- Era 300
- Era 100
- Move (Gen 2)
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/6/23588049/sonos-era-300-100-optimo-speakers-leak-features
UPDATE: https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/20/23606369/sonos-era-300-100-speakers-leak-features-price-photos
A New "Era" of Sonos Speakers
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Userlevel 7
+17
The 100’s are Atmos compatible, in the sense that you can use them with Arc or Beam Gen 2, that do Atmos. They do not do Atmos themselves though, so I’d say they’re not Atmos capable.
Userlevel 7
New article from The Verge including more product details and actual photos!
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/20/23606369/sonos-era-300-100-speakers-leak-features-price-photos
Compact soundbars and rear speakers are a nice convenience and are a great choice for the mass’s. It’s a much smaller market, but I prefer full size, well placed speakers. If these new speakers perform similarly to FIVE’s I’d welcome them in a full L/C/R/surround with some discrete height channels overhead. I realize that this is not for everyone.
Userlevel 1
If USB-C is also used for power, will the power supply be external? That would not be very nice.
The image from the Verge shows two cords running to the rear of the right Era 100, so I don’t think the USB-C is power, it’s a designed input, an looks to be on the top.
This twitter image shows the rear of the Era 100 and there is a clear USB-C above where it looks like the power cord is running in the Verge image.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpcQWw6WcAI2yEu?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
If, and I use that word specifically, because The Verge has been wrong in the past, the Era 100 has some upward firing component, I would be willing to consider using the PLAY:1s I have as surrounds elsewhere, and getting a set of Era 100s for surrounds duty. But that means more bandwidth needs, as the Era 100s would need two streams, not just the surround stream of data, but also the disparates streams of Atmos, a whole ‘nother’ thing.
You’ll notice in this piece I specifically emphasize that some of these features might not be present in the final hardware. I know not everything I first reported on the Ray made the product, but I swear I viewed internal documents that mentioned them. 😭 Obviously details are subject to change, but the broad strokes are accurate.
I fear though that the Era 300 is not a Five equivalent, but more directly competing against Homepod in terms of audio and price. That would be disappointing.
I don’t fear this anymore, and not disappointed. Granted, I haven’t heard it yet, but additional info and thoughts have changed the way I look at. There absolutely needs to be an Era 300 that isn’t a replacement/equivalent for the Five (call it Era 500).
1 - The angle of the upward firing speaker needs to be more vertical since the sound won’t be traveling as far horizontally...like it does in the Arc. Since you would want to be place an Era 500 at the front of a large room, it would need to have angles like the Arc...which means it would work as well for rear surround duty. A bit of a catch-22. The Era 300 seems ideal for rear duty and atmos music in smaller rooms. A good first step.
2- The Five is already larger than an Era 300, so adding side and upfiring speakers would make the speaker enormous. An Era 500 really needs the new woofer tech Sonos bought recently from Mayht to reduce it size, maybe more than any other speaker.. And that isn’t ready for production just yet apparently.
- All Sonos speakers need to be flexible these days, useable in multiple situations. Most can be used for rears, stereo pair, or stand alone speakers. The portables can be used portable, stereo pair, or stand alone. An Era 500 would likely not make a good rear speaker due to upfiring angle, and would probably disappoint many if it can’t be used for front home theatre. That means that Sonos has to introduce separate fronts logic, either a center channel speaker or phantom center channel, while competing with their own Arc soundbar. Sonos probably isn’t ready for that just yet.
- Reviews are generally stating that the Era 300 is very different that just about everything you’ve heard before for spatial music. It’s going to take some getting used to. It makes more sense to ask consumers to get used to atmos music on a speaker that costs $450 each over an Era 500 that will likely cost upwards of $600 each.
Userlevel 2
+4
I got a pair of Era 300’s, paired them in stereo and bonded them to my Gen 3 Sub for music listening. All I can say so far is they are WAY more powerful than I imagined both in loudness, soundstage and bass (even without the sub they have way deeper reach than the pair of ones I had in this configuration. Maybe they are not quite as good as the fives on their own, but they are still really impressive on their own. With the sub bonded they sound huge, as big as my full on Aperion Audio sound system in my living room.
