Sonos Beam (Gen 2) The Compact Smart Soundbar for TV, Music and More (Black)

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.

Looking for an upgrade to my current soundbar probably like many others I was also contemplating the Sonos Arc and Sub but the size of it (too long for my stand basically) decided the issue for me and I opted for the Beam (gen 2) and Sub Mini and if you read on you will see I have no regrets. I took advantage of the January offers and got both from amazon for £623.71 which looks to be a very good deal now the prices are back up. Note, if ordering from amazon you are given the option of manufacturers packaging or additional amazon packaging. There is no need to pick the additional packaging as both items are securely double boxed, a plain outer box and the super smart inner box. Initial impressions are great as both items are tightly packed in the cool branded boxes and are also wrapped in a black protective cloth. The beam is very weighty and minimal in appearance. There is a small instruction leaflet if you can call it that which directs you to the Sonos app; of course it does. The (android version) of the app is rated 2.4 stars on the Play Store but I have had no problems with it so far. The rear has power, HDMI and ethernet ports only so no pass through option. I prefer that setup – I just plug it directly to my LG TV and my devices (PS5 and Sky Q box) connect to the other TV HDMI ports. On plugging in, my TV detected the Beam in the HDMI ARC port and setting up the Sky remote for volume control was a doddle also. You then need to connect both devices to your Wi-Fi via the app and run updates which take 2-3 minutes each. The beam was easy but connecting the sub mini took a few attempts with no LED light on top of the unit as indicated in the app. In case you were unaware, it does not come with a remote which is disappointing. I can control the volume using my Sky remote however more advanced EQ settings require use of the app which is a bit of a pain (first world problems eh?). Note also there is no front display so you have to use your ears to pick the volume level. As for the sound, yeah crikey! Kaboom! It’s a real feast for the ears for both music and TV. Despite being smaller than my previous soundbar it really delivers in volume and presence but the quality is a real feast for the ears. Watching “general” TV like the news or The Chase etc it is nice and clear, perfect for my 60 year old ears but get into the movies and box sets and it really sings. Watching the dystopian Silo (apple TV) you really get the background hum of the generators which greatly adds to the atmosphere though I do have to turn the bass down in that at night (via the app…). The Penguin (the Gotham City one, not the Arctic one) in UHD is just er…wow, great visuals that the warmth and timbre of the stereo output enhance hugely. I found myself smiling after watching that last night, six hundred or so quid well spent. This setup does not have Bluetooth, but (good but) being wifi I could connect it to the Alexa skill very easily so I can now stream my tunes on the Sonos via Amazon music. You have the ethernet option too which could be useful depending on your house layout. The inbuilt microphone picks up my commands easily, often from a different room. Despite rapidly approaching geezer age, I do enjoy a lot of modern music, even more so now I have this kit to play it (so easily) on. So yeah a bit of Gracie or Dua Lipa streamed in UHD really “sings” on this setup. Lana is even more sultry if that was possible. Older indie stuff which I love gets slightly over shadowed in the production values unfortunately but either way I find myself listening to a lot more music. This I’m convinced has a good effect on me mentally than constantly absorbing the news or talk radio as before. You can add your preferred streaming provider via the app and use it from there but I’m an amazon music boy and this works seamlessly via the app or voice. Overall, 10/10 for the sound which brings a smile to my face and I love the Alexa connectivity. My front room is approx. 4.2m x 3.9m and it fills that more than adequately and the sound carries nicely around the house also. I can command it to play from any of my Echos “dotted” (see what I did there) around the place which is v cool. I’m convinced that the Arc and full Sub would have been overkill for my house so I saved a lot of money and space there. The app is serviceable and it would be better with a remote so I could avoid it all together but it is a quality setup that I am enjoying very much. [ Note - If you check the reviews on the Google Play Store a lot of people have complaints about the app but I think it’s more if they have additional speakers that the problems arise. I have found it works fine just with the Beam and Sub though as mentioned it's pretty basic and no looker. Hopefully updates will follow ]

This Sonos soundbar is simply amazing. I have a relatively small living room (about 14 square meters), and it sounds absolutely beautiful and crystal clear. The sound is rich, well-balanced, and fills the entire room effortlessly. Even at lower volumes, the audio quality is impressive, and when you turn it up, it still remains clean and powerful. In the future, I will definitely expand the whole system with additional speakers from the same brand. I highly recommend it!

Amazing sound and Im surprise! For those who not really into heavy bass and want a more balanced sound

I own 4 other Sonos speakers and they all work together seamlessly and sound amazing. I tested the audio of this in a store and was amazed. Once I got it setup, TV audio is great. Use an iOS to setup part of surround sound. I used my iPhone and walked around the room as it made noise. Sounds amazing with movies, I'll probably add a sub which is easy. Music sounds incredible with rest of speakers, happy here.

Siempre había oído que los altavoces de las televisiones se oían regular y una vez conecté la barra de sonido lo confirmé. Menuda maravilla de sonido. Es muy fácil de configurar con el móvil y si la conectas al puerto ARC de la tele se conecta tal y como enciendes la tele, no volverás a querer escuchar los altavoces de tu televisión. Además, puedes hacer un combo con otros altavoces de la marca y generar tu propio cine en casa con sonido envolvente. Es una gran compra.

The product is really good, worth it