arc, Beam ;)
I like it. I get the feeling Sonos marketing won’t, as it’s longer than Sonos other names. The seem to like one syllable names with 4 letters or less.(Arc, Beam, Amp, Port, One, Five, Beam, Move). And I bet they think it will be confused with the Beam….although confusing product names has never been a problem before.
I have always thought that the ‘Arc’ and ‘Beam’ names were perhaps based on a form of ‘light’, so my guess would be ‘Sonos Ray’, ‘Sonos Glow’ (perhaps shortened to ‘Glo’), or ‘Sonos Stream’.
Anyone know if the event is behind closed doors or will be streamed online? Only a month away now.
I dunno, Danny. In the tradition of confusing names, like Arc which uses ARC, I could see them calling it PLEX, which can use Plex.
I think
This website has 29 higher resolution photos of the Ray:
No sign of it been shown vertically 😭
According to this article, the Ray will be available June 7 for $279 USD.
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1652276972
If this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
If this is true, I’m not sure what I think about it. I guess there is a market for lower-priced sound bars, and I’m sure the “Fury” would sound great in a small room. The article also mentions that it can be used as a surround speaker in its vertical orientation. That would make for a REALLY tall surround speaker at over 21” tall.
I was really hoping for a One or Three with an upward firing driver instead.
What are your thoughts?
I am confident Sonos is well aware their Sonos 5.1.2 customer base is waiting and waiting with money in hand for a Sonos ARC 5.1.4 solution. So while I am disappointed once again that Sonos seems silent or ignoring the many requests for an ARC 5.1.4 solution all over the internet, I was somewhat encouraged by this new products “potential” for 5.1.4 as you wrote and I post below, but then again maybe wishful thinking on the part of the rumor’s author. 21” tall surround speaker does seem a bit on the unusual maybe even ridiculous, but if it does deliver 5.1.4 to my Sonos ARC, I’ll buy it.
“Sonos anticipates that a fair number of customers will use the new soundbar as paired surrounds for the high-end Sonos Arc. And so, for that reason, the company has created a wall mount that will allow Fury — again, that’s just the codename and I’m unsure of its final branding — to be mounted vertically in addition to the standard horizontal orientation. If you’re wondering why anyone would do that, look closer at the drivers to the sides: they’re slightly angled and theoretically, when positioned vertically, they might do a better job at routing Atmos height audio towards the ceiling than something like a Sonos One SL.” -Chris Welch
Yeah, which is why it will probably be fury. I quite like Sonos Ray.
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.
With you on this one, do hope they can be used as rears..
Seems like they’ve jumped the press embargo time restraint, thanks for the link.
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