SONOS ERA 100 Wireless Speaker

VITAL STATS

Amplifier	3x Class-D digital amplifiers
Drivers (tweeters)	2x angled tweeters
Drivers (woofer)	1x mid-woofer
Connections	Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6), Bluetooth (5.0), USB-C line-in
Weight	2 Kg
Dimensions	18.25 x 12 x 13.05 cm

 

PRICE R6 999.00

SUPPLIED BY Cinema Architects 010 601-0653

WEBSITE www. cinemaarchitects.co.za / info@cinea.co.za

 

The Short of It…

A musical performance that matches expectations created by the speaker’s exceptional build quality.

 

The Long Of It…

Even since AV News publisher William Kelly dragged me kicking and screaming back into the world of audio and video, I’ve been regularly surprised (pleasantly) at how quickly the technology has progressed. It’s a boon for those, like myself, who no longer have that dedicated Man Cave, and who now do their listening via headphones or in smaller places.

Prime case in point here is the SONOS ERA 100 wireless speaker.

This is my first experience with SONOS products, and oh my, I wish I’d been exposed to them sooner (though having said that, it would most likely had negative financial implications for my bank account!).

Opening the box, you’re greeted by the speaker covered in a protective soft cloth. My speaker was white in colour, but a black version is also available. The ERA 100 has a good weight to it and exudes a sense of high quality construct throughout. So you’re already impressed before it’s even been turned on.

My review unit didn’t come with a setup guide included, but having dealt with a number of similar products, the process was very straightforward. Place it in a nice, freestanding position, plug in power, press the Bluetooth button on the unit, and turn on your Smartphone’s Bluetooth. SONOS has done a great job of locating the power point underneath the unit, where it fits neatly and snugly. My Samsung saw the speaker almost immediately, and within moments I was listening to a variety of Spotify and TIDAL MQA tracks.

But this of course is only utilising a fraction of the 100’s talents – to get the best out of it, you need to download the SONOS S2 App. To be honest, after reading a considerable number of 1 star reviews from frustrated users of the App, I was pretty reluctant to do so. Especially since I have been accused in the past of being a bit of a technomoron when things get too technical…

Well, I don’t know if I managed to get the updated version where the bugs had been fixed, or just lucky, but I found the App easy to use and with a number of useful suggestions to get the most out of the speaker, such as Trueplay, which measures the room’s acoustic signature and adjusts the speaker’s performance accordingly. For Apple users, there’s an advanced tuning option, where you use your iPhone to take measurements around the room.

The most difficult bit was connecting it to my router, which was self-inflicted pain because I haven’t yet changed the factory set passkey to something easy to remember. The App gives you access to SONOS Radio as well, which has a number of dedicated radio streams catering for a wide variety of musical tastes.

The 100 also offers features such as Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice Control, and Apple AirPlay 2.

There is a wired option for connecting other devices – a USB Type C, but for this you’ll need a special adapter available through SONOS.

Alright, I think I’ve covered all the technical stuff. Let’s get onto its performance, which was quite frankly astounding for something so small.

I’m not certain which aspect of the ERA 100’s delivery was more important: the exceptional quality of the music, or the fact that it somehow manages to avoid being obviously located in a specific position. It’s almost as if the speaker disappears as a source point, and the music is just everywhere.

You can connect two of them to act as a stereo pair, but because I was so impressed with the SONOS’ ability to disappear, I sat down on my couch about three meters away from it, but facing it directly. I’d love to see the internals of the 100, because it honestly felt as if I was getting a stereo experience from a single speaker. Sure, the soundstage couldn’t be compared to a proper two-speaker stereo set up, but still, an impressive ‘sweet spot’.

Sound is delivered compliments of two tweeters and a single mid-woofer that takes care of the midrange as well as a pretty decent bass. For such a diminutive package, you’d be forgiven for not having too many expectations on the sound front. But that would be a mistake.

I played a variety of tracks from my Spotify and TIDAL collections that some have been rude enough to describe as a clear indication that I suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder because it’s so varied. So, some Sarah McLachlan (Angel) and Missy Higgins (Where I Stood) for vocals and piano, Mike Oldfield (Moonlight Shadow) and Pink Floyd (Coming Back To Life / High Hopes) for guitars, Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight for drums…and some Ava Max, just because she looks good.

Again, mention must be made that the ERA 100 can never compete with a larger, dedicated loudspeaker setup, and nowhere is SONOS trying to claim this. But for its size, the musical quality cannot be criticised. Each and every frequency was there, and best of all the high frequencies were kind on the ears, never harsh or overly bright, while the bass never threatened to muddy the midrange. Pure clarity.

I couldn’t find any mention of its output power rating (SONOS is apparently known for being coy about this, which if you’ve read any of the articles on amplifier ratings by colleague Joel Kopping is most certainly not a bad thing). But suffice to say that it can pump out the music at pretty impressive volumes – while maintaining absolute control – and quite frankly that’s all that matters, in my humble opinion.

Highly recommended!

Andrew Rowland

 

Planetworld is the importer and distributor of SONOS.

Cinema Architects is a premium dealer of SONOS and has the entire range ready to demo. For the full SONOS experience and expert advice, please visit Cinema Architects in Kramerville:

8 Desmond Road

Kramerville

Sandton