Smarter Than It Looks
WITHOUT KNOWING HISTORY, you might dismiss the Sonos Beam as just another budget soundbar dropped into a largely undistinguished field. But as with most things Sonos, this attractive yet intentionally non-descript oval is significant both for the company and the audio business. Sonos execs have long seen the living room television as the most logical gateway for their wireless multiroom music system. The idea, birthed with the Playbar soundbar back in 2013 (review at soundandvision.com), was to build a Trojan horse whose primary function—fixing the awful sound quality of most flat-panel TVs—would also provide the impetus to introduce surrounds perhaps, maybe a subwoofer, and other wireless speakers scattered about the home for music.
After Playbar came 2017’s Playbase soundbase, offered for those who couldn’t wall-hang the admittedly large and awkward Playbar. The Playbase (see ) is a well-engineered piece capable of hitting low bass notes. Still, priced at the same $699 as the Playbar, it was hardly going to open the floodgates. Now comes the $399 Beam, whose big claim to
