Introducing Era 300

Hi @Jimmy C 

This is correct, yes - to play Amazon Ultra HD content, you’d need a Sub (Gen 3) or Sub Mini bonded to your Era 300s (or have no Sub bonded).

Got it - thanks for confirming!

Looking forward to my two Era300's. T-10 

Q: I will setup the Era 300's in combination with Beam Gen 2 and Sub Mini as a surround set. 
Is it also possible to only select the Era 300's as a stereo sound set for e.g. streaming music Spotify/Apple Music. So not using the Beam? 

I will also test and (defintely) enjoy the spatial audio, atmos sound when streaming music! 

Did I already say T-10 😉 

Once you set it up as a home theater configuration you can not select only the Era 300’s for music listening. You would have to reconfigure and unbond them from the Beam and sub mini to use only the Era’s for music.

Or just get another two Era-300’s, pair them and stick them out in front for music playback.😁

Thanks for clarification.

That's indeed what I expected. Constantly swapping in the S2 app - surround/stereo pair is not my preference. I hoped because now Bluetooth has been added I thought direct audio streaming would be possible (on top of the surround set up). Nevertheless I will enjoy these two eras anyway. 

Add another two Era300's 😵: I'm still sweating for pitching my business case to my wife for the first pair of 300's. I can see it as a challenge. BTW still working on my LG G3 story-line 😉

Great feature addition. Looking forward to the day when the speaker array configures itself based on situation, ambient acoustics as well as user input. 

@Corry P I have a question about the Era 300s and the height channels when used with a Beam (Gen 2). When playing Dolby Atmos audio, does the Beam play the virtualized front left and front right height channels while the Era 300s play the rear left and rear right height channels from the upward-firing drivers? Or do the Era 300s play the combined front and rear height channels along with the Beam’s virtualized height effects?

Taken from a post online: The stream is dictated by the least capable speaker in the group, so if a grouped speaker is not Atmos capable, it will result in the overall stream playing in stereo.

The former - Beam (gen 2) will virtualise the front height channels, while the 300s will play the rear height channels (as well as the other rear channels).

thankyou for identifying that

So after talking myself out of buying the era 300s since announcement, thinking i knew best and stating (rear effects are often subtle and the era 300 will be overkill) I have realised my error and gone and bought a pair of era 300s lol.

I will pair them with the sub mini and beam (gen 2) (until Sonos release a new soundbar). (7.1.4) 2 virtual side and 2 virtual front.

Reason for my purchase was watching Peter Pees review and reading here (I did not realise that 2 side channels are virtualised with the era 300s).  Also, I am in a small space and the sonos ones the era 300s will replace can’t really sit far behind my head (they’re at ear level to the sides of my sofa) and as they fire directly forward it can be detracting (feeling more like side channels to rears sometimes).  Hearing reviews of how it is difficult to pinpoint where the sound is coming from with the era 300s and that placement isn’t as important i think for my situation they will be a massive upgrade for the rear immersion and so something to note.   Excited to receive them.

Yes, that's correct. When you have two Sonos Arc speakers paired with a sub for Atmos audio, and you are streaming music to other non-spatial audio enabled Sonos zones at the same time, the audio signal will automatically be downmixed to stereo for those zones. This is because those zones do not have the capability to process the spatial audio information necessary for Atmos audio playback. So, in essence, those zones will still receive the audio stream, but it will not be in spatial audio format.

A couple of things I’ve noticed that had not been mentioned in the press or by other, although I may have missed it.  There is no Balance Control for the ERA 300’s.  Well not when two are paired anyway.  Also the Trueplay option seems to be the same as the Fives.  There is no mention of the internal Mic driven Trueplay.

Apple Atmos works a treat too.

I bought these to replace two Sonos 5’s Gen 2.   The 300’s come alive when my Sub Gen 2 is bonded but doing a like for like takes time, moving the sub and re-trueplay tuning so it’s hard to make a side by side comparison.  It’s not better or worse but is a different listening experience.  Will see how or if that favours one or the other set of speakers.

Received my two Era300's this afternoon (CET) via my best friend DHL . I almost hugged him…

Unpacked, installed, trueplay-d etc. Added Apple Music Dlby Atmos songs to my playlist and started to stream them via the S2 app. 

What an improvement of listening to music. Goose bumps!! Luckily also favorite tracks my wife likes a lot. Will ‘demonstrate’ them to her when she comes home from a hard day of work. That might justify my investment for these two Era 300's 😉. 

Hopefully over time the S2 app becomes even more user friendly and will also Apple Music Classic be supported via the S2 app. Take your time tomorrow is time enough 😂

A big thank you and enjoy launch day of these new gems. A new era of listening to music has just been started. 

Hi @BrianBosch 

Fantastic! Thanks for the feedback!

@Corry P Some users on Reddit have noticed that when the 300s are used as surrounds, they don’t hear any audio playing out of the front-facing drivers. Is this how it is supposed to function?

Hi @GuitarSuperstar 

Yes, this is by design when Era 300s are configured as surround speakers.

So you say when you set it up as a home theater, the Era 300’s only can use with the Soundbar? 
 

I hace the same problem, I have an ARC. I want to add two speakers as rear speaker of my home theatre. But I want to use the speakers with my home theatre and also individually. Its not possibe?

Indeed. Not when you have them integrated as surround speakers. Only ‘solution’ is to delete the surround setup in the S2 app and create a stereo pair. Would be nice (if technically possible?) this would be a sort of  slider funtion’ in the app.  

It’s not possible to instantly toggle from one configuration to another.  Switching between the two requires reconfiguring the radios from a standard 2.4 GHz mode to a 5 GHz direct parent/child mode.  Each new configuration requires a series of handshakes to get the connection correct, which is why setting up surrounds takes a bit of time.  This configuration time is not convenient for those wanting an instant toggle between surrounds and standalone stereo.

Can you not set the surround Audio Music Level to + (pick a level) and Music playback to Full to get full audio out of the Arc and Era 300s ?

Connecting Era 300 to a Turntable

I understand this can be done via the Line in Adapter (USB C to 3.5mm) , £19.95 and out of stock until June. Could I use any USB C to 3.5mm cable i.e this one from amazon . Also would a USB C to 2 x RCA work ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MOSWAG-Headphone-Adapter-Dongle-Samsung-Black/dp/B0BHST4CDY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1IV0Q1SFKZ0FL&keywords=usb+c+to+line+in&qid=1680686585&sprefix=usb+c+to+line+in%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

 No. The Sonos dongle is 3.5m  to USB C, not USB C to 3.5mm.

Yes, but the question answered was about playing the surround speakers as a pair without including the soundbar.