Sonos Era 300 Stereo Pair Review

We’ve previously reviewed the Sonos Era 100 in a stereo pair set up, but now we’re getting our hands on the Era 300 in stereo pair.

Just when we thought the Era 100 in a stereo pair set up was worth the upgrade from the Sonos One, these Era 300 speakers with Dolby Atmos are on another level in the same setup, according to the review units we received from the company.

Unboxing the Era 300, like any other Sonos produce is a real treat. Everything is packaged in recycled cardboard and there’s a clever way to ‘unlock’ the tabs to open the box. The small details are literally Apple-like in every way.

Again, Sonos speakers come wrapped in a cloth sealed with a sticker–and it’s like opening a present every time:

In the box you’ll get the Era 300 speaker itself, set up guide and power cable. This power cable for the Era 300 is the same as the Era 100:

Here are two Era 300 speakers side-by-side. They are hefty and the design does look odd, but grows on you over time:

From the top you can see the same touch controls as seen on the Era 100. There’s a slider bar for volume controls, plus touch controls for pause and next/back for skipping tracks. Just remember the indentation is for volume controls:

The bottom of the Era 300 has two larger rubber feet that span across looking like white chocolate-covered Cadbury Fingers:

Here’s the Era 300 next to a pair of Era 100 speakers, to show you the size difference comparison:

The Era 300 speakers can be used as rears as part of your Dolby Atmos set up with a compatible Sonos soundbar, such as the pictured Arc. In our case, we’re here to test the Era 300 stereo pair.

As always, setting up the Sonos Era 300 speakers as a stereo pair in our living room was a breeze. The ease of pairing these speakers through the Sonos app is definitely one of those “surprise and delight” moments for those experiencing it for the first time.

The Sonos S2 app does everything for you, from detecting the Era 300 speakers and connecting them to your home Wi-Fi. You just follow the instructions to set up a stereo pair and it’s just incredibly easy:

With a living room that has a vaulted ceiling, the spatial audio capabilities of these speakers, especially when streaming Spatial Audio tracks from Apple Music, have transformed our music listening to another level. The dimensional depth added to familiar tracks makes them sound totally different, as each song now feels like it exists in a broader, more tangible space. Together, these two speakers pack a larger punch compared to their size. It feels like you’re listening to music from huge speakers.

We wish the Sonos app would get an overhaul to make it easier and faster to navigate to Spatial Audio tracks, and rumours have pointed out it might be happening soon.

The design of the Era 300 speakers is notably distinctive. I wasn’t a huge fan at first but over time I have gotten used to them. They do blend in well with our living room’s aesthetic—earning the much-coveted “wife approval.”

The Era 300 engulfs you in music and the stereo set up is insane. There are six drivers positioned around the front, sides, and top, supporting Dolby Atmos, projecting sound across the entire room and creating a sound field that at times can trick your brain. Some sounds just feel like they are coming from somewhere else in the room.

The custom waveguides deliver sound in every direction, offering a very spacious stereo soundstage. There’s also more than enough bass to satisfy you as you can really feel each thump and lows.

Vocals and lead instruments are delivered with extreme clarity by the centre tweeter, while the side tweeters and upward-firing tweeter—encased in a directional horn—lift the sound, giving life to spatial audio content. With two additional woofers, strategically placed to minimize vibration, bass remains balanced and powerful.

The Era 300 supports streaming via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Ethernet is not built-in as, but the Sonos Combo Adapter connects to its USB-C port to solve that. You also get support for Apple’s AirPlay 2.

You can also connect external audio sources, like a turntable, through an auxiliary cable and the Sonos Line-In Adapter. There’s automatic Trueplay tuning, but we went old school and walked around with our iPhone upside down for more advanced tuning. The speaker also features humidity resistance.

We typically have the Arc and Sub mini for watching movies and TV as it’s the default set up for our Apple TV 4K. The Era 300 is usually the music pair for having tunes on while cooking or relaxing, so we have it enabled with Alexa for voice controls. For those with large rooms, the stereo Era 300 setup really shines to fill your space with music.

But what’s lacking is the support for Google Assistant (both companies are in a legal fight), as that was also unavailable in the Era 100. You do get Alexa and the Sonos voice assistant. At this point, don’t even bother with Apple’s HomePod for music despite its $399 price tag.

When it comes to price, a single Era 300 is $559 CAD, but you can buy a pair (or Immersive Music Set) for $1,008 from Sonos, saving you $110. These are not super affordable speakers, but they do pack great sound and are so easy to use and control. If you can fork out the cash, you won’t be disappointed with the Era 300 stereo pair, as it will elevate your music experience and impress your friends and family (your neighbours might hate you if you’re living in a strata). One Era 300 sounds good, but a stereo pair will really knock your socks off.