Sonos is dedicated to audio innovation and has been delivering one iconic speaker after another. Of course, Sonos has faced a few bumps but that’s the case with every big company.

Here’s a speaker that has been in the Indian market for a few months and it continues to do brisk business. Sonos Era 300 shows its strength when guests come over. In the living room, you can cue up a playlist and the immersive sound can be experienced by all. It projects music around you as if you are listening to it live.

We are not just talking about orchestral music; it’s the same with music from different artistes and across genres. Take the case of Leon Bridges’s River. The vocals in this track are so forward, it sounds like he is singing right in front of you. The Era 300 can also make it sound like there’s a piano several feet behind the speaker.

Sonos Era 300 speaker has touch controls on the top of the speaker, which allows you to pause, play, skip and rewind as well as activate voice assistants

Placement of speaker

Why can this speaker place instruments and vocals so precisely? There are a couple of reasons. First, the speaker supports Dolby Atmos Music, which gives music “dimension” rather than only stereo format. It’s an object-based audio format that allows sound mixers and engineers to digitally place different parts of a music track around a virtual room during the mixing process. It causes listeners to notice different things, like instrumentation or vocal effects.

Further, you’ll notice that Atmos tracks are typically not as loud as their stereo counterparts. A Dolby Atmos mix has more headroom than its stereo counterpart. Lately, many stereo mixes are being mixed to be as loud as possible. It’s equally important to remember that not all Atmos mixes sound good. Some early versions of Atmos music tend to drown out vocals with instrumentation.

To get the best out of the speaker, place it in the middle of the room or somewhere where the music can easily be projected.

You’ll need to give it enough room to be able to place sound around a room. Placing the speaker on a table in the middle of the room gives you an immersive experience with clear vocals, deep bass, and a unique feel with that height channel.

Speaker design

Why does music sound good with the Era 300? It’s where the second reason unfolds. Sonos Era 300 was built from the ground up for spatial audio. It houses one forward-firing tweeter meant for vocals and lead instruments, a left and right tweeter, a left and right woofer, and then an upward-firing tweeter that reflects sound off your ceiling. The speaker also features custom waveguides to help further the placement of different parts of a music track in your space.

Overall, the sound is brilliant, with warmth to it, besides deep bass, clear highs and mids. If Dolby Atmos sounds familiar, it’s probably for the other thing it’s famous for, which is TV shows and movies. And yes, you can use a pair of Sonos Era 300s with a Sonos soundbar for an Atmos setup.

Some highlights of the speaker include its controls. There is a nice indented volume bar, plus an area for play/pause and skip forward/back.

The far-field microphone array uses advanced beamforming and multichannel echo cancellation for accurate voice control and Trueplay tuning. Disconnect by toggling off the mic switch.

Another Sonos feature that many talk about but I haven’t been able to test involves grouping. If you have another Sonos speaker (or group) playing music, just hold the play/pause button on the Era 300 and it’ll play the same music as the other speakers in your system.

Another point: On the Sonos app, you’ll get features like Trueplay tuning, which is what you’ll use to optimise your speaker’s sound. Plus, you get an EQ, unlike many other speakers.

Another great part of this speaker’s design is that it supports line-in via a USB-C dongle. You can adjust the latency in the Sonos app and get it to where it’s barely noticeable, making it perfect for a wide variety of applications, like plugging it into your turntable. If you do that, you can play the music coming from your record player across your entire Sonos system wirelessly, which is pretty cool. The speaker also supports Bluetooth, which is nice to see.

To connect an audio device directly to Era 300, you need to use a compatible 3.5-mm to USB-C adapter, such as the Sonos Line-In Adapter, as well as an auxiliary cable, both sold separately. Line-in does not work when Era 300 is set up as a surround speaker in a home theatre system.

Sonodyne Antara versus Sonos 300 versus Apple HomePod (second generation)

Make the call

What are some of the downsides? Sound is projected out of the sides of the speaker more with non-Atmos tracks and not as much out the front, which is what you want with stereo speakers. Further, not every music streaming service supports Dolby Atmos yet. But I didn’t face any issues since I used Apple Music.

Overall, the speaker has plenty of potential. It’s one of the best pieces of audio equipment for Dolby Atmos. For medium-sized rooms, this is a good option because of the way it projects music. For larger rooms, perhaps a couple of Sonos speakers would help.

We are still in the early days of Dolby Atmos music, but it will eventually catch on. Spatial audio needs to be immersive. As an industry, everyone needs to move forward together — device makers, sound engineers, artistes and so on. Sonos Era 300 is meant for funky spatial audio mixes that target audiophiles.

At a glance

Device: Sonos Era 300

Price: ₹50,999

High notes

Great audio quality

Easy set-up process

Good for spatial audio

Room-filling sound

Wide support for music streaming services

Muffled note

Slightly expensive