However, the new deeper low-end is a bit flabby – not ruinously so, but in a way that I just wouldn't expect from Sonos. Hearing the bass is like hearing someone being heavy-handed when putting the dishes away – nothing's being broken, but you wish they'd be a bit more delicate with it. This feeling is lessened at higher volume – at around 30% or so, it's happier, but it's still there a little.

With a set of Sonos speakers acting as the rear channels and a Sonos Sub onboard, the Arc takes another step forward, delivering a more convincing soundstage and better positional effects. Just be prepared to pay a hefty premium for the experience. Set-up We tested it in a room with a 20 foot (6 meter) vaulted ceiling and a nib wall behind the sofa, which makes it essentially impossible to bounce audio around behind you. According to Fink, Sonos put much work into iterating the curvature of the internal waveguides, revamping Trueplay to account for ceiling distance, angles and acoustics, and tuning Arc with Atmos content producers in music, movies and TV. The Roam and Roam SL share the same internals, which is made up of two Class-H digital amplifiers, one tweeter and one mid-woofer. They deliver mono sound and while the sound performance is great from their small sizes, the Era 100 is louder, more detailed and the superior option for performance. It is worth reiterating that the Roam and Roam SL do still sound great though. The Era 100 just has some more oomph.

Without upward-firing speakers, it’ll never deliver as much immersion as a full Atmos speaker setup. But the Gen 2 does a surprisingly effective job of replicating overhead effects – and the soundstage is impressively expansive for a compact soundbar. It’s a simple, effective solution for superior sound – and you can always add a Sub if you want more oomph. Like the full-size Sub, the Mini is a wireless woofer which adds extra oomph to your Sonos setup. But as its compact moniker suggests, the Mini is a neater fit for smaller rooms, making it the perfect partner for soundbars such as the Ray and Beam, plus Sonos’ One-series speakers. The below relates to the problem you've brought up because the apps network wizard isn't very smart. A change on the router may require a full remake of your network in the app.

One significant problem I've experienced is when someone doesn't understand the 5ghz vs 2.4ghz connections. If they try to force a 5ghz connection by deleting the 2.4ghz connection from the app's network, this causes a catch 22 problem between the speaker and the app. The speaker will fail to connect to the 5ghz and cause the "manage network" wizard to error out, and the manager network wizard will continue to error because it sees the 5ghz network still on its list and thinks it's setup correctly.Dolby Atmos (as in “atmosphere”) is a format that allows sound to be heard three-dimensionally —including from above! (Arc achieves this by bouncing sound off of the ceiling). To facilitate this experience, Atmos information is contained within an audio wrapper (known as a codec), which has metadata instructing the audio drivers how to direct the sound within your space. Atmos aside, it sounds incredible, besting the Gen 1 with more refinement, a warmer treble, and a wider dynamic range. Overall the listening experience is richer, more nuanced, and varied. And that's without even mentioning the return of the usual features like Apple Airplay 2, Alexa and Google Assistant support, and eARC connectivity. We awarded the Five four stars in our review. It retains all the features that made its predecessor popular – including a 3.5mm line-in for an external source and the ability to orientate the speaker in three ways – but adds improved wi-fi connectivity. Arc-compatible codecs that contain Dolby Atmos include Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby MAT. Most streaming services that have Atmos content use Dolby Digital Plus, while Blu-rays usually use Dolby TrueHD or Dolby MAT. Basically a re-branded Play:5 with extra processing power, the Sonos Five is the least intelligent speaker in this line-up. It has the same design, the same six drivers inside and still no voice assistant support. So what does it have? Sound quality in spades. Designed to deliver outstanding audio over Wi-Fi, the Sonos Five serves up big, authoritative sound. If you’re replacing a full Hi-Fi system with a Sonos speaker, this is the one to do it with.

Premium rival simple Bluetooth speakers like the new JBL Charge 5 can be similarly-priced to the Sonos Roam too, despite offering far fewer features, as the table below shows. Standalone, the Sonos Arc is capable of some impressive bass, although the transition from bass to midrange isn’t handled perfectly. Adding the Sub changes that, with the subwoofer handling the low-end, the soundbar can handle the midrange up, making for smoother transitions, plus you get deeper and louder bass.

Sonos is far from the only option when it comes to choosing a multi-room system. The company may have been first, but big players such as Bose, LG and Yamaha, and hi-res supporting brands, including Bluesound and Denon, have since joined the fray. You'll find capacitive controls on top of the Era 100, along with a volume slider trough and the shell - including the top and bottom - is made from sustainable polycarbonate. It's a lovely looking speaker that will blend seamlessly into most home interiors. Let's start with the speakers in the Sonos Era 300. Interestingly, Sonos has gone for compression drivers for the most part, which are much harder to integrate well into small home-friendly speakers than standard dynamic drivers (because they require an extra structure to shape and amplify their sound) – but they can be more efficient, easier to steer for directional sound, and lower-distortion when done right. Fire up 6 Underground, and the effects whizz around you, putting you at the centre of that opening car chase. Out of any upgrade for the Sonos Arc, adding rear speakers is the upgrade that really makes a big difference. While the Arc could fill a room, it’s the addition of rear speakers for 5.1 or Dolby Atmos content that gives you that greater degree of positioning and engagement.

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is a direct replacement for the multi-award-winning original and has some pretty big shoes to fill. It aims to up the ante by cramming in Dolby Atmos capabilities into the same minuscule form factor, and achieving this without any upward-firing speakers, no less. But the design is a lot more conservative. That's because it's designed to deliver stereo sound, but can't handle spatial audio. This is still an upgrade over the Sonos One though, which was only mono. The Sonos Era 100 is quite a bit larger than the Roam and Roam SL, with a cylindrical build rather than the triangular prism shape offered by the Roam and Roam SL. They measure around the same in terms of height - the Roam and Roam SL are around an inch shorter - but they are also roughly half the width of the Era 100, making them much more portable, which is of course the point. Select 20MHz channel width for 2.4GHz. While 40MHz may offer more potential throughput, it is also more susceptible to interference and is typically not necessary. One of the most exciting features of the new Sonos Arc is its ability to play Dolby Atmos sound. As with all relatively new technology, it’s understandable that you might feel a little confused when it comes to making sure you have a compatible setup for the feature.Rarely does a device arrive that does so much and does it all so well. Even rarer that it remains a class leader almost three years after release. Be in no doubt; the Sonos Arc is a superb bit of kit. Do you like the design? Do you want a Sonos speaker that's also a bookshelf? Do you want the most affordable way to get a piece of the Sonos magic? Look no further. But if you value sound quality and are prepared to spend a little more, we'd go for the Sonos One or One SL instead. The Sub will work wirelessly with any Sonos speaker, Sonos Amp, or Connect:Amp, so you can add it to a music system or one aimed more at home theatre.A press of the button on the front connects it to your existing Sonos network. If you like the idea of a Sonos Sub that's easy to set up, sounds good and improves your system, this is a good buy. Sonos Swap (exclusive to the Roam) lets you 'hand off' whatever music the Roam is playing to another Sonos speaker nearby, while improved Auto TruePlay uses the speaker's microphones to optimise the sound according to the speaker's surroundings. The Sonos Arc soundbar was subject to a price increase. (Image credit: Future) Sonos Arc: price and availability