Sonos is still the leader when it comes to wireless, multi-room audio systems. With a dead-easy setup routine, well-designed controller apps, and the ability to play music from both your local stash of MP3s and all the big streaming services, the palindromic home audio supplier is playing with a winning hand.
Now Sonos has released a subwoofer to complement its array of wireless Play speakers and Connect amps. It's simply called Sub. The $700 powered speaker component isn't cheap (none of the Sonos stuff is) but it does add excellent definition and low-end heft to any existing Sonos system.
The Sub's glossy, piano-black case is shaped like a big, square doughnut with a rectangular hole in the center. That central cavity is where all the sound is directed. Two 4.5-inch by 7-inch rectangular divers, each with its own class-D amp, face each other from opposing sides of the cavity. The speaker enclosures are ported into the cavity, too, with one port at the top and one at the bottom.
In my testing, the Sub greatly improved the overall richness of the Sonos system here at the Wired office. We have a pair of the Play:3 bookshelf speakers, which, due to their compact size, are on the weak side when it comes to bass reproduction. Adding the Sub gave our system the low-end oomph it's always been missing.
Setup is ridiculously easy. If you already have a Sonos system, just plug the Sub into an outlet wherever you want it to live, fire up your Sonos controller app (I used my iPhone) and add it to your system's existing mesh network. You can tune the output level and the tonal coloring of the speaker using a simple test suite within the controller app. Setting up an entirely new multi-speaker system is equally as easy, and only involves an extra step or two.