Obviously Atmos music is the most impressive. But stereo is still rock solid. Some genres benefit from the more open sound than other (electronic music in particular). Still listening to test out other genres...
Userlevel 7
Is the Era 300 supposed to be considered an upgrade to the Play 5?
Based on the article, it looks like the Era 300 will be in a separate class than the Five. The 300 is designed more for Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio whereas the Five will still be Sonos’ flagship speaker for the stereo purists.
If, and I use that word specifically, because The Verge has been wrong in the past, the Era 100 has some upward firing component, I would be willing to consider using the PLAY:1s I have as surrounds elsewhere, and getting a set of Era 100s for surrounds duty. But that means more bandwidth needs, as the Era 100s would need two streams, not just the surround stream of data, but also the disparates streams of Atmos, a whole ‘nother’ thing.
I have a large room with very high ceiling. Love my Arc/sub/Fives right now. can I ADD 2 ERA 300s to this? I do not want to replace the Fives as rear speakers
No, you would need to replace the surrounds you have with the new Eras.
If I got a pair of 300s for rear surrounds, is there an easy way to toggle between them being surrounds and stereo fronts (without Arc)
I would not expect this because this has not been the SONOS tradition. I expect that you would need to unbond the 300’s from ARC, then set them up as a stereo pair. Personally, this would quickly become an unwelcome chore.
There is no easy way to toggle between the two. The adding/removing process takes a little time to configure the radios and establish the handshake between the units.
Userlevel 7
The photo of the 100 does not appear to show an ethernet port. Quite often when providing help on this board the suggestion is made to temporarily wire one device to the router. Are moving into an era where fixing network issues becomes harder to do?
“Sonos will separately sell a line-in adapter for USB-C audio and a “combo adapter” for plugging in over ethernet”
Anyone do any measurements of their 100 or 300 speakers yet?
DXOMARK has posted some of their obtuse measurements of the 100. The massive directionality error and audible levels of distortion measured at the crossover point of the 100 has turned me off purchasing for now, would be interested what the 300s look like.
These products are a missed opportunity for SONOS by not including either a HDMI connection or enabling the USB-C port to work with a USB-C to HDMI connector.
Very disappointed that the Era 100 does not support using them as a default audio output with Apple TV. SONOS only supports this through their soundbar’s HDMI TV connection …
I was hoping to replace my current Bose audio system with a pair of Era 100s and (maybe) the Sub Mini since I like 2.1 sound for music and don’t really care about movie surround sound or super booming base. I am not a sounder fan.
A pair of the new Apple HomePods with spatial audio and Apple TV integration are likely the way I will go in our Great Room and relegate my 4 SONOS Ones and SONOS Port to other rooms for ambient listening. Done adding any more SONOS products to my “kit” ...
Very disappointed in SONOS.
Optimo is a better name. Era just doesn’t roll of the tongue. Is it “Air-Ah” or “Ear-Ah”? I get that this is supposed to be start of a new era of Sonos speakers, but that doesn’t mean you have to name the product such. I guess Optimo was just one too many syllables.
Didn’t see any other new info about the speakers themselves.
Also, a Move Gen 2 is not terribly surprising. Besides 4 years since Gen 1 release, there are clearly some easy features to adopt that Roam already has. I suspect their won’t be a new form factor or significant change in battery. But it would be rather impressive if the Move uses some of the new woofer tech they bought to improve audio in a smaller (or same) size, which should also improve battery life?
Or maybe Error 330/100.
Likely there will be a radio upgrade too.
Leaks have tremendous value to the consumer. Anybody who was about to drop serious coin on a Sonos system now has more information that big upgrades, and perhaps associated sales, are on the horizon.
For us, it would be best if someone spilled the whole roadmap. :) Even when it’s subject to change.
Is the Era 300 supposed to be considered an upgrade to the Play 5?
