Sonos Era 300 Speaker

Sonos's Era 300 is shaped like an hourglass, and the unusual form isn't decorative but functional, housing 6 drivers arranged to project sound forward, to the sides, and upward for Dolby Atmos spatial audio. Upward-firing tweeters bounce sound off the ceiling to create a sense of height in the mix. Two side-firing tweeters widen the stereo image beyond the physical width of the speaker. In a moderately sized room the result is a soundstage that feels wider and taller than a single speaker should be able to produce. Room calibration through the Sonos app uses a process called Trueplay: you walk around the room waving your phone while the speaker emits test tones. The software adjusts the EQ to compensate for room acoustics. At a Sonos store I listened to a demo and the spatial effect on well-mixed Atmos tracks was convincing enough that I could locate instruments in 3-dimensional space with my eyes closed. Connecting to the broader Sonos system lets you group it with other speakers in different rooms, and wifi-based streaming avoids the compression Bluetooth imposes. At $449 it's expensive for a single speaker, but the Atmos capability and room calibration justify the premium over competitors that handle stereo well but can't create a sense of vertical space. Matte finish and a subtle fabric grille wrapping the front and sides give the industrial design a refined look. Once you hear what the hourglass shape earns in acoustic performance, the unusual silhouette makes sense.