Sonos Beam

Couldn’t be happier. Here are my highlights: • Easy setup with my existing pair of Era 100s. • Sound quality is excellent — not just for movies and TV shows, but also optimised for music. This is a big improvement over my previous leading-brand system, which was good for movies but terrible for music. • Digital signal processing (DSP) is probably my favourite feature. If you’re playing music, podcasts, Twitch streams, or any other stereo media, the Sonos system applies a pseudo-surround effect. The DSP is genuinely high quality — it reminds me of the psychoacoustic effects you get with good car stereos, where the system can position the sound (e.g. lifting floor-mounted speakers to ear level). • The result is an incredibly immersive experience. The sound truly envelops you. For example, while listening to my ripped vinyl collection, the system cleverly displaces sound — perhaps by manipulating phase? You’ll hear a sound with a delay effect on it emerge first from the Beam, then a fraction of a second later from the Era 100s as the delays fade out. It’s an amazing effect that stays very faithful to the original intent of the artist — very tastefully done. • When watching Twitch, for example, the streamer’s voice is perfectly centred, while background stereo information is distributed through the surrounds. It’s natural and non-fatiguing, unlike some systems where surround processing can sound confusing or artificial. • I really cannot overstate how well Sonos has executed this. As someone experienced with VST plugins and DSP, I can say they’ve absolutely nailed immersive playback — whether the source is surround-encoded or simple stereo. • Music playback has a reel-to-reel-like quality — subtly enhancing harmonics and softening the sound, making it much less fatiguing. I find I can listen for much longer without becoming restless. A couple of setup notes: • The process was mostly easy, but the instructions could have been clearer about certain things — for example, not turning WiFi off. I initially connected via Ethernet and assumed I could disable WiFi, but the Beam uses its own WiFi to connect to the Era 100s. If you turn off WiFi, you’ll get choppy audio. • During room optimisation, the system asks you to sit in your main listening position and mark speaker positions when prompted. On a couple of calibration attempts, the chime bounced between speakers unexpectedly — possibly a bug or a “skill issue” on my part. It worked fine on the third try. Overall, I really love this system. It works brilliantly for both TV/movies and for music — especially if, like me, you enjoy an enhanced, musical sound. As someone who listens to flat studio monitors all day, it’s refreshing to have a more musical, engaging listening experience at home. Perhaps the biggest surprise is how incredible non-surround sources sound — 5.1 material sounds fantastic, but even plain stereo (2.0) sources are deeply immersive. If I had to sum it up in one word: immersive. Setup for review: Sonos Beam connected by hdmi (arc) worked as should on my Samsung UE43AU9000 TV. Connected to 2 s Era 100. App via Apple tablet and phone.

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2.) is a compact sound bar that produces a very powerful room filling immersive sound. The bass response and clarity is very impressive and the Dolby audio effects really sound as if extra speakers are playing from behind. It’s controlled with ease through the Sonos app and is great as a music streaming system as well as a movie audio enhancer via the HDMI Audio Return Channel. My verdict : - a spot on sound bar that is very good value for money.

This has enhanced the sound in our family room. Fantastic room filling sound from a small unit which produces great bass and voice levels. Streaming music from an apple device is very simple and produces great sound quality for music, even though it's Country music ( Wifes choice not mine!)..... The price was sub £300 which makes it an even better bargain and a massive upgrade to what we had before.

I purchased the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) to pair with my Xgimi projector as a compact and budget-friendly soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos. Having used Sonos products in the past, I was drawn to their wireless ecosystem, but my experience with this particular product was a mixed bag. Setup Experience: Frustrating and Time-Consuming The initial setup was an absolute nightmare. The soundbar refused to connect to my WiFi network despite multiple troubleshooting attempts. Following advice from the Sonos website, I separated my 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, which didn’t help. I even created a dedicated 2.4GHz network without a password, but it still wouldn’t connect. Ultimately, I had to resort to using an Ethernet cable, which was not the solution I wanted for a wireless product. While Sonos is known for their seamless app integration and smart setup, this was far from the hassle-free experience I expected. Audio Performance: Good, but Bass is Lacking For music playback, the Beam is decent but not exceptional. Compared to my cheaper Marshall speaker, it noticeably lacks bass, which diminishes the richness of certain tracks. That said, the clarity is impressive, and the midrange is well-balanced, making it suitable for most casual listening. When it comes to movies, the Dolby Atmos effects are noticeable but not groundbreaking. For example, in Top Gun: Maverick, cockpit beeps are distinctly placed on the left or right, adding an immersive element to the soundstage. However, the surround effect was underwhelming during dogfights, where I expected more precise spatial audio for the roaring jet engines. A dedicated subwoofer feels essential to complete the experience, as the Beam’s built-in bass just doesn’t deliver the punch needed for action-heavy scenes. I plan to add the Sonos Sub in the future to address this shortcoming. Design and Price: Compact and Affordable On the positive side, the compact design of the Beam is perfect for small spaces, and its sleek aesthetic fits nicely with modern setups. For the price, it’s a solid introduction to Dolby Atmos for those who don’t want to break the bank. While it doesn’t deliver the premium audio experience of a higher-end system, it’s sufficient for casual movie nights and background music. Final Verdict Overall, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a good choice if you’re looking for an affordable soundbar with Dolby Atmos capability. The frustrating setup process and lack of bass prevent it from being a 5-star product, but it still offers decent performance for the price. If you’re willing to invest in a subwoofer and can tolerate some setup headaches, this soundbar is a solid addition to your home theater.

