Beam 2: does a sub improve voice richness and clarity?

Question

I know this may sound controversial but I find my Sonos Ray more full bodied in voices compared to the beam 2 which I also have. This is normally experienced during regular TV broadcast, news etc. Voices have a bit more umph and clairty whereas the Beam is cleaner and neutral, well almost flat if you will. Make no mistake, when playing proper Dolby Atmos or 5.1 with some fat “hollywood mixing” the beam is miles ahead.

But maybe 85% of the time I just watch the news, stream documentaries, series and listen to people talk. Was is overkill to get the Beam?

Bascially what I am missing is a richer, warmer sound in the voice frequencies. Earlier I only had the Beam but now I also have the Ray and can do real comparisons using same TV, same room, same settings and what not. I have also used Trueplay on both. The Ray is consistently more “bassy” and rich wheras the Beam is a bit flatter. According AI (sorry) this might be due to the signal but also design and purpose of the two soundbars. The Ray with its forward approach and active bass reflex vs Beams ambition to spread the sound and use passive radiators. And perhaps Sonos taking for granted that most Beam users would probably add more speakers and sub. Not sure.

Anywaaay...as I said I don’t have ANY complaints about the beam in movies and sound effects. The bass is massive and immersive - especially in Atmos. So now my question:

Would a sub added to the beam improve the bass/richness in voices or would it just annoy my neighbours with even more rumble in explosions while keeping the same somewhat flat sound in voices?

And just to repeat myself - I have run Trueplay on the beam and settings are the same as the Ray and I have tried every setting in the book. The Ray is more bassy and warmer default and I can’t seem to mimic that with Beam stand alone unit.

Airgetlam · Answer

Hard to say. It would relieve your Beam from trying to, at the same time, reproduce the lower frequencies in sound, by moving them over to the sub, but it’s challenging as to whether that results in a change in what you’re hearing. Since Sonos offers a ‘buy and try’ buyback period, I’d suggest a purchase from them and adding a Sub to see if it rounds out your experience. If it doesn’t, you can just return it to Sonos.

Conversely, you may be able to find a local retailer willing to set up the experience for you, and do your testing that way. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Beam to test with, but I’ve never bothered to remove my Subs from their associated Arcs.

When I was worried about neighbors, I used the handy volume controls for the separate Sonos Sub, since bass energy tends to transfer more easily, but once I had that set up the way I wanted, I never touched it.

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