Based on the article, it looks like the Era 300 will be in a separate class than the Five. The 300 is designed more for Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio whereas the Five will still be Sonos’ flagship speaker for the stereo purists.
This seems odd at first. but makes more sense the more I think about it. A Five with spatial audio would likely be way more than needed for rear surrounds and likely cost $600+. I don’t know that I’d pay that much for rear surrounds, or for music only ‘front’ speakers. A smaller speaker makes more sense for rears and would cover a fairly big music only room. The question is, is there room for an Era 300 and Fives in the lineup? The play:3 did not get a 2nd generation, so maybe not.
Overall, I’m not terribly excited. about this news. I was hoping, though doubtful, that the Era 300 would be Five sized output and can be used as separate front speakers. Seems extremely unlikely. That was a huge ask anyway, so I can’t say I’m disappointed...just not excited. Then again, the perhaps atmos music is less in need of stereo separation in the front speakers...I don’t know. Atmos music over the Arc sounds amazing.
I’ll likely get the Era 300, but I don’t know whether I’ll use it as rears or a separate music room. A lot depends on how it’s packaged in sets perhaps, or what information is yet to come on the product.
The Era 100, seems like it’s a great new entry product. I have little need for aux inputs, as I never use them, and the extra tweeter isn’t that big of draw to me since I always stereo pair. But if you have no Sonos speakers, are not comfortable with WiFi streaming, this seems like a really good place to start.
Userlevel 7
+22
New product announcements, made too early have killed companies.
Not just sales but the whole company.
We don’t know. Units sold in 2005 are still viable, although they cannot support the latest features.
That pre-order was painless enough
One thing that’s interesting that I haven’t seen discussed yet is that this is the first Sonos speaker that isn’t has side firing speakers and is not not a soundbar, can be used in pairs. Obviously, side firing covers side channels and broadens the soundstage on a single speaker. When you have a pair of speakers, the outside side speakers can play the same role. However, what do the inside side speakers do in this scenario?
If, and I use that word specifically, because The Verge has been wrong in the past, the Era 100 has some upward firing component, I would be willing to consider using the PLAY:1s I have as surrounds elsewhere, and getting a set of Era 100s for surrounds duty. But that means more bandwidth needs, as the Era 100s would need two streams, not just the surround stream of data, but also the disparates streams of Atmos, a whole ‘nother’ thing.
On the subject of getting things wrong, I’m thinking Verge is wrong about the USB-C line in. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. What could this be used for, and why is it better than an analog input? Since Era 100 and 300 (not to be confused with an Eero router or a NASCAR race) are not portable and will always be on our network, you will be able to stream audio from any iOS device via airplay. If the rumor is true about bluetooth connectivity (which seems logical since the Roam can be on WiFi and BT at the same time) then you would not need to wire an android device. So what device would you realistically use USB-C line in with? Turntable? PC?
Two possibilities is if the Eras need the wired digital connection for atmos audio from iOS and android that can’t be done well wirelessly. That makes some sense, but since Sonos can already get streaming atmos from Amazon and others, that seems doubtful. The other possibility is that Sonos is ditching the analog inputs so that it does not have to convert to digital. Anyone who has an analog course can get a converter cable for $10 on Amazon. I guess that last part perhaps is a strong enough reason to have USB-C input. It might be good to see how customers react to this change, to see if the same can be done to the Port or Amp?
However, what makes more sense to me is that the Era speakers are powered via USB-C. It’s entirely possible that the power usage for these speakers is lower than it’s predecessors due to improved tech, and a desire to be more environmentally friendly. USB-C for power is very common now, and Sonos already does this with Move and Roam. It likely reduce costs as well since Sonos will not have to provide different outlet plugs per region or have an internal AC/DC transformer. They might even be able to sell without cables and charging block, if customers prefer to use their own.
Maybe the USB-C is both power and input, but that would mean that whatever input source would also have to provide enough power is well, or you have to buy some sort of additional adapter. All speculation on my part.
Inside speakers will be a must for the common couch-against-wall setup. Look at a typical Klipsch surround speaker. Ideally you spill surround sound along the walls.
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