When it comes to premium soundbars…
A Brief History of Sonos and Bose
Before diving into soundbar comparisons…
Sonos was founded in 2002…
Bose has even deeper roots…
Flagship Soundbar Showdown: Sonos Arc vs Bose Smart Soundbar 900
The best way to judge Sonos vs Bose soundbars…
| Spec | Sonos Arc | Bose Smart Soundbar 900 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $899 | $899 |
| Size | 45 x 3.4 x 4.5 in | 41.14 x 2.29 x 4.21 in |
On paper, these two Sonos and Bose flagships…
The Sonos Arc sports a total of 11 high-performance speaker drivers…
By comparison, the taller but slimmer Bose Smart Soundbar 900 packs 9 drivers…
In daily usage, both Sonos Arc and Bose Smart Soundbar 900 owners praise crystal clear dialogue and impressive stereo separation. The Sonos sounds slightly warmer while Bose tends toward neutral accuracy.
Digging a bit deeper, we can spot some differences that distinguish the experiences of owning these flagship soundbars from Sonos and Bose.
The Sonos Arc soundbar hides 11 speakers behind its minimalist curved grille.
With angled upfiring drivers, the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 places emphasis on Dolby Atmos height effects
Mid-Range Soundbar Showdown: Sonos Beam Gen 2 vs Bose Smart Soundbar 700
Stepping down below the flagship tier, Sonos and Bose both offer premium mid-range soundbars packing performance nearly on par with their top models for a few hundred dollars less.
The $449 Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a compact 3.0-channel soundbar packing 5 Class-D digital amps powering 4 elliptical woofers and 1 tweeter, upgraded over the original Beam with faster processing, Dolby Atmos support, eARC connectivity, and more.
Bose retorts with the $799 Smart Soundbar 700 – a 9-speaker array with proprietary ADAPTiQ room tuning and jewel-cube industrial design. There‘s no Dolby Atmos here but a punchy central bass module and upfiring speakers simulate 3D audio.
Both mid-range models represent the sweet spot for buyers unwilling to splurge over $900 but seeking fuller, louder sound than budget-tier products can manage.
Here‘s how Beam Gen 2 and Smart Soundbar 700 specs align:
| Spec | Sonos Beam Gen 2 | Bose Smart Soundbar 700 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $449 | $799 |
| Size | 2.72 x 25.63 x 3.94 in | 2.28 x 37.44 x 4.29 in |
| Speakers | 5 total: 4 woofers, 1 tweeter | 9 total: 4 woofers, 3 tweeters, 2 upfiring |
| Amplification | 5 Class D digital amps | Not specified |
| Sound Enhancement | Dolby Atmos | Bose TrueSpace |
| Connectivity | eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2 | eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2 |
| Voice Assistants | Alexa + Google Assistant | Alexa + Google Assistant |
Reviews confirm both these Sonos and Bose models inject new life into movies, games and music with tube-like warmth and surprisingly heavy bass response for their size. The Beam Gen 2 sounds slightly more dynamic while the Smart Soundbar 700 counterbalances with brilliant vocal reproduction and precision surround effects.
Considering the $350 price difference and included features, Sonos Beam Gen 2 strikes us as the wiser mid-range investment of the two. But the Bose still impresses with sleek architecture and lifelike atmosphere if your budget accommodates.
Budget Soundbar Options: Sonos Ray vs Bose TV Speaker
Bringing capable audio enhancement within reach for smaller rooms and wallets, Sonos and Bose also provide cheaper 2-channel soundbars lacking fancy processing but getting the basics right.
Priced at just $279, the Sonos Ray packs surprising width and weight for its compact size thanks to split waveguide architecture housing dual elliptical mid-woofers alongside two tweeters. Simple controls and automatic audio calibration aid quick setup.
The $199 Bose TV Speaker is even more narrowly focused as an ultra-affordable single-speaker solution, yet still sounds more bold and dynamic than most competing models. The tiny soundbar slipping easily under displays makes it perfect for kitchens and offices where space is at a premium.
Weighing pure value against performance, the Sonos Ray edges out the Bose TV Speaker for room-filling audio and future expansion potential. But for secondary TVs, Bose gives you all the vital sonic enhancements at budget pricing.
Sound Quality Breakdown: Sonos vs Bose
Now let‘s dig deeper into the actual sound profile and listening experience buyers can expect from Sonos and Bose soundbars purchased across various tiers:
Frequency Response
Independent lab measurements confirm most Sonos soundbars slightly emphasize low bass around 100Hz by a few decibels, lending a sense of warmth and power even without a subwoofer attached. Mid-range clarity shines as well. Treble is modestly attenuated right at the limits of hearing above 10 kHz to avoid harsh sibilance. The overall sound signature has been described as intimate yet energetic.
