Subsequent-gen sound from a wise speaker
Sonos unveiled a duo of recent sensible audio system on the flip of 2023, and the Sonos Period 100 and the Sonos Period 300 sign not solely a brand new naming conference from the muti-room audio specialist, however a brand new route in sound.
Really, a brand new multi-direction in sound with the Sonos Period 300, which is Sonos’ first non-soundbar to supply spatial audio.
The Period 300 additionally comes with a radical new design that immediately units it other than any of the audio system in your present Sonos system.
At $449 / £449, the Period 300 is a high-end Sonos speaker that successfully kills the Play:3 lifeless and, regardless of coming in a contact cheaper, has a a lot larger declare to the Sonos flagship than its older brother, the Sonos 5.
The Period 300 is by far one of the best Sonos speaker thus far and its efficiency is sort of frankly beautiful.
When it comes to pricing it’s a truthful chunk of change greater than the $299 / £299 2nd-gen Apple HomePod and the $199 / £199 2nd-gen Amazon Echo Studio.
However these are primarily the Period 300’s largest rivals by way of mainstream spacial audio sensible audio system and, as soon as you’ve got learn this overview, you may discover out why we predict it is price coughing up the additional money.
Learn on for our full Sonos Period 300 overview to seek out out extra…
Sonos Period 300: Design and construct
The very first thing you may discover with the Period 300 is the novel new type issue. In contrast to Sonos’ earlier mid-to-large sized audio system such because the Play:3 and FIVE, the Period 300 is not an everyday rectangular field; as an alternative it is a form dubbed by its makers as “cinched hourglass.”
Out there in matte black or white, the Period 300 is unsymmetrically curved outwards from the center, coming to a conclusion at an enormous entrance dealing with mesh grill that’s, weirdly, fairly imposing. There’s nearly a gramophone aesthetic to it.
It due to this fact could not match as seamlessly onto your bookshelf or sideboard as older Sonos audio system do; it is going to undoubtedly be observed.
Whether or not that is a very good or a foul factor is as much as you. For me, I appear to alter my opinion on it on daily basis… some days I take a look at it and assume it is a factor of futuristic magnificence and on different days I feel it is a fugly eyesore.
In both mindset I do like the brand new high panel design although, which includes a new quantity slider.
Rather more intuitive than the traditional faucet buttons you get on the highest of a Sonos speaker, the slider makes it a lot simpler to realize a exact desired quantity.
In addition to the brand new slider you may discover the same old array of Sonos contact buttons; play/pause, observe skip ahead/again and in addition a button to summon a voice assistant.
On the again is a slick new tackle making {an electrical} chord look cool, together with a bodily swap that may flip the microphone off, must you want to do with out Alexa or Sonos’ personal voice assistant.
There’s additionally a USB-C port, which is new for Sonos, however there is not any Ethernet RJ-45 jack, nor a 3.5mm to your line-in.
Nonetheless, you will get each Ethernet and auxiliary audio concerned by plugging in an adapter into that USB-C port on the again. Sonos is providing up a combo adapter for 3.5mm and Ethernet for $25 / £25 or a line-in just one for $19 / £19.
The adapters are a essential evil to maintain issues streamlined however it’s excellent news that there is one other speaker accessible within the Sonos setup to get your vinyl data enjoying.
Sonos Period 300: Spatial audio
The Sonos Period 300 is not really the primary Sonos speaker with spatial audio expertise. That honor belongs to the Sonos Arc soundbar and the 2nd-gen Sonos Beam additionally has Dolby Atmos on board too.
Sonos soundbar showdown: Sonos Beam 2 vs Sonos Arc
Spatial audio is the ‘large factor’ in music proper now. It is really an umbrella time period that Apple initially pushed for the HomePod and AirPods but it surely primarily implies that tracks – whether or not that be TV or film soundtracks, or songs – are recorded within the Dolby Atmos format, which gives a mess of audio channels fairly than the usual two you get with stereo recordings.
Previously few years it has been an enormous deal within the residence cinema world for films and TV reveals; therefore the large promoting level of Sonos’ flagship soundbar, and subsequently the Beam 2, being their Dolby Atmos smarts.
However it’s now, thanks partly to the recognition of Apple’s AirPod vary in addition to manufacturers like Sony with its 360 Spatial Sound, changing into an enormous deal in music recording too.
At a briefing for the Period launches we have been advised by a Sonos government that 80 of the highest 100 Billboard tracks within the US can be found in Dolby Atmos.
You may get spatial audio tracks streaming on Sonos utilizing Amazon Music Limitless and Apple Music additionally gives spatial audio to Sonos customers as effectively. There is no spatial audio on Spotify but sadly and Sonos is not but providing Tidal’s array of Dolby Atmos tracks, which is a disgrace.
Discovering spatial audio tracks is not the best proper now however will, no doubt, get a lot less complicated (and doubtless change into the default) within the coming months and years.
For now, look out for curated playlists and collections the place spatial audio or Dolby Atmos is talked about.
You will know that you simply’re listening to a spatial audio observe once you see the Dolby Atmos icon seem in your Sonos app, as per the instance beneath:
Annoyingly itâs solely Amazon Music the place you get this visible affirmation that youâre on an Atmos observe, you simply should belief itâs a spatial audio combine when you’re listening by way of Apple Music.
