Of those who own a television, only one in ten also has a soundbar. The most obvious consequence is that he is condemned to listen badly to music, to imagine the sound effects, to struggle to understand the dialogues. Sonos has decided to put an end to the suffering of so many people who find themselves in this situation and presented a few weeks ago the Ray soundbar, the third and smallest of a range that includes the excellent Arc and the Beam Gen 2, released last year. .
Musica
Hi-Res audio: what it is, how to stream it and how much you spend
by Dario D’Elia
02 February 2022
How it is made
The Ray marks a turning point for the American company: on the one hand it integrates perfectly into a wireless multiroom system using Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect or the Sonos S2 app; on the other hand it is clearly a product designed for those who have never considered the brand before. Not only for the price (299 euros), but also for the compact size, the discreet design, the ease of positioning (there are no loudspeakers directed upwards, so it can also be inserted in a piece of furniture).
Aesthetically, the Ray soundbar is undoubtedly a Sonos product, with smooth curves, touch controls, monochromatic finishes and a perforated polycarbonate grille. In the test version (black) it seemed extremely susceptible to fingerprints and fingerprints, but if desired, it also exists in white.
Inside, four class D amplifiers feed as many speakers: two elliptical mid-woofers positioned in the center, flanked by a pair of tweeters with a wave guide that directs the sound waves partly in front, partly towards the sides of the room, to create a wider sound front than would otherwise be possible with such a short distance between speakers. It is a very similar solution to that adopted by Bose on its speakers of the seventies and eighties, with the name Direct / Reflecting. It works great, not least because it is aided by powerful digital sound processing. To realize this, just start the True Play calibration function, which allows you to adjust the sound profile of the Ray, like other Sonos products, according to the acoustic characteristics of the room. The procedure is simple: you start the app, and the device emits a series of sounds; the smartphone microphone records them and compares them with the original, then adjusts the frequency response in order to compensate for resonances, rumble and environmental reflections. For the soundbar it takes two measurements: one made at the ideal listening point, the other by moving around the room and rotating the smartphone. And already here, between hisses and various noises, you can see how the little Ray actually shoots sounds from right to left, even if obviously a system with two separate speakers generates a wider sound stage.
Sound tailored
The Sonos S2 app works on smartphones and tablets of all platforms, but calibration with Trueplay is only available with iPhones. In our case, the effect was almost irrelevant when the Ray was used in a large hall, larger, much more evident in a medium-sized room, where the bass became more sculpted and the voices clearer, with the dialogues of the more intelligible films. If that’s still not enough, there is the Speech Enhancement setting in the app in addition to Night Sound to reduce loud sound effects, and you can also adjust the bass and treble tones and the Loudness. For the lower frequencies, Sonos has developed “low speed” curved reflex ports which should allow the air moved by the woofers to flow without turbulence and distortion. The bass is there, certainly not that deep, but still surprising for the size of the Ray (7 cm high, for a length of 56 cm).
The impression is that a device like the Ray is designed above all to improve the voices, and in fact here the step forward compared to a normal TV is evident. It goes without saying that even the special effects, usually concentrated on the low notes, gain impact and credibility. With music, the speech is a bit different: at low and medium volume the listening is pleasant, at the level of other Sonos devices if you do not consider the difference in the reconstruction of the sound scene; however, when the volume is raised, the sound hardens and the high frequencies sometimes become a little too present. Just one song is enough to prove it, This Time This Place… from the last Röyksopp album, where the bass is more than satisfactory, with good level drums and percussion, but the voice of singer Beki Mari becomes a bit annoying if you turn up the volume. We also rehearsed with Kate Bush, in homage to her newfound popularity after the release of Stranger Things 4ma Running Up That Hill did not convince us: certainly the fault of the somewhat flat recording, but also of the many overlapping instruments that it is impossible to make the best with a soundbar, whatever it is. It went a little better with The Smile, the new band from Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood: Skrting On The Surface, which could be a Radiohead song, is rendered with the voice rightly in the foreground, but the guitar is very clear and the reconstruction of the sound space is convincing, even if at times a bit artificial.
What is missing
There is no virtual Dolby Atmos decoding of the higher-end Sonos soundbars, Beam Gen 2 and Arc. There’s not even an HDMI eARC input – the TV’s audio comes from the optical connection, and so the Ray is equipped with an infrared receiver that allows the soundbar to use the TV’s remote to adjust the volume. The process should be very simple, but in our test, with a Samsung QLed TV and a HiSense laser TV, this caused a very annoying problem: the two devices, in fact, adopt radio frequency remote controls, while the optical digital output is fixed. . So to adjust the volume you have to get up or use the app, and in both cases the inconvenience is considerable, so much so that the purchase of the Ray is not recommended for those who have a TV without an infrared remote control. Even in this case, however, the choice of Sonos makes sense: radio frequency remote controls are not very widespread, and are mostly used on high and medium-high range devices, therefore of a size and cost probably higher than the typical TV for which this soundbar is meant.
Compact as it is, the Ray is ideal for placing under a screen; it would be perfect, therefore, even for desktop gamers, if only it had an HDMI connection: and instead it cannot be used in this way because there are very few monitors equipped with an optical output.
There is no analog input, and, like on other Sonos products, Bluetooth is missing.
Another notable Ray lack is that of the built-in microphones, so there’s no voice assistant (other than Gustavo Fring, coming to other Sonos products shortly). Again, it’s a less limiting choice than it seems, for various reasons: first because we’re not sure if Alexa or Google Assistant really add anything to a soundbar, and second because you can safely use any other smart speaker to control the Ray. both Sonos and other brands; finally because some televisions already include Alexa, for example the latest born of Xiaomi’s F2 series, which for price and features seem to us a perfect match with the Ray.
A thousand uses
All in all, for Ray we can say the same of the other soundbars of the American company: it offers good audio quality for music and for TV, is compatible with a huge number of music streaming platforms, and can play audio files on hard drives and computers. , for those who still use them. Its place is in the living room, under the TV, but it is also fine for music alone, throughout the house. In addition, there are various expansion possibilities: in addition to the three speaker models and the sub, a Connect Amp can be used, in combination with traditional speakers, which also allows you to listen to analog sources. Then a couple of Sonos One SLs are enough to have a discreet and versatile home theater system. Anyone wishing to hide the other speakers, for an even less invasive solution, can combine the Ray with speaker-frames or Ikea lamps-speakers. On the other hand, those who aim to spend even less, always in the Symfonisk line of the Swedish company, find good compatible speakers for 99 euros. And in addition, those who already have a Sonos Arc or Beam at home, can use a pair of Ray as rear speakers, perhaps fixing them directly to the wall vertically, to reduce their visual impact.
We like it
- Small and discreet
- Easy to set up
- Good sound
We do not like it
- No bluetooth
- If your TV doesn’t have an infrared remote control, the only way to adjust the volume remotely is with the app
- Dolby Atmos compatibility is missing