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7.1 audio speaker options?

So Sonos came with the Era series this year and some of  customers were under the impression that the Era 100 being a replacement for the Ones were going to be see an upgrade that included upward firing speakers for rear surround applications.. However this didn’t happen..  

 

Era 300 offers a 7.1 upgrade from traditional 5.1 but was introduced as a stand alone speaker specifically not as dedicated rear theater speakers and is pretty large in size which isn’t always applicable for most standard size rooms to be used as rears. They also come with a hefty price so that brings the question ..

 

1. Will Sonos design a Atmos rear speaker that allows you to upgrade from 5.1 to 7.1, that is smaller/ corner friendly that is a more affordable option to suit customers that have standard size living spaces? 
 

something similar to the Ones’s or Era 100’s esthetic design with upward firing speakers and 7.1???

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14 replies

G
Userlevel 7

Sonos doesn’t announce what products they are currently developing. But my guess is a smaller version of the Era 300 designed primary to be used as surrounds in a home theater setup would be highly unlikely, at least in the near future. There is a reason why they didn’t include the upward and side firing drivers on the Era 100 to begin with.

I consider my living room to be pretty average in size (around 13’ x 19’ with an 8’ ceiling) and I think the Era 300s as surrounds are the perfect size.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
N
Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Since Sonos doesn’t announce new products much ahead of release, I don’t think you’ll get a definitive answer to this. And since this is a user community the best you’re likely to get is speculation and wishful thinking. 

C

Sonos doesn’t announce what products they are currently developing. But my guess is a smaller version of the Era 300 designed primary to be used as surrounds in a home theater setup would be highly unlikely, at least in the near future. There is a reason why they didn’t include the upward and side firing drivers on the Era 100 to begin with.

I consider my living room to be pretty average in size (around 13’ x 19’ with an 8’ ceiling) and I think the Era 300s as surrounds are the perfect size.

Is your seating backed up to a wall? I could be wrong but I can’t imagine a 300 sitting basically right next to my head .. others have said it drowns out the Arc when this is the scenario 🤷‍♂️

Since Sonos doesn’t announce new products much ahead of release, I don’t think you’ll get a definitive answer to this. And since this is a user community the best you’re likely to get is speculation and wishful thinking. 

Yeah you are right.. guess we just hope that Sonos actually reads what customers are saying 👍

melvimbe

You stated you’re looking for 7.1 audio, but also wanted atmos...did you mean 7,1.4 (4 being the number of atmos channels)?  Anyway, it seems unlikely that Sonos would come out with a speaker that has the same functions of he Era 300, but smaller size and cheaper price.  That would drastically under cut the sales of their own products.

Sonos did invest in a company that had a technology to create woofers with a smaller physical footprint, which could theoretically do everything the Era 300 does  in a smaller footprint.  But that is surely a few years away from release, and doubtful that it will be significantly cheaper than the Era 300 if/when it arrives.  I would think we’d see that in a Sonos soundbar or sub before it arrives in a stand alone atmos speaker.

edit: Want to add that Sonos does not like to create speakers that are specialized for surround sound duty only.  They never have.  They would rather give you features you don’t need, or even can’t use, than create a stripped down version of speaker that can only be used for surround. The one exception would be voice control.

Danny
G
Userlevel 7

Is your seating backed up to a wall? I could be wrong but I can’t imagine a 300 sitting basically right next to my head .. others have said it drowns out the Arc when this is the scenario 🤷‍♂️

My sofa is backed up to a wall. But because the front-facing driver on the Era 300 is disabled when used as a surround speaker, the surround audio is less direct on the Era 300 than the One.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
C

You stated you’re looking for 7.1 audio, but also wanted atmos...did you mean 7,1.4 (4 being the number of atmos channels)?  Anyway, it seems unlikely that Sonos would come out with a speaker that has the same functions of he Era 300, but smaller size and cheaper price.  That would drastically under cut the sales of their own products.

Sonos did invest in a company that had a technology to create woofers with a smaller physical footprint, which could theoretically do everything the Era 300 does  in a smaller footprint.  But that is surely a few years away from release, and doubtful that it will be significantly cheaper than the Era 300 if/when it arrives.  I would think we’d see that in a Sonos soundbar or sub before it arrives in a stand alone atmos speaker.

edit: Want to add that Sonos does not like to create speakers that are specialized for surround sound duty only.  They never have.  They would rather give you features you don’t need, or even can’t use, than create a stripped down version of speaker that can only be used for surround. The one exception would be voice control.


yeah the 300 does the 7.1.4..  when posting I was speaking generally in the respect of a 7.1 option in a smaller footprint..

