Sonos Beam (Gen 2): Immersive Sound, Simplified Home Theater

Let’s be honest: most TVs, even the stunningly thin ones with gorgeous 4K (or even 8K!) resolution, have terribly underwhelming sound. The speakers are often tiny, rear-facing, and simply not capable of delivering the kind of audio experience that matches the visual spectacle. You’re watching a breathtaking action sequence, but the explosions sound tinny, the dialogue is muffled, and the soaring orchestral score feels flat. It’s like watching a masterpiece through a blurry window. You’re missing half the experience! We crave that immersive, cinematic feeling, that sense of being inside the movie or game, but achieving it has often felt complicated and expensive.

Enter the Sonos Beam (Gen 2)

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a compact, smart soundbar designed to address this very problem. It’s a single, elegant unit that sits neatly beneath your TV (or can be wall-mounted), yet it’s packed with technology to deliver a surprisingly wide and immersive soundstage. Key features like Dolby Atmos support, Trueplay room calibration, and seamless integration with the Sonos ecosystem make it a powerful and versatile upgrade to your home entertainment setup. But what do these terms actually mean, and how do they translate into a better listening experience? Let’s break it down.

Decoding Dolby Atmos: Sound All Around (and Above!)

For years, surround sound meant placing multiple speakers around your room – front left, front right, center, rear left, rear right, and maybe a subwoofer. This “channel-based” approach created a horizontal plane of sound, but it lacked a crucial dimension: height. Dolby Atmos changes the game.

Think of traditional surround sound like a paint-by-numbers picture. Each color (sound) is assigned to a specific section (speaker). Dolby Atmos, on the other hand, is more like a 3D sculpture. Sounds aren’t tied to specific channels; they’re treated as independent “objects” that can be placed anywhere in a three-dimensional space – in front of you, behind you, beside you, and even above you.

A Brief History: The quest for immersive sound isn’t new. From early experiments with quadraphonic sound in the 1970s to the development of Dolby Surround and Dolby Digital in the ’80s and ’90s, engineers have continually sought to recreate the natural, three-dimensional way we hear sound in the real world. Dolby Atmos, introduced in 2012, represents a significant leap forward in this pursuit.

How it Works: Dolby Atmos relies on metadata – extra information embedded in the audio signal – that tells the soundbar (or other Atmos-enabled system) where each sound object should be positioned in space. The Beam (Gen 2) uses sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) and its cleverly designed speaker array to achieve this.

The Beam (Gen 2)’s Approach: While it doesn’t have dedicated, physical upward-firing speakers like some larger (and more expensive) soundbars, the Beam (Gen 2) uses its five drivers, including two dedicated height channels, to create virtualized height effects. It bounces sound off your ceiling, tricking your ears into perceiving sounds as coming from above. It’s a bit of acoustic magic, and it works remarkably well, especially in rooms with standard ceiling heights.

Imagine it this way: Dolby Atmos is like a painter who can place sounds anywhere on a three-dimensional canvas, and the Beam (Gen 2) is a skilled artist that uses its tools to create a convincing illusion of that canvas, even without physically painting on the ceiling.

Trueplay: Your Room, Your Sound

Here’s a secret most people don’t realize: your room itself is a major player in how your sound system sounds. Hard surfaces like walls and windows reflect sound, while soft furnishings like carpets and curtains absorb it. The size and shape of your room also influence the sound waves, creating areas where certain frequencies are amplified (boomy bass) or canceled out (dead spots). This is all due to the principles of room acoustics.

What is Trueplay?: Trueplay is Sonos’s proprietary room calibration technology. It’s like having a personal acoustic engineer tune your soundbar specifically for your listening environment.

How it Works: Using the Sonos app and the microphone on your iOS device (iPhone or iPad), Trueplay plays a series of test tones. As you move your device around the room, the microphone captures how these tones are reflected and absorbed by your surroundings. The app then uses this data to create a custom acoustic profile of your room.

The Benefits: Based on this profile, Trueplay adjusts the Beam (Gen 2)’s output to compensate for your room’s unique characteristics. It ensures that the bass isn’t overpowering in a small room, that the dialogue is clear and intelligible even in a large, echoey space, and that the overall soundstage is balanced and accurate.

Think of Trueplay like an interior designer for your sound. It doesn’t change the furniture (your speakers), but it optimizes the arrangement (the audio output) to create the best possible experience in your specific space.

Beyond Immersive Sound: A Smart Soundbar

The Beam (Gen 2) is more than just a great-sounding speaker; it’s a smart, connected device that integrates seamlessly into your digital life.