Bought the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) to replace an LG sound bar and wireless subwoofer that had inexplicably stopped connecting wirelessly. My criteria for a replacement was that it had to be connected physically, have decent bass, be compact, expandable and under £500. After much research I settled on this Sonos. The Beam was incredibly easy to set up. Unboxing was straightforward thanks to fuss-free Apple-style packaging. Connected to TV and downloaded the Sonos app from the App Store (iOS). The menu took me through the process of adding the device step by step and within about 5 minutes I had sound. Put it to the test on some movie trailers. First was Le Mans 66, then Shang-Chi, The Legend of the Ten Rings, then the new Dune film. Reason I did this was to test if the Dolby Atmos function made any difference. I don’t think I can make use of the Dolby Atmos setting yet on this Beam as my current TV, which is an LG 55SM8600PLA, doesn’t have eArc connection which, from my research appears necessary for Dolby Atmos. I may be wrong on that so check it out. I am about to change telly to the LG OLED55B16LA which I know does have eArc so I will hopefully have the Dolby Atmos up and running soon. But regardless of Dolby, I can tell you that the sound on this sound bar is simply fantastic. The sound is clear and natural. Doesn’t sound muddy or over engineered. Bass is punchy and rich (and I admit to being a bit of a bass-head). So much so that I’m thinking I don’t need to spend the additional £749 on the Sonos subwoofer. Bass is still good at low volume, but obviously better at higher volumes. Only two negatives I can think of is a lack of physical remote and no Bluetooth connection. Neither were dealbreakers for me. I may add a couple of the Sonos IKEA side speakers that others have recommended. Delighted with this purchase. I’m a Sonos convert now (something else to spend money on!). Hit the helpful button if you found this review helpful.

I changed my tv for a Sony Bravia two weeks before I took delivery of the Beam 2 soundbar. The tv connected to wifi without a problem. The Beam 2 would not connect. Sonos Support eventually got it connected, but it was a real problem. A week later I bought the Sonos Sub Mini. Would it connect - not a chance! It took Sonos Support almost two hours to sort it out. After trying out various scenarios they decided the problem lay with my router, a BT Smart Hub 2, saying that it was because it's a Dual AC wifi, and the Sonos was having a problem connecting to the 5Ghz band. When we changed over to the 2.4Ghz band it connected without a problem and has been fine over the past month with no drop outs. I am very pleased with the Beam and the Sub Mini. They are very well constructed and sound great. I would recommend the Sonos to anyone but be mindful to connect to the 2.4Ghz band if you have a Smart Hub 2.

1. I can hear the dialogue much clearer (major bonus) 2 I can also hear amazing sounds on movies and TV serials that I have never heard before. 3 It was really simple to setup, check that your TV can do either optical out, or better still eARC via the HDMI connection. .......and none of the aggro with having multiple speakers setups, it's just one unit. You may want to google Sonos, as the kit has lots of other features.

The soundbar looked attractive in white on my mantlepiece, and was easy to set up using the Sonos app on my phone. I thought the sound quality was OK, although not stunning. I was expecting considerably better sound, considering the £400 price tag and all the hype that the reviews had given it, and so I was a little disappointed. I had previously owned a Samsung sound bar, which was about half the price, and had similar sound quality. However, the sound was distinctly better than the TVs internal speaker, and I would have accepted it, had I not encountered the following problem. Then I noticed that sometimes, when there was a momentary interruption in the sound signal, such as when changing TV channels, or pausing or rewinding the program etc, the sound became garbled, that is, totally unintelligible. Sometimes this would correct itself after a few seconds, but at other times, you had to change channel again, or pause or rewind etc, before you could get the sound back to normal. This behaviour would not happen every time, but was sufficient to be very irritating. After a while you just waited for it to happen whenever you did anything to the TV. The TV is a Samsung UE55LS003A, about a year old. I tried every available sound setting on the TV to try to overcome the problem, without success. I concluded that there is some software handshake problem between the TV and the soundbar. perhaps the Samsung and Sonos engineers designed their systems independently, and did not consult each other. I returned the Sonos Beam to the supplier, Sevenoaks Sound and Vision, and had a full refund from them without any problem. Any prospective purchasers of Sonos who have a Samsung TV should beware of this potential problem. Researching online revealed that I am not alone in finding this type of problem between Sonos and Samsung.