Today, Sonos announced a new line of speakers — the Era 100 and the Era 300 — CEO Patrick Spence believes this is the right time to do it. “We didn’t know that, in 2022, 85 of the top Billboard 100 artists would actually release Atmos tracks, but they did,” Spence says. “We feel like we’re at an inflection point.”
On board with Sonos for this shift in music listening is record producer Giles Martin, who mixed the first-ever spatial audio album (a remix of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles album that his father, George Martin, originally produced) and several albums and live experiences in Dolby Atmos since. Martin is also the senior vice president of sound experience at Sonos and was involved in the development of the speaker.
Both Patrick and Giles joined Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel for The Vergecast to talk about the new speakers, supporting spatial audio, and why this is the time to do it.
00:00 – Intro
01:33 – Sonos Era 100
19:40 – Sonos Era 300
43:17 – Sonos vs Big Tech
The Vergecast Podcast: https://pod.link/430333725
Decoder with Nilay Patel: http://apple.co/3v29nDc
More about our podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/podcasts
Shop The Verge’s merch here: https://shop.theverge.com/
Like The Verge on Facebook: https://goo.gl/2P1aGc
Follow on Twitter: https://goo.gl/XTWX61
Follow on Instagram: https://goo.gl/7ZeLvX
Read More: http://www.theverge.com
Community guidelines: http://bit.ly/2D0hlAv
Wallpapers from The Verge: https://bit.ly/2xQXYJr
Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/XTWX61
Follow on Instagram: http://goo.gl/7ZeLvX
Listen to our podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/podcasts
Read More: http://www.theverge.com
source
The frequent inexplicable wifi issues are what finally put me off wireless/smart speakers for good.
What's your favorite song mixed in Atmos?
Great episode. I'm personally not convinced about Atmos tracks but I'm just glad they are putting a line in (with an adapter) to these new speakers.
40:12 – Absolute GOLD moment. Patrick was SWEATING.
I wish Sonos would fully adopt Roon.
Would love for them to reach out to Tidal in order to integrate higher end audio into the app!
I'll be honest, everything I have heard from Atmos or 360 audio from Sony has been really bad. I'm interested to see if it improves but it does feel a bit like the MQA debate since you need so much investment to get the best out of it, consumer and producer both.
Tell them to make beam gen 2 a center channel and allow me to run two 300 LR. 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Love the idea of replacing the board as the "upgrade" and still using the same speaker.
Nilay is a national treasure 💎
Sonos, please make a receiver like Nilay suggested.
I'm so glad this is now a video because you get SO much more of the jokes and nuances.
Great episode, I think I’m ready for this
plastic speakers.🙊🔊😊
I really like the Sonos stuff I have. I don't really like spatial audio so I am not itching to upgrade to these speakers though. What I'd love is a pair of Fives for my listening room, honestly.
I also expect Dolby Atmos is the new standard to be. Because…. everybody can hear it. Even the kids with headphones and you don't need a 7.2.4 set up in your home to experience Dolby Atmos. It's compatible with all systems. Will it be better with 7.2.4 ? sure, but you can already experience it with 5.1 systems, even with 2.1 systems or headphones
Are they consolidating Decoder into a Vergecast episode rather than it’s own show?
Who needs Spotify 😡
Era 100 holders for existing Sonos 1 stands please 🙏🏼
Great video, really enjoyed this!
I see the 100 as having very little speaker separation with just one of them. I cannot wait to hear two paired. No Spatial or Atmos is a real bummer. The 300 is just too big, goofy looking and way too expensive to purchase a pair of them. These new Sonos speakers will have to sound really great to beat Apple HomePods. I do give Sonos credit for going after this market and giving us a choice.
The biggest issue is that you can't just use the speaker out of the box. You can't just plug in your 3.5. You have to download their app first and connect with your wifi. So if you just want to use the 300 as is and you don't have wifi at home, then you must go somewhere where you can get wifi just to set it up for your AUX connection.
Took a sonos sponsorship to get all the podcast participants levels the same.
this 1080 looks excellent. I need to know the setup
Id really like for them to explain why a pair of 300s CANT be used as a stereo pair for music AND tv
I'm curious as to why you can add the in-ceiling speakers for the Atmos effect. I don't want to swap my Fives and put them in another room for the ERA 300's. It feels like the Amp should connect to the Arc like any other speaker. 🤔
I’m not sold on Atmos for music but Atmos for TV is amazing!
Can't wait to hear how they stack up. Look good on paper @lynrees