When the Era 300s are used as surrounds with the Arc or Beam (Gen 2), is it considered a 5.1.4 or 7.1.4 setup? What specific channels do the side-firing drivers of the Era 300 play when playing a 7.1 or 5.1 audio track?
When the Era 300s are used as surrounds with the Arc or Beam (Gen 2), is it considered a 5.1.4 or 7.1.4 setup? What specific channels do the side-firing drivers of the Era 300 play when playing a 7.1 or 5.1 audio track?
Also interested in this.
When the Era 300s are used as surrounds with the Arc or Beam (Gen 2), is it considered a 5.1.4 or 7.1.4 setup? What specific channels do the side-firing drivers of the Era 300 play when playing a 7.1 or 5.1 audio track?
7.1.4 according to https://www.theverge.com/23627044/sonos-era-300-100-announced-price-features-hands-on
“…the two Era 300s in back each output standard rear channels (four and five) and work together on expanded left and right (6 and 7). The four height channels are a combination of the Arc and 300s. Combine all that with the Sub, and that’s how you come out with 7.1.4 Atmos.”
When the Era 300s are used as surrounds with the Arc or Beam (Gen 2), is it considered a 5.1.4 or 7.1.4 setup? What specific channels do the side-firing drivers of the Era 300 play when playing a 7.1 or 5.1 audio track?
7.1.4 according to https://www.theverge.com/23627044/sonos-era-300-100-announced-price-features-hands-on
“…the two Era 300s in back each output standard rear channels (four and five) and work together on expanded left and right (6 and 7). The four height channels are a combination of the Arc and 300s. Combine all that with the Sub, and that’s how you come out with 7.1.4 Atmos.”
Arst Technica also confirms. Happy to finally see upward firing surround speakers! I hope we get reviews soon.
Doesn’t really matter but there’s a small typo in the announcement post, seems like it’s $20 cheaper than on sonos.com
Is there any guidance on placement regarding Atmos with the Era 300s? I’m debating wall mounts vs stands. Walls are about six feet behind the couch - would that be too far for Atmos to be effective for mounted era 300s? 8.5 ft ceilings if that factors in at all
Wow $428 CAD after taxes for a pair of stands. This is ridiculous.
This is about the specs that I was expecting in given the links. I was hoping to see a set of 2 Era 300s and a Sub mini, but don’t see it. I would assume these can be bonded as a room? It’s the sub mini perhaps not fit for atmos audio?
When the Era 300s are used as surrounds with the Arc or Beam (Gen 2), is it considered a 5.1.4 or 7.1.4 setup? What specific channels do the side-firing drivers of the Era 300 play when playing a 7.1 or 5.1 audio track?
7.1.4 according to https://www.theverge.com/23627044/sonos-era-300-100-announced-price-features-hands-on
“…the two Era 300s in back each output standard rear channels (four and five) and work together on expanded left and right (6 and 7). The four height channels are a combination of the Arc and 300s. Combine all that with the Sub, and that’s how you come out with 7.1.4 Atmos.”
So does this mean the two side-firing drivers on the surround speaker will both play the side surround channel of a 7.1 audio track? And on a 5.1 audio track, the front and side-firing drivers will all play the rear surround channel?
Also, I’m still reading some reports that when the 300s are used with the Beam, it is still only a 5.1.4 setup.
This is about the specs that I was expecting in given the links. I was hoping to see a set of 2 Era 300s and a Sub mini, but don’t see it. I would assume these can be bonded as a room? It’s the sub mini perhaps not fit for atmos audio?
I’d assume so. In the FAQ, it states “Era 300 has great bass on its own. For a richer, more powerful sound experience, we recommend pairing Era 300 with Sub (any generation).”
What is the price of this cool device?
So does this mean the two side-firing drivers on the surround speaker will both play the side surround channel of a 7.1 audio track? And on a 5.1 audio track, the front and side-firing drivers will all play the rear surround channel?
Also, I’m still reading some reports that when the 300s are used with the Beam, it is still only a 5.1.4 setup.
IMO, and it’s just that, I’m not going to get to hung up on the volume of channels per se. If your source is stereo, you get 2 stereo. If you get a source in surround sound, you get 5.1(or 2 with 2 subs) audio. If you get a source with atmos, them the Arc or Beam is going to use the meta data to send audio to the appropriate speaker to give the most accurate location for the sound. Obviously, using an Arc + E300s + sub(s) will do a better job of that then Beam +E300s + sub(s), regardless of whether you call it 7.1.4 or 5.1.4. And of course, all the different variations of a home theatre setup, and your room acoustics, will have an impact as well.
