Two Era 100s or one Era 300 for a large kitchen?

I have had both 100s and 300s in my open plan kitchen, sitting on top of the cabinets. The Pair of either sounds a lot more live than a single speaker. I've had a single Play 5 and a One SL in comparison.

I'm really impressd with the room filling of the 300 pair compared to the 100 pair, not in your budget today but maybe a single 300 today and a second later?

The Pair of 100s sounded really good, tried them as a Pair and Grouped. The sound was more even Grouped but the Paired setup sounded better in most of the room. I wouldn't hesitate to go that route over a single 300 if a second wasn't an option at some point.

Fooling with placement I found the Paired 100s were better closer to the side walls, 2 feet or so, while the 300s did best about 4 feet in. 

Single, the old outlet-mount was quite good as I could put it on an open side wall, no upper cabinets, and that gave more even sound than any of the cabinet-top positions I tried. Cabinet top, a corner spot did well, centered on a wall wasn't bad but not as much low end sound and seemed to not be as even as you moved to different cooking locations.

Either way you will be happy, probably happiest with the Paired 100s. Your future expansion options are the only reason to go with a single 300 speaker initially. 

Thanks, Stanley. You mentioned that you were very impressed when comparing the Era 300s to the Era 100s. The speakers would be placed on cabinets on the left and right at the ends of the room. Do you think the difference would be significant in that setup?

I’m considering going beyond our agreed gift budget, but I have the feeling that the difference might not be huge if she’s mainly listening to music via Spotify.

She would also have the option to place speaker in the middle of the room. There’s a bar there, with a cabinet above it as well.

The difference in the two Pairs would be pretty apparent, if you did A/B testing. It is not that the 100s are bad, just that the 300s are more speaker and with the driver arrangement seem to fill a room better.

Background stereo music is going to sound good on both Pair options, if Spotify offers Atmos the 300s really impress on well mastered tracks. I think a single 300 does more for stereo than a single 100, enough I notice it. The option of a center mounted 300 is likely to sound really good, again driver locations versus the 100s that I'dprefer on the perimeter. Later going to a second 300, if your listening justifies it, opens up additional placement options with the center spot.

Have you looked at providing power to your proposed locations? Many cabinet designs offer small spaces you can fish a bare cord through, then add the plug/socket o ce in place. I'm feeding mine from the microwave outlet, no visible cords.

Thanks, that’s very helpful.

There won’t be any A/B testing or critical listening. It’s really everyday background music while cooking and spending time in the kitchen. She mainly uses Spotify, so Atmos isn’t a priority.

The center placement would only be an option if we went with a single speaker. If we use two speakers, they would be placed at the opposite ends of the room for better coverage.

Power cords aren’t an issue at all. There are outlets available at all potential locations.

Given that setup and use case:

Do you feel the real-world difference between a pair of Era 100s and a pair of Era 300s is big enough to justify the jump in price? Or is it more of a noticeable but incremental improvement?

I’m basically trying to decide whether this is a clear “worth stretching the budget” situation, or whether the paired 100s already get most of the way there for this kind of listening.

I keep looking at that 5x10 meter size for the room, that is bigger than my 5x6 kitchen by a lot. The 100s were adequate in my space but I worry your larger space would be asking a lot from them, particularly at the low end. I think at background listening sound levels the 100 Pair would be acceptable. However the Stereo image may be undesirable and Grouping (both playing the same audio) might be preferred. The dual tweeter design will still give you some Stereo effect. 

The 300s would, without question do the job, either Paired or Grouped.

Worst case go,with the two 100s and if you are unhappy return them for a pair of 300s, you usually (check your country) have 30 days to decide.

I would agree, this is how you would see Sonos Era-100 Pro setup in a restaurant or similar space, every 4-5m, to avoid dead spots.

I would go for 2x Era-100 setup as a group (not stereo pair) for background music that you can comfortably talk over, and place on counter, low shelf for best mic access for voice control and physical controls, rather than high up near ceiling on top of cabinets.

Ah, voice control, never think of it since we don't use that here.

It would be worth trying multiple locations seeking the best balance between sound and voice control.