• Voice Control: With built-in support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, you can control the Beam (Gen 2) with your voice. Ask it to play music, adjust the volume, check the weather, control smart home devices, and more – all without lifting a finger.
• Multi-Room Audio: The Beam (Gen 2) is part of the Sonos ecosystem, which means you can easily connect it to other Sonos speakers throughout your home. Play the same music in every room, or different music in different rooms – it’s all controlled through the Sonos app.
• AirPlay 2 Support: If you’re an Apple user, you can stream audio directly from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the Beam (Gen 2) using AirPlay 2.
• Speech Enhancement: This feature boosts the frequencies associated with human speech, making dialogue clearer and easier to understand, even at low volumes. It’s a lifesaver for those late-night movie sessions when you don’t want to wake the whole house.
• Night Sound: At the other end of the spectrum, Night Sound reduces the dynamic range of the audio – making loud sounds quieter and quiet sounds louder – so you can enjoy your content without disturbing others.
• The Sonos App: The Sonos app is your central control hub for the Beam (Gen 2) and any other Sonos speakers you own. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and offers a wealth of customization options.

The Science of Sound (A Touch of Physics)

To truly appreciate the Beam (Gen 2)’s capabilities, it’s helpful to understand a few basic principles of sound.

• Sound Waves 101: Sound travels in waves, much like ripples in a pond. These waves have a frequency (the number of waves per second, measured in Hertz), which determines the pitch of the sound, and an amplitude (the height of the wave), which determines the loudness.
• Reflection and Absorption: When sound waves encounter a surface, they can be reflected (bounced back), absorbed (converted into heat), or a combination of both. Hard, smooth surfaces like walls tend to reflect sound, while soft, porous surfaces like carpets and curtains tend to absorb it.
• How Beam (Gen 2) make use of sound reflection: Beam (Gen 2) uses the reflective surfaces in a room, such as walls and ceilings, to its advantage. By carefully controlling the timing and direction of the sound waves emitted from its various drivers, it can create a wider and more immersive soundstage than would be possible with a direct-radiating speaker alone.
• Psychoacoustics: This is the study of how we perceive sound. It’s not just about the physical properties of sound waves, but also about how our brains interpret them. The Beam (Gen 2) uses psychoacoustic principles, like manipulating the timing and phase of sounds, to create the illusion of sounds coming from different directions, even though they’re all originating from a single soundbar.
  

Beam (Gen 2) Drivers Configuration.

The Beam (Gen 2) packs a surprising amount of audio firepower into its compact frame. It features five Class-D digital amplifiers, perfectly tuned to the five dedicated speaker drivers:

• One Center Tweeter: Creates a crisp and clear center channel for dialogue, ensuring that voices are always distinct and easy to understand. Tweeters are designed to reproduce high-frequency sounds.
• Four Elliptical Midwoofers: These drivers handle the midrange frequencies, providing warmth and fullness to the sound. Their elliptical shape helps to maximize their surface area within the Beam (Gen 2)’s slim enclosure.
• Three Passive Radiators: Enhance low-frequency response, give the impression of more bass.

This carefully engineered combination of drivers, coupled with the advanced DSP, allows the Beam (Gen 2) to deliver a remarkably wide and detailed soundstage.

A Smarter Choice? (Brief Comparisons)

While the Beam (Gen 2) is an excellent soundbar, it’s not the only option out there. Let’s briefly compare it to a couple of alternatives:

• Sonos Arc: The Arc is Sonos’s flagship soundbar. It’s larger, more powerful, and more expensive than the Beam (Gen 2). It features dedicated upward-firing drivers for even more realistic Dolby Atmos effects. The Arc is best suited for larger rooms and those who demand the absolute best in home theater sound.
• Competitors (e.g., Bose Smart Soundbar 300, Samsung HW-Q60T): Several other manufacturers offer compelling soundbars in a similar price range to the Beam (Gen 2). Some may offer features like Bluetooth connectivity (which the Beam (Gen 2) lacks), while others may prioritize different aspects of sound quality. However, the Beam (Gen 2) often stands out for its combination of Dolby Atmos support, Trueplay tuning, and seamless integration with the Sonos ecosystem. It is always best to compare specs and reviews before making the final choice.

The Sound Investment

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) isn’t just a soundbar; it’s an investment in a better home entertainment experience. It transforms your TV viewing from a passive activity into an immersive journey. Whether you’re watching a blockbuster movie, listening to your favorite music, or playing the latest video game, the Beam (Gen 2) elevates the audio to match the stunning visuals.

If you’re looking for a compact, smart, and great-sounding soundbar that delivers immersive Dolby Atmos sound without the complexity of a traditional surround sound system, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is an excellent choice. It’s particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized rooms, and its Trueplay tuning ensures that you’ll get the best possible sound, no matter your room’s acoustics. While it may not have the absolute deepest bass or the true separation of dedicated rear speakers, its overall performance and ease of use make it a compelling option for anyone looking to upgrade their TV’s sound. It’s about hearing – and feeling – the difference.