Sonos Beam Gen 2

[Inle]

While not a massive upgrade to its predecessor, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is quite possibly the best compact soundbar currently on the market not only because of its performance, but also the way it seamlessly transforms from a soundbar into an awesome smart speaker.

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[Diverge]

I bought one a couple weeks ago to use as my PC speakers (overkill I know, since I'm not using it for surround sound). Fits nicely on my desk. I stuck some stainless steel drink coasters under it at both ends as feet and to enable my keyboard cables to passthrough under it.

 

[Crackong]

I had a gen1 and used it as a PC speaker too.
Overall good soundbar.

My only complaint is, there is no " 0 latency " option in the control software.
PC users had fast response displays, don't need compensation for that.
The lowest latency setting is good enough, but still noticeable when compare to shelf speakers / headphone

Hope they can update the control software to support a "0 latency" mode.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Does the control app run P2P or route through the cloud? (Maybe you mentioned this somewhere, but I couldn't find it.)

Somewhat related, was it Sonos that had some speaker models brick when support was terminated, or something like that?

 

[Inle]

Does the control app run P2P or route through the cloud? (Maybe you mentioned this somewhere, but I couldn't find it.)

Somewhat related, was it Sonos that had some speaker models brick when support was terminated, or something like that?

Your phone/PC needs to be in the same LAN in order to detect your Sonos system, it is not accessible through the cloud when you're outside of your home (there are ways to add this functionality, but it is not supported natively).

I think the incident you're referring to is when they offered a 30% discount if you decided to upgrade your current Sonos products to new ones, and then bricked the old devices to render them unusable. They faced an outrage and removed the so-called Recycle Mode completely.

You do make a good point though. Long-term support is absolutely worth considering when deciding which multiroom speaker system to buy. This is a common pitfall of all generic multiroom systems, and one of the key reasons why I'd urge anyone to consider nothing other than Sonos, Denon HEOS and Bluesound BluOS. Every other small(er) multiroom speaker ecosystem is simply too risky to buy into, as its manufacturer could stop supporting it at any time, if and when they decide it's not worth it to them anymore, due to a low number of units sold.

I bought one a couple weeks ago to use as my PC speakers (overkill I know, since I'm not using it for surround sound). Fits nicely on my desk. I stuck some stainless steel drink coasters under it at both ends as feet and to enable my keyboard cables to passthrough under it.

How are you finding it for nearfield listening?

 

[Diverge]

Your phone/PC needs to be in the same LAN in order to detect your Sonos system, it is not accessible through the cloud when you're outside of your home (there are ways to add this functionality, but it is not supported natively).

I think the incident you're referring to is when they offered a 30% discount if you decided to upgrade your current Sonos products to new ones, and then bricked the old devices to render them unusable. They faced an outrage and removed the so-called Recycle Mode completely.

You do make a good point though. Long-term support is absolutely worth considering when deciding which multiroom speaker system to buy. This is a common pitfall of all generic multiroom systems, and one of the key reasons why I'd urge anyone to consider nothing other than Sonos, Denon HEOS and Bluesound BluOS. Every other small(er) multiroom speaker ecosystem is simply too risky to buy into, as its manufacturer could stop supporting it at any time, if and when they decide it's not worth it to them anymore, due to a low number of units sold.



How are you finding it for nearfield listening?

I like it better than the Bose Companion 2 Series III PC speakers that I had prior.

I bought a wall/tv mount for it, and plan to mount it under my desk to be out of the way. Hopefully it still sounds good. Eventually I'll get around to modifying the mount for it so I can test that out.