The big features of Sonos’ upcoming streaming box have leaked, and they sound pretty damn great, actually. The key elements are that it will have multiple HDMI passthrough ports and will act as an HDMI switch, that it will have a comprehensive range of streaming services in a unified interface, and that it will be able to send wireless audio to Sonos speakers in home theater configurations that don’t involve a soundbar at all (or can still include one, but also wirelessly).
The downsides are that the software is being developed by an ad-tech company (and Sonos has a rocky reputation around software over the last year), and that it’s predicted to cost $200-$400, which is a lot if you’re looking at a living-room setup, since you then need to add all those speakers, and probably stands for the speakers, and all that jazz.
But there’s a very interesting potential use case where the price downside really goes away, and the new speaker system could come into its own even more: custom home theater installs.
Not everyone realizes that Sonos is actually a significant name in the world of in-wall speakers and in-ceiling speakers. These aren’t wireless, alas, but they’re designed to work seamlessly with the Sonos Amp, which knows exactly how to drive them for peak output, and can drive six speakers (three pairs) per Amp box. In the past, their use for home theater has been limited to Sonos regular Amp options: they can act as stereo TV front speakers only, or rear TV speakers when paired with a soundbar.
But if the new streaming box enables more flexible speaker configurations, and can work with Sonos’ in-wall speakers connected to multiple Sonos Amps, things could get interesting.
Imagine one of the best projectors (which probably won’t have its own streaming tech built in) connected to a Sonos streaming box, which wirelessly sends audio out to two Sonos Amps. One is powering four in-ceiling speakers and a pair of front left and right in-wall speakers; the other is powering a pair of side in-wall speakers and a pair of rear ones. Hopefully the streaming box could also wirelessly connect to a pair (at least!) of Sonos Subs at the same time. That would be quite the Dolby Atmos setup.
Is this superior to connecting an AV receiver to a load of in-wall speakers? Perhaps not, but the installation might be easier if you only need to run cabling a shorter distance to a nearby box, rather than all the way to wherever your AV receiver is.
And you have the ease of use of Sonos’ TruePlay tuning, which works excellently to get everything calibrated for your room.
To be clear, this is all speculation on my part – the original leaks about the ability to use speakers for wireless home theater sound said that Sonos is still evaluating exactly which options to include, and we don’t know what configurations will be available. But if Sonos makes the Sonos Amp part of the system, the Sonos streaming box could be popular for installations, where price is way less sensitive a topic than most living-room setups.
But what about DTS?
However, there’s something else that might put home theater enthusiasts off this whole project, and that’s Sonos’ on-going rejection of the DTS sound format. The only real competitor to Dolby (sorry Eclipsa Audio, call me when you’re supported by some actual movies!) is a big deal to home theater enthusiasts, because it’s the format of choice for so many 4K Blu-rays, and it’s also now featured on the Disney Plus streaming service.
If you’ve gone to the effort of outfitting a projector and all these in-wall speakers, are you going to risk hearing the Oppenheimer soundtrack in anything less than full-power, maximum-impact DTS-HD? No, of course not, you’re not a barbarian.
My Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar review would have scored it higher if it supported DTS; when it’s so common among the competition, it’s so frustrating that it’s missing. And it lacking from that soundbar worries me that it’s not coming to the streamer either.
I’m worried that the Sonos streaming box could end up falling into a valley between the two different sets of people who might love it: living-room users might be put off by the price; home theater users might be put off by the lack of DTS support.
Fortunately, everything we know so far is based on leaks. Perhaps the price will be a bargain in the end, perhaps it’ll support DTS and every wireless configuration known to humankind, perhaps it’ll be a total dud. I’m hoping Sonos will realize its potential for custom installs, at the very least.
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