Bose soundbars measured in audiophile publications like Audioholics tend to spike bass and treble peaks more noticeably by as much as +7dB. However, stringent quality control ensures linear mids (vocals) and extremely low distortion overall. There‘s no obvious hollowness or resonant peaks across the spectrum. The clinical neutrality lives up to Bose‘s reputation.
Stereo Separation
Both companies excel here at projecting distinctive left vs right channel separation for proper soundstage width and accurate imaging. Lower-end models use waveguides or angled drivers to throw audio outward. Audiophile testing confirms sharp focus replicating studio mixes as intended.
Dialogue Clarity
Speech reproduction is universally crisp and easily intelligible across both brands. Sonos Trueplay tuning may spotlight screen voices slightly more aggressively using beamforming technology. Bose applies similar clarity to all content including music playback thanks to precise crossover networks.
Loudness & Dynamics
While entirely respectable within their size and class, bass depth and output limits of standalone soundbars are unavoidable without the reinforcement of separate subwoofers. Sonos compensates somewhat via EQ and power reserves. Peak volume potential predictably scales higher through the Sonos and Bose lineup as you pay for additional internal amps and drivers.
Bottom Line: Sound Quality
There are no losers here – both Sonos and Bose inject welcome audiophile appeal into the often style-over-substance soundbar market. Each brand caters to a slightly different taste in balance yet avoids unnatural coloration. Bose leans more reference monitor while Sonos sounds fun. Bulk output predictably rises as you climb their model ranges and pay for extra speaker hardware. Choose the tuning flavor aligning best with your content habits.
Smart Ecosystem Integration
A final point of differentiation for buyers involves ecosystem integration. Do these soundbars play friendly within wider smart home and audio hardware environments?
Sonos has staked their business around building out a platform for multi-room wireless sound synchronization throughout the home. Their soundbars serve as the heart powering entire Sonos speaker networks controlled directly from their handy app interface. Tight integration with streaming services and custom group presets make casual whole-home audio enjoyment breeze. Just a few taps fills multiple rooms with Spotify playlists or radio in perfect sync.
Bose also offers wireless pairing to their Smart Soundbar 300/500/700 models via SimpleSync. You can easily beam audio from the soundbar out to qualifying headphones and speakers like the Home Speaker 300. However, each device runs independently without the unified control and synchronization afforded by Sonos components. And only specific recent-generation Bose gear works with SimpleSync. Their ecosystemcoverage is far narrower.
If you already own other products like Echo smart speakers from the Sonos or Bose range, keeping within their respective ecosystems improves cross-device functionality like voice controls and audio handoff. But Bose just can‘t match the expansive seamless integration Sonos provides.
Extended Soundbar Features and Connectivity Comparison
Beyond speaker drivers and sound quality, evaluating additional functionality helps determine the better offering as well:
Voice Assistance: Alexa and Google Assistant support featured on all but the cheapest models from both brands. Sonos allows switching during setup while Bose preselects one. Edge functions can vary between assistants across updates.
HDMI connectivity: Most Sonos and Bose soundbars include at least one HDMI input for simplified connections, but higher-end models add additional ports and more advanced eARC/HDMI 2.1 capabilities allowing uncompressed Dolby Atmos playback from external devices. Only Sonos Arc has two HDMI inputs.
Surround sound expandability: Several options in the Sonos lineup can be upgraded down the road with separate wireless surround speakers and subwoofers from Sonos. Most Bose models focus on self-contained performance, although their flagship Smart Soundbar 900 and Smart Soundbar 700 can link up wirelessly to Bose surround speakers and Bass Modules.
Music services: All Sonos and Bose models provide direct Wi-Fi streaming integration with Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music and other popular music apps. Sonos supports a few more niche services. Both also work over Bluetooth from phones/tablets.
Additional features: Other handy sound adjustment modes, input options and bonus features vary across the product range:
- Sonos offers a speech enhancement mode, line-in connection for wired devices alongside Bluetooth/WiFi, and subtle touch controls.
- Some Bose models throw in ADAPTiQ room calibration, a standalone Bose Music app, multifunction remotes, and angled or wall-mountable hardware options.
Both brands check all the essential boxes, but Sonos pulls ahead with broader future expandability and music ecosystem access fitting their whole-home audio sales pitch.
Reliability and Customer Support
With excellent build quality and mostly sealed enclosures, reliabiltiy issues seem minimal on both Sonos and Bose soundbars from what we can gather scanning various reviews and community forums. Being mainly solid-state designs rather than mechanical, there‘s less to