Tag: sonos
Sonos Announces New ‘Era’ Speakers and Apple Music Spatial Audio Support
The higher-end Era 300 speaker features an hourglass design with six class-D digital amplifiers, four tweeters, two woofers, USB-C line in, and a far-field microphone array with beamforming and multi-channel echo cancellation. Era 300 is the first Sonos speaker capable of multi-channel surround sound when used as rear speakers in a home theater system, and features Trueplay technology for automatic EQ optimizations.
The lower-end Era 100 is the successor to the Sonos One speaker and features a cylindrical design with three class-D digital amplifiers, two tweeters, and one woofer. Like the Era 300, it has USB-C line in, a far-field microphone array, and Trueplay.
Sonos also announced that it will be adding support for Apple Music’s spatial audio feature. Apple Music subscribers will be able to listen to spatial audio tracks on the Era 300, as well as the Arc and second-generation Beam sound bars, starting March 28.
Both speakers can be pre-ordered now and will be available globally starting March 28, with U.S. pricing set at $449 and $249, respectively.
This article, “Sonos Announces New ‘Era’ Speakers and Apple Music Spatial Audio Support” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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Say ‘goodbye’ to the Sonos One and ‘hello’ to a new Sonos Era
Sonos Era 100 and Era 300: New Speakers, New Name
Sonos quietly raises Beam and Sub prices by $50
As it nears the launch of two new smart speakers, Sonos appears to be taking another look at pricing across the company’s product portfolio — and raising them in some cases. The second-generation Beam, which was $449 just a week ago, is now shown as $499 on Sonos’ website and retailers, including Best Buy.
The already-pricey Sub has also been bumped by $50 and now costs $799. Ouch. The Wayback Machine shows that it was still listed at $749 from Sonos as recently as February 15th.
Sonos increased the prices of numerous products back in 2021, citing supply chain issues and consumer demand as factors behind the decision. At that time, the company said it is “always assessing market dynamics including demand, supply chain, component costs,…
Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 Smart Speakers Revealed in Marketing Images
The Era 300, shown in the picture above, will be the new Sonos flagship speaker, designed to highlight music in spatial audio. Other features will include USB-C line-in, Wi-Fi 6 support, Bluetooth playback, and AirPlay 2 support. The Verge‘s Chris Welch says the Era 300 is expected to be priced “in the ballpark of $450.”
The size of the Era 300 is said to fall in between the Sonos One and Sonos Five, and includes a total of six drivers that direct sound forward, left, right, and up. A stereo pair of Era 300s, when used with either the Arc or second-generation Beam, will deliver rearward surround sound including upward-firing audio.
Despite the Era 300 being designed for spatial audio, the Dolby Atmos songs in the Apple Music catalog are “unlikely to be supported at this time,” according to Welch, which suggests that Apple and Sonos have yet to reach an agreement. “This could always change in the coming weeks or by the time the Era 300 hits shelves,” he adds.
The Era 100, shown below, has a rounder shape and won’t come with upward-firing drivers, as it’s not geared for spatial audio like the other product. Welch calls the new speaker “an evolved Sonos One with (ideally) better performance,” thanks to the addition of a second tweeter for true stereo sound and an enlarged mid-woofer for more bass.
Like the other new speaker, the Era 100 features Wi-Fi streaming, AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, and USB-C. The Era 100 is expected to cost around $250 and is likely to replace the Sonos One, which currently sells for $219.
Both speakers are expected to include Sonos Voice Control and Amazon Alexa voice assistants, but support for Google Assistant may be lacking. Welch says Sonos will separately sell a line-in adapter for USB-C audio and a “combo adapter” for plugging in over Ethernet, as there’s no built-in jack on either speaker.
Sonos has reportedly set a late March release schedule for both speakers, which will be available in white and black colors, while the company is also said to be planning to launch a device in a brand new product category by the end of the year.
This article, “Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 Smart Speakers Revealed in Marketing Images” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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Sonos’ upcoming Era 300 and 100 speakers revealed in nearly full detail
It’s perhaps not a huge surprise that Sonos has more speakers on the way, but a new report reveals what the company’s next models probably look like, as well as some of the specs and approximate pricing. The Sonos Era 300 and 100 are slated to arrive in late March, according to The Verge. The latter is said to effectively be a replacement for the Sonos One, which has been around since 2017.
The Era 100 looks similar to the One, though it has a more spherical design. The physical controls, meanwhile, appear to be on an indented bar. The Era 100 could be a little more expensive than the $219 One (Sonos is said to have bandied around a price of $250), but it reportedly has extra features, such as Bluetooth audio and USB-C line-in support. It’s believed that the Era 100 won’t have upward-firing drivers, though it should build on the Sonos One’s performance by including a second tweeter (to help deliver stereo audio) and larger mid-woofer for stronger bass.
The drum-style Era 300, meanwhile, appears to have similarly indented controls and seems to be designed with spatial audio in mind. It reportedly has six drivers. The Verge indicated that, when a pair of the Era 300 speakers are combined with the Arc or Beam (Gen 2) soundbar — used as rear surround speakers in this case — they’ll deliver Atmos surround sound with upward-firing audio. Like the Era 100, the 300 is said to support Bluetooth audio and USB-C line-in. It’s anticipated that the Era 300 will cost around $450, which is less than the Sonos Five.
While the speaker reportedly supports spatial audio from Amazon Music Unlimited, it’s believed that Sonos has not reached an agreement to stream Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos tracks directly on an Era 300. There are workarounds involving an Apple TV 4K and Sonos’ soundbars, though for the time being, it seems that standalone Apple Music Dolby Atmos playback will remain an exclusive HomePod feature.
Both Era speakers are said to have WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 and AirPlay 2 support. The report suggests they’ll work with Trueplay calibration on Android phones. They’d be the first Sonos devices to do so.
Meanwhile, it’s expected that Sonos will separately sell a line-in adaptor for USB-C audio. It’s also understood that you’ll need to buy a so-called combo adapter if you want to plug in an Ethernet cable as neither speaker has a built-in port. In any case, we should find out more details about both speakers in the coming weeks.
Exclusive: these are the new Sonos Era speakers
Sonos is continuing to finalize details for a pair of new smart speakers set to launch in the coming weeks, and The Verge has now obtained marketing images of the products and learned roughly how much they will cost. The spatial audio-focused Era 300 is expected to be priced in the ballpark of $450, making it less expensive than the company’s flagship Sonos Five. As such, the Five will likely remain part of Sonos’ lineup after the pending hardware announcements.
But the same cannot be said for the Sonos One, which is all but certain to be replaced by the upcoming Era 100. Sonos has discussed pricing that speaker around $250, a slight price increase compared to the $219 One. But customers should be gaining several improvements for the…