It is price noting that once you group an Period 300 with a non spatial audio speaker reminiscent of a Sonos Ray or One, there’s a silent pause that you simply donât usually get on Sonos. Thatâs as a result of itâs altering the stream from a Dolby Atmos one to a ânormalâ one; you’ll be able to’t stream spatial audio to your Period and have a non-spatial model of that observe synced on different audio system.
It is also price noting that spatial audio is just accessible when streaming by way of Wi-Fi; Bluetooth or AirPlay playback will end result within the observe being ‘downgraded’ to a ‘regular’ stream.
What that stream is strictly relies on the speaker and the supply; Apple Music over AirPlay reverts to lossless, for instance.
Sonos tells us that it’ll quickly, by way of a software program replace, permit customers to toggle within the Sonos app to allow or disable spatial audio playback.
As with all Sonos speaker, the very first thing you may wish to do as soon as you’ve got added the Period 300 to your Sonos system is to maximise its efficiency by performing the Trueplay ritual.
Nonetheless, it isn’t simply iPhone customers who’re catered for now. The massive information for Android customers is that they’ll lastly get in on the Sonos Trueplay motion, type of.
Within the Sonos app on Android customers will now see a Fast Tune possibility that optimises the sound of the Period 300 with only a single button push.
Correct, old-skool, Trueplay will nonetheless get you the optimum efficiency but it surely’s nice that Android customers are a minimum of thought of now.
That hourglass type issue of the Period 300 permits for six class-D digital amplifiers working alongside 4 tweeters pinging off in all instructions for Dolby Atmos motion (one forward-firing, two side-firing, one upward-firing.)
Getting tremendous technical and that upward-firing one is Dolby Atmos-specified, designed to mirror sound out of your ceiling when enjoying Atmos music. You’ll be able to really regulate the peak of your ceiling inside the Sonos S2 app for optimum reflection
There’s additionally a pair of woofers (angled left and proper for stereo playback) to maximise the low-end output, that are angled left and proper to help stereo playback.
What this all means, in your front room, kitchen, workplace or wherever you place your Period 300 is an exceptional sound efficiency.
Iâve heard Right here Comes The Solar by the Beatles about 8 billion instances in my life. Iâve by no means heard it sound so good because it does in spatial audio on the Period 300.
That each one acquainted, nearly magical, acoustic guitar begins pretty central earlier than George’s “do, do, do, do, do,” appears to come back from the ceiling. The opening lyric from George is again on the entrance and heart, after which Paul’s backing is above me and within the far corners of the room.
It is each bizarre and superior in equal measures.
And that is a tune that has clearly been remastered for spatial audio; reverse-retro-fitted so to talk.
Hearken to a observe that was blended in Dolby Atmos, so due to this fact has spacial audio on the forefront of its existence, and the impact is much more mesmerising.
Conflict by Dave and Stormzy, blended natively in spatial audio, completely throws you across the room with the drum loops bouncing off all instructions and their lyrics enjoying off one another from numerous standpoints.
The sound is just not solely big and room filling but it surely additionally makes use of the contours, partitions and ceilings of your room to pepper you with sound from all instructions.
It nearly would not appear actual that this 360 sound is coming from a standalone speaker that sits stationary on a shelf.
Sonos Period 300: Going additional
Just like the Sonos Roam or Sonos Transfer, the Sonos Period 300 is each a Bluetooth and a Wi-Fi (6E) speaker and it additionally an Apple AirPlay 2 speaker, as effectively.
When it comes to voice assistants there is not any signal of Google’s Assistant however you’ll be able to entry each Amazon Alexa and Sonos’ personal voice assistant (which is restricted to simply musical playback requests and actions.)
Clearly, at $449 / £449, the Period 300 is a high-end Sonos speaker that’s greater than able to filling a room by itself however you can too set it up as a Sonos stereo pair or use it in a Sonos encompass sound setup.
In truth, it is the primary Sonos speaker that delivers multichannel encompass sound, when you sync it with an Arc or a 2nd-gen Beam.
So if you wish to actually go all out, you possibly can throw a few Period 300s collectively because the rear audio system of a real multi-channel 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos expertise in a encompass sound setup, when paired with an Arc and a few Sonos Subs.
A less expensive (however very a lot nonetheless not-cheap) superior setup could be a few 300s as rears with a Beam 2 and the brand new Sonos Sub Mini.
Personally, I feel utilizing the Period 300s as devoted rear audio system is a large overkill in 99% of residence cinema setups however when you’ve received the money and the proper room then why the hell not?
The Sonos Period 300 is no doubt probably the most spectacular spatial audio expertise of any standalone speaker that Iâve come throughout.
Sure, itâs a bit dearer than its Apple and Amazon flavored rivals, however that additional outlay will get you an enormous bounce in high quality. Itâs nonetheless a sub-$500 speaker, donât overlook, and you’re looking at some critical bang for you buck.
Itâs not an ideal rating as a result of there are a few tiny caveats that maintain it again – most notably the necessity for that extra adapter for line-in and Ethernet, and the dearth of Googleâs Assistant – however itâs the perfect Sonos speaker which you can purchase proper now.
And itâs a speaker that can solely get higher because the catalog of spacial audio tracks and streaming platforms providing Dolby Atmos will increase.
- Unbelievable sound
- Dolby Atmos
- Nice worth for efficiency
- Bluetooth and AirPlay 2
- Divisive design
- Adapter for Ethernet
- No Google Assistant