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Mike H
Retired Sonos Staff
March 7, 2023

Introducing Era 300

Related content:Hardware
Introducing Era 300

Hi all,

Today we introduce Era 300: an unmatched spatial audio experience with Dolby Atmos for listeners and creators alike.

Era 300

Unprecedented for a single compact speaker, Era 300 boasts six powerful drivers that direct sound left, right, forward and upward, delivering a breakthrough audio performance featuring Dolby Atmos that places listeners at the very heart of their movies and music.

  • Designed for spatial: Era 300 wraps its beautifully complex acoustic architecture in an elegantly cinched hourglass design, with every angle, proportion and perforation enhancing the direction and dispersion of sound to truly surround you.

  • Surreal surround sound: Era 300 is the brand’s first speaker that delivers multi-channel surround sound when used as home theater rears. Movie fans can pair two speakers with Arc or Beam (Gen 2) to create a supercharged Dolby Atmos experience that draws them deeper into the action.

  • Deep music industry collaboration: Sonos worked closely with its community of leading artists and creators - including Sonos Soundboard members - to meticulously fine-tune Era 300 so listeners can enjoy sound straight from the studio that’s true to the artist’s intent. 

Era 300 from the back

 

Premium, responsible design that keeps everyone in mind

Building on Sonos’s timeless acoustic-driven design aesthetic, Era 100 and Era 300 are responsive to the challenges facing our environment—and better for everyone who interacts with our designs, featuring a bold new UI and innovations that will help them last longer, use less energy and make use of recycled materials in each product. 

  • More sustainable sound: Era 100 and Era 300 are made with post consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and packaged in 100% sustainably sourced paper, while also engineered to reduce power consumption with under two watts idle power consumption and a new advanced sleep function.

  • Built to last: Designed to live in your home for years, both speakers are built for serviceability by reducing the use of adhesives and transitioning to screws for easy disassembly and repair.

  • Bold, new UI: Era 100 and Era 300 feature an intuitive new user interface, including a new capacitive volume slider for simple control that complements quick and private control of your music with Sonos Voice Control, the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth®.

  • Upgraded connectivity: Stream all the audio you care about using WiFi or Bluetooth, and directly connect other audio devices such as a turntable using an auxiliary cable and the Sonos Line-In Adapter.

  • Expanding Trueplay to more listeners: Using the microphone array in Era 100 and Era 300, Trueplay optimizes the sound for the unique acoustics of your space with just a tap in the Sonos app. Available to both Android and iOS users.

Era 300 will be available for pre-order on sonos.com today, and globally starting March 28 2023 for $449USD, £449, €499 and $749 AUS. For more information, please visit Sonos.com

Read the full press release for Era 100 and Era 300 here.

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122 replies

SarahN
Local Superstar
March 9, 2023

Thanks @Corry P - I thought that would be the case but just wanted to check. So will sound come out of the top speakers, but just not atmos channels?

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆
Corry P
Sonos Staff
March 9, 2023

@Corry P 

You stated earlier that the Era 300’s + Arc + Sub = 7.1.4 (fantastic btw) with the two side channels being virtualized. Does that mean the Beam (Gen 2) is also 7.1.4 with 2 height and 2 side channels virtualized, or is the Beam (Gen 2) going to be 5.1.4 with the Era 300’s? Also is the 7.1.4 going to be officially documented on either the product or support pages somewhere? I saw it verge article yesterday, then I just saw you comment on it earlier in this post, but I couldn’t find it “officially” listed anywhere…

The Beam (Gen2) plus Era 300s will also deliver 7.1.4, but the Era 300s will be responsible for virtualising the side channels.

I will pass your feedback regarding the documentation to the right team.

I was also wondering, since we are finally getting real 7.1 support, will the Sonos S2 App display Dolby Atmos (5.1) vs Dolby Atmos (7.1) so we know what the audio (movie / tv show / streaming service / music) source is actually outputting at? I know I have seen the app within the “About my system” display things like Dolby TrueHD, PCM 5.1/7.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, etc.. But usually with most streaming services it just displays “Dolby Atmos.” In the past it hasn’t mattered since the Arc + Rear + Sub only technically did 5.1.2, but now with it doing 7.1.4 it would be interesting to see the difference with the source is outputting 7.1 Atmos content vs 5.1 Atmos content. Could also help with troubleshooting? Just curious. :)

When it comes to the actual stream, it makes no difference. Atmos audio is object based, rather than channel based. This means that when the audio track is mixed, rather than assigning each sound to a particular channel, or a mix of them, it’s instead assigned a source coordinate. It is up to the decoder (the Arc or Beam) to figure out how to render that sound with it’s given coordinates according to it’s own known ability (the speakers it has available to it). I’m confident, therefore, that the app will always just say “Atmos”.

I hope this makes sense. The technicalities of it can be found on this Wikipedia page.

Pre-ordered my 300’s! Can’t wait to hear the difference after replacing my current Sonos One SL rears... As good as the Arc height channels are, I always feel like it needs more, so I am hoping this is going to be just what I have been waiting for… I might even get a 2nd sub, and just go full 7.2.4 :) 

Fantastic! I might be a little bit jealous.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Corry P
Sonos Staff
March 9, 2023

Thanks @Corry P - I thought that would be the case but just wanted to check. So will sound come out of the top speakers, but just not atmos channels?

Correct.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Lyricist I
March 13, 2023

Thanks foe sharing this.

Prominent Collaborator II
March 13, 2023

@Corry P

Amazon Ultra HD audio is not supported by the Sub (Gen 2). Would that still be the case if the Sub (Gen 2) was bonded/paired with two Era 300s?  I am assuming the audio would still revert to non-Ultra HD audio due to the Sub (Gen 2)’s limitation, but wanted to confirm.  Thanks.

HT: Arc + Era 300s + Subs (G3/G2) + Sony A80L + Sony UBP-X800M2
Corry P
Sonos Staff
March 14, 2023

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).

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Prominent Collaborator II
March 14, 2023

Got it - thanks for confirming!

HT: Arc + Era 300s + Subs (G3/G2) + Sony A80L + Sony UBP-X800M2
BrianBosch
Lyricist III
March 18, 2023

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 😉 

Prominent Collaborator II
March 18, 2023


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? 

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.

HT: Arc + Era 300s + Subs (G3/G2) + Sony A80L + Sony UBP-X800M2
Ken_Griffiths
March 18, 2023


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? 

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.😁