Sonos Era 100 Stereo Pair Review

Back in late March, we shared our review of the new Sonos Era 100, the company’s successor to its hugely popular Sonos One.

While the Sonos One is no slouch and works great as a smart speaker, the Era 100 just kicks things up another notch, and is worthy of an upgrade as it offers noticeably more bass and just overall wider sound.

But what about a Sonos Era 100 stereo pair? How does the Era 100 perform when two units are put together for dedicated left and right channels? We had the opportunity to find out so here’s our short review, as Sonos sent out a second speaker to test the Era 100 stereo pair.

The Sonos Era 100 is definitely one of the new benchmarks for consumer audio at this price point. With its next-generation acoustics powered by an advanced processor, it delivers your music with intricately detailed stereo separation and amplified bass performance. At any volume, the sound is rich, balanced, and crystal-clear.

The Era 100 does not shy away from rich bass. It boasts a woofer that is 25% larger than the one found in Sonos One and it’s instantly noticeable over the latter. With a Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro, the Era 100 was loud enough to power music for outside gatherings.

A key standout feature of the Era 100 is the custom waveguides, which widen the dispersion of sound waves, creating a broader, more encompassing soundstage.

A new processor that’s 47% faster than its predecessor, coupled with a brand new co-neural processor, powers the Era 100, ensuring quick connections to your music. In a nutshell, the Sonos Era 100 is a compact, yet powerhouse speaker that delivers incredible sound and cutting-edge performance.

This device takes stereo sound to the next level with dual-angled tweeters, broadcasting crisp high frequencies to the left and right. The result is an immersive, stereo experience that brings a smile to your face. Now, setting up two Era 100 speakers? That’s taking things to a whole new level.

Sonos makes it incredibly easy to create a stereo pair from compatible speakers such as the Era 100. The company’s Sonos app for iOS and Android does all the heavy lifting. After you’ve added your second Sonos Era 100 to your household, in the Sonos app head to Settings > System > Products > tap one of the speakers you want to create a stereo pair, then tap ‘Set Up Stereo Pair’.

The app then plays a sound on one of the speakers and you identify which one is on the left or right, and then the stereo pair is completed. Sonos makes creating a stereo pair the easiest in the industry.

So how does the Sonos Era 100 sound as a stereo pair? It’s frickin’ awesome. Sound is richer and stereo sound is much wider. Bass is satisfying and you feel it in your chest. It fills our living room with even more bass and just rocks the house, big time, especially hip hop and R&B. There’s no need for the Sub Mini at this point as that remains paired to our TV-mounted Arc soundbar.

Beyond sound with a wider soundstage and super clear vocals, two Era 100 speakers together are also much louder than two Sonos Ones. The design of the Era 100 also blends nicely into our home, like the Sonos One. #wifeapproved

Do you absolutely need a stereo pair for the Sonos Era 100? The answer is no if you have a small room, but if you have the extra cash, it’s definitely worth it if you have a larger living room, or if you want to step up sound for your existing space. It will ramp up the dance parties in your home if you have kids. With AirPlay 2 support, you can use your Sonos Era 100 speakers to power your Apple TV, plus the new speakers also support Bluetooth.

What’s also great is Sonos Voice Control and Amazon Alexa for controlling music, volume and more. Fair warning, actor Giancarlo Esposito’s voice from Breaking Bad may freak some people out at first.

With Father’s Day coming up next month, a Sonos Era 100 or two would make for a happy dad, guaranteed. You get incredible room-filling sound, easy speaker management through the Sonos app and just general ease of use when it comes to listening to music. The Sonos Era 100 costs $319 each, but a stereo pair is cheaper from Sonos at $599 plus tax, saving you $39. Your Era 100 stereo setup will be cheaper than two Apple HomePods at $800 (and sound better too).