Just the right size to sit beneath a 40-55in TV, it’s both discreet and sophisticated.
Link the Beam (Gen 2) above, Denon’s Home 550 is a usefully compact soundbar with some Dolby Atmos support.
Read our full Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review here.Paired with an impressively expansive soundstage, the Beam (Gen 2) is a small but effective solution for superior sound – and you can always add a Sub if you want more whump. But thanks to psychoacoustic techniques used across five speaker arrays, it does a deft job of replicating overhead effects. With the same acoustic architecture as the first version, the updated Beam doesn’t have upward-firing speakers for full Atmos immersion. While just a single HDMI port resides in the rear input array, it’s an eARC number – which means it has the bandwidth for Dolby Atmos. Otherwise, it’s visually the same understated slab.ĭespite its compact proportions, the Beam (Gen 2) benefits from plenty of sonic smarts. Low enough to fit beneath the majority of TVs, the second-gen Sonos is set apart from its predecessor only by the polycarbonate grille which replaces the fabric finish of the first edition. It’s not the biggest soundbar around, but the Beam is still a winner for most living rooms. Still, effective sound modes – including Speech Enhancement – and clever connectivity make this a smart choice for Sonos owners.
Voice assistant support requires a separate smart speaker, while music streaming means making use of the Sonos app or AirPlay 2: annoyingly, there’s no Bluetooth option. That said, there’s no Dolby Atmos, and you’ll want something beefier if your living room is larger than average. Quality is predictably superb, trumping some bigger bars and coping well with busy scenes. Setup is through the Sonos app, which includes using your smartphone’s mic to automatically adjust acoustic output to suit your viewing room.įour amps, two tweeters and two mid-woofers work together with a bass reflex system to fill most spaces with forward-firing sound.
This is simple enough, but can cause issues when trying to control the bar with your TV remote. Networking is via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, but there’s no HDMI here: the Ray relies on optical for talking to your telly.
Bearing the usual hallmarks and styling cues of Sonos kit, the Ray’s premium build belies its relatively accessible price tag. Squeezing multi-room smarts into a compact bar, the Ray is a tempting home cinema accessory for owners of other Sonos speakers.