This is about the specs that I was expecting in given the links. I was hoping to see a set of 2 Era 300s and a Sub mini, but don’t see it. I would assume these can be bonded as a room? It’s the sub mini perhaps not fit for atmos audio?
I’d assume so. In the FAQ, it states “Era 300 has great bass on its own. For a richer, more powerful sound experience, we recommend pairing Era 300 with Sub (any generation).”
Yes, I saw that, but I didn’t know if sub mini is considered a generation of the sub. In technical terms, it’s not. As well, a recommendation doesn’t say whether a sub mini can be bonded to the Era 300. My plan is to use the Era 300s as stereo pair for atmos music, and much prefer the mini for music since it’s sealed, rather than ported like the full sub.
What is the price of this cool device?
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/era-300 in US.
I don‘t like the design of Era 300 as surround speakers - they are to big imho. For many other use cases they will be fantastic for sure.
I was waiting for upfiring-rear speakers with the design like the Era 100…
This is about the specs that I was expecting in given the links. I was hoping to see a set of 2 Era 300s and a Sub mini, but don’t see it. I would assume these can be bonded as a room? It’s the sub mini perhaps not fit for atmos audio?
I’d assume so. In the FAQ, it states “Era 300 has great bass on its own. For a richer, more powerful sound experience, we recommend pairing Era 300 with Sub (any generation).”
Sub not Sub Mini. Semantics but important nonetheless.
I don‘t like the design of Era 300 as surround speakers - they are to big imho. For many other use cases they will be fantastic for sure.
I was waiting for upfiring-rear speakers with the design like the Era 100…
It’s been said by those who have seen the device in person that marketing images have it appear bigger than it actually is. Might be good to measure it out in the space you want to see how it looks. However, you do also need to consider that it needs extra space to the sides and above.
This is about the specs that I was expecting in given the links. I was hoping to see a set of 2 Era 300s and a Sub mini, but don’t see it. I would assume these can be bonded as a room? It’s the sub mini perhaps not fit for atmos audio?
I’d assume so. In the FAQ, it states “Era 300 has great bass on its own. For a richer, more powerful sound experience, we recommend pairing Era 300 with Sub (any generation).”
Sub not Sub Mini. Semantics but important nonetheless.
That’s why I said assume so, as Sub is not Sub Mini.
Sonos are recommending the Era 300s to be used with the Sub, but they can probably be used with the Sub Mini.
Thanks for looking this up. Didn’t think to look there.
Looking on a post on Reddit it seems these new speakers won't work on Sonosnet like the portable ones. That could be an issue for some?
Looking on a post on Reddit it seems these new speakers won't work on Sonosnet like the portable ones. That could be an issue for some?
That’s amazing and I assume a big surprise to most - many who will have just assumed it would work on Sonosnet. The main reason given for Roam and Move not supporting Sonosnet was they could move around and make hard work of keeping the mesh stable.
I really wonder what the reasoning is for these? Sure, we know WiFi in general is getting better and better but there are still many who prefer Sonosnet and quite a few issues even now are caused by speakers starting to connect to WiFi that you don’t want to - because the system then knows WiFi credentials.
Looking on a post on Reddit it seems these new speakers won't work on Sonosnet like the portable ones. That could be an issue for some?
That’s amazing and I assume a big surprise to most - many who will have just assumed it would work on Sonosnet. The main reason given for Roam and Move not supporting Sonosnet was they could move around and make hard work of keeping the mesh stable.
I really wonder what the reasoning is for these? Sure, we know WiFi in general is getting better and better but there are still many who prefer Sonosnet and quite a few issues even now are caused by speakers starting to connect to WiFi that you don’t want to - because the system then knows WiFi credentials.
I agree and I'm surprised, but that link to the Sonos page seems to suggest they won't work on Sonosnet. I have a boost for my non portable speakers and it has definitely helped in my home.
I don’t think it merely suggest they won’t work, it literally states they’re not compatible with it.
- Era 100
- Era 300
- Move
- Roam
- Roam SL
It even says, in the ‘Wired setup’ section that that setup “means it’s possible for Sonos to operate in a room that is beyond the reach of your WiFi.”. By definition they’re saying you can’t use these speakers out of range of your router. Reality is you can - but not without complicating your network setup somewhat - and maybe moving into supposed non-supported setups.
Thank you @sjw That is definitely a negative for me. I hadn't imagined for one minute that the Eras would not support sonosnet.
So if you have two Era 300’s paired with a sub for a really nice Atmos listening experience and you are streaming the same music to other non spatial audio enabled Sonos zones at the same time does the signal just revert to stereo for the zones that can’t handle it?
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