CE Pro January 2022 - 57

items took a few minutes
each, respectively.
Performance
& Conclusions
Like Sonos' other soundbar,
the Arc, Beam Gen 2 is an
excellent performer that will
make homeowners happy
regardless of whether it is
playing music or AV content.
The companion app makes
finding content easy, and I
think, based on my listening,
regardless of the room
environment the Beam Gen
2 will deliver highly intelligible
dialog and a big wide
soundstage.
I appreciate the size of the
new Beam. It complements
smaller TVs and can be used
with larger 50- and 55-inch
models too without looking
out of place. Between
its small size, minimalistic
industrial design and color
choices, homeowners will
like how the sleek product
fits in their spaces.
Watching everything from
NFL football to streaming
content and traditional
broadcast TV, I found the
Beam Gen 2 to produce
well-defined, highly intelligible
dialog from a variety of
seating positions. I think this
is critical for a soundbar as
part of its value proposition
as an audio upgrade for the
limited-range speakers manufacturers
put in modern TVs.
Male voices sounded
full and not artificially rich,
and female voices sounded
smooth without being thin or
bright. These attributes could
be heard with music and AV
content without the aid of
the " speech enhancement "
option. Tonally, I thought the
cepro.com
new Sonos soundbar is pretty
much neutral, maybe it could
be considered slightly on the
" warm " side. The top end is
extended, the midrange is
detailed and the bottom end
comfortably plays down to
about 50Hz, which is in range
of kick drums or just above an
open " E " string on a fourstring
bass in standard tuning.
Switching to AV content, I
was impressed that because
the Beam Gen 2 is so precise
with its dialog reproduction
I did not have to turn up the
volume in situations where
on-screen conversations
were soft. The frequency
response and imaging
provides enough richness
where I could hear other
effects of the soundtrack
such as street noise and bits
of audio information that
are typically present in a
surround-sound mix.
Shifting to immersive
audio content, I pulled out
a couple of demonstration
discs from DTS and Dolby,
which feature DTS:X and
Dolby Atmos platforms.
Despite the soundbar's
downmixing these native
immersive audio soundtracks
to stereo PCM because of
my TV's age, I could hear discrete
audio channels in the
Dolby Disc's 5.1.4 test tones,
for example.
I do plan on revisiting the
Beam Gen 2 with a new TV,
one that includes HDMI
eARC options to try the
immersive capabilities of
the soundbar, but even with
older TVs like mine the new
Sonos soundbar works extremely
well as a no-brainer
multipurpose audio upgrade.
As I noted earlier, the
Sonos Beam Gen 2 throws
a wide soundstage. Walking
around and listening from
different seating locations
I found the new Beam's
soundstage won't collapse
even if you are at the edge of
its dispersion capabilities.
Addressing the TruePlay
functionality, I'll preface by
noting I have multiple zones
of Sonos in my home. In
these zones, I have successfully
used the TruePlay EQ
option without any issues.
For some reason, however, it
took a number of tries to get
TruePlay to work with the
Beam Gen 2. My failings included
too much background
noise and not moving around
enough for the technology
to produce a measurement.
Ultimately, after numerous
attempts, I did get the
option to work. Despite
the problems I had with the
TruePlay option, however, I
still thought the soundbar
delivered excellent sound
in a room that I would say
is far from an ideal listening
environment. With the TruePlay
EQ running, the sound
is certainly more optimized
than the adjustments I had
made with the Beam's basic
two-band EQ (treble, bass).
The Beam integrates
seamlessly into a Sonos
whole-house audio system;
it handles a range of AV
content flawlessly; it's easy
to set up and use. If you
are on the fence about the
Beam or have never heard a
Sonos product, I recommend
checking out the speaker
for your customers' potential
music and AV listening
enjoyment because I think it
will win their affection too.
Sonos Beam
Gen 2
SPECS
Beam incorporates five
channels of Class D
amplification
Features four elliptical
midrange drivers
Trio of passive radiators
augments low frequencies
Works with Sonos' S2
OS and companion app,
which offers bass and
treble controls; speech
enhancement, loudness
options; and Sonos'
TruePlay EQ technologies
Beam Gen 2 supports
formats that include
Dolby Atmos, Dolby
Digital Plus, Dolby
TrueHD, and stereo
PCM signals
Available in black or
white finish
MSRP $449;
sonos.com
CE PRO
VERDICT
PROS:
Throws a wide sound
stage wit good dialog
reproduction
Complements a range
of TVs through its small
footprint and ability to
upgrade a TV's sound,
even legacy models
Integrates into a Sonos
whole-house audio system,
and can reproduce
immersive audio content
CONS:
It took a number of tries
for the TruePlay auto EQ
system to run properly
January 2022 CE Pro | 57
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CE Pro January 2022

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