 

Another thing which would be awesome to see is the ability to add a left and right front option which is easily doable through a software update 👍

C

Is your seating backed up to a wall? I could be wrong but I can’t imagine a 300 sitting basically right next to my head .. others have said it drowns out the Arc when this is the scenario 🤷‍♂️

My sofa is backed up to a wall. But because the front-facing driver on the Era 300 is disabled when used as a surround speaker, the surround audio is less direct on the Era 300 than the One.

Thats a good point 👍.   Ive just repositioned my ones from ceiling height angled down to being at ear level.. definitely better at ear level but have had to turn the surrounds down to help lesson the drown out of the arc and lesson the effect of the directional sound 

melvimbe

Another thing which would be awesome to see is the ability to add a left and right front option which is easily doable through a software update 👍

 

How do you know that it’s an easy software update? 

Danny
C

Another thing which would be awesome to see is the ability to add a left and right front option which is easily doable through a software update 👍

 

How do you know that it’s an easy software update? 

They have software for L&R rear channels.. we’re basically talking about adding in L&R fronts

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Another thing which would be awesome to see is the ability to add a left and right front option which is easily doable through a software update 👍

 

How do you know that it’s an easy software update? 


Everything’s easy when you’re not the one that has to implement it 😜

P

I would just like to say..Sonos, if you’re listening…there is a home theater market within the Sonos owner community that is being badly underserved by not allowing the expansion to 7.1 and beyond.  I initially took my step into the Sonos world 4 years ago with the Arc and Sub, for a couple for reasons.  To me it seemed like the best/quickest way to get premium, wireless, Atmos-supported sound in my home theater setup without taking the full plunge into a full home theater setup with a receiver, and all the wiring that would entail, etc.  While I had become sold on the whole Sonos “experience” and quality through friends and family, the biggest appeal to me was the fact that I would have the ability to incrementally add on speakers to expand my setup at my own pace.  This is a huge selling point for me.  


About six months after getting my Arc/Sub, I added a pair of Ones for my rears and completed my theater surround setup.  I am happy with it, don’t get me wrong.  But the desire to grow my setup hasn’t gone away, both on the audio and visual side.  If I had the ability, I would absolutely LOVE to add some front L/R channels and/or additional side speakers for even more authentic surround sound and Atmos capabilities.  The fact that home theater owners are “capped” where we are, when we are actively looking for reasons to buy more speakers seems extremely counterintuitive to me and I think deserves some explanation at the very least.

 

Four years ago, I had to call Sonos customer support when I ran into an issue setting up my system, and at one point I brought up this question about future surround expansion.  I was told then that there were actually plans in the works for this and to be on the lookout.  Well, four years later and not a word.  I love Sonos and want to stay loyal, but I really think home theater Sonos users deserve some clarification on why a sound system whose core appeal is its modular/customizable nature doesn’t allow them to maximize the potential of what true theater surround sound can be.  In a world where there are more and more wireless options for surround sound coming to the market, I really think this needs to be addressed.

 

 

 

jgatie

I really can’t fathom why “Sonos doesn’t announce what products they are currently developing” is so difficult for some to understand.  They don’t owe anyone anything, except a product and/or service in exchange for your money.  

jgatie

They have software for L&R rear channels.. we’re basically talking about adding in L&R fronts

 

L&R fronts that are already being routed to L&R front speakers in the soundbar, which may or may not mean they can be rerouted via software.  Also in question is sufficient bandwidth and low enough latency to send it out wirelessly with acceptable video sync and reliability. 

P

I really can’t fathom why “Sonos doesn’t announce what products they are currently developing” is so difficult for some to understand.  They don’t owe anyone anything, except a product and/or service in exchange for your money.  

 

Hey, maybe the way it was worded made it seem like I was owed something, but that wasn’t really the intent.  The intent was just to add to the voices of Sonos users who want this, assuming anyone at Sonos is reading this.  If Sonos doesn’t think there’s enough demand for it, then there’s little motivation for them to roll something like that out right?.  So it was just going on good faith that customer feedback should count for something and there’s nothing wrong with constructive criticism.  I understand that there might be Wifi limitations that prevent it, or it could be something they’re quietly working to solve, or maybe they just don’t think there’s enough demand to justify the complex solution that it would entail.  But without knowing for sure, the best I can do is offer my perspective and voice the demand. 

Eventually there’s going to be a fork in the road where I’m going to be looking to upgrade my home theater setup and it may be that I have to sell my Sonos system and go for something else.  Obviously...they’ll be fine regardless, but I’m just saying that I’d prefer to stay with Sonos and keep building on my system for the longterm.  The love of my existing Sonos system is precisely what makes me so keen to upgrade it and build on it into the future.  Hope that clears it up.  Peace.

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