Sound at home has always been essential to me. I have a healthy 55 ″ TV, and I want to listen to music sometimes. Previously, I had a 2.1 system for watching movies and a large floor-standing speaker for music, which, however, I rarely turned on. Now all the devices are getting smaller, and there is no need to install large audio systems. For good home theater sound, for example, a soundbar is sufficient. And for music, a speaker is enough, which fits in the rack. And if they support voice assistants, for example, Google, then everything will be just fine.
The Sonos brand has arguably the best audio devices on the market. And it is important that the company thinks not only about sound quality but also makes user-friendly applications. But most importantly, these devices are wonderful. When you put a speaker at home, you want it to be pleasant to look at. And here, Sonos simply has no equal. Two devices came to my test: a Sonos Arc soundbar and a Sonos Move speaker. I’ll go into more detail about each of them later, but for now, let’s take a quick look at each of them.
Sonos Arc Soundbar
If it seems to you that the built-in speakers in the TV do their job perfectly, then you just never listened to the sound through the soundbar. And even more so through the Sonos soundbar. But I will have time to talk about the sound quality in a detailed review, but for now, let’s see what kind of gadget it is.
The Sonos Arc is a meter long speaker that needs to be placed above or below your TV. I admit that its dimensions are huge, but you need to understand that it is impossible to achieve high-quality sound in a small gadget. The Arc is one of the best soundbars out there, so you’ll have to live with the size.
This soundbar sounds great. It is voluminous and creates a complete feeling of immersion in the scene. I confess that I did not believe that one speaker could produce such a deep sound with high and low frequencies until recently.
The most remarkable thing is that the soundbar perfectly replaces the 2.1 system. He doesn’t even need a subwoofer, there is a well-developed bass, and this is surprising. But look at how many speakers there are inside. There are eight woofers and three tweeters here. This all adds up to an excellent soundstage in almost any room. There are 4 microphones for configuration. They are also used to receive commands from Google Assistant.
The Sonos Arc comes in black and white. A white soundbar came to my test, and it looks great. There are touch buttons, but there is no remote control. At some times, this is uncomfortable. I only have one HDMI-CEC port on my TV, and for some reason, it didn’t make friends with Arc. Therefore, I have to use a smartphone to adjust the sound. I won’t say that it is inconvenient, but there are nuances. For example, when someone other than me wants to watch TV (the whole family should have installed the application, of course).
Sonos has a great app that allows you to tune everything to optimize your soundstage for your room intuitively. I have not seen this in any program for adjusting acoustics. You need to run optimization on your smartphone and go around the whole room. The soundbar will make sounds, and the phone will pick them up. After 5 minutes, you will get a perfectly optimized sound. If you watch a movie with sound through a soundbar, it can be compared to a personal cinema.
Of course, the Sonos Arc is a premium device, and it costs accordingly. But you need to understand that this soundbar will completely change the way you watch movies at home. And most likely, it will outlive several of your TVs. Now I understand that I want a bigger screen, probably from another manufacturer, so there are several HDMI-CEC ports and support for Dolby Atmos. This is the only way I can unleash the full potential of the Sonos Arc soundbar.
Column Sonos Move
First off, I must point out that this is the first wireless speaker in the Sonos family. No, of course it can and should be charged, and there is a tiny docking station. But earlier, Sonos had all the speakers with a mandatory wire, and the Sonos Move can be moved around the apartment or even taken with you outdoors. The case is protected according to the IP56 standard so that the column is not afraid of splashing from the pool or river. But it would help if you didn’t drop it into water.
Like the Sonos Arc, this speaker is beautiful. In general, this is common to all Sonos products. So if you’re worried about the interior, Sonos gadgets should be your first look. The company’s designers work very well.
There are control buttons and a notch at the back of the column, for which it is very convenient for Move to lift and carry. It weighs a lot, of course, about 3 kilograms, but you can transfer and put it safely. It is charged through a small plastic ring-stand, which is not even visible when the speaker is on it.
There are also buttons on top, but already touch-sensitive. Most likely, they will not be useful, tk. Everything is more convenient to do through the application. Nevertheless, if you need to stop the track or switch, it can be done on the Sonos Move speaker itself.
Of course, there is support for voice assistants. But so far, only with Alexa and Google Assistant. However, since my whole house is built on Google, this is just a plus, not a minus. And of course, the speaker can be controlled by voice, from a smartphone, or using buttons.
The Sonos Move sounds good. No joke, but it is almost 3 times larger than Google Home (now Nest Home). There are more speakers, better resonance and bass. In general, if you want to listen to music, then the Sonos Move is perfect. Well, for the street, there is a good volume margin. Therefore, most likely, it will be heard everywhere.
The ability to move the speaker is not bad, although there are more compact solutions, of course. On the other hand, if you live alone and have only one Sonos Move and listen to music in different rooms, this gadget will work. Of course, the Sonos Move is a premium device and costs more than all Bluetooth speakers. Yes, this is a completely different level of materials, sound, and sensations. So it’s not even worth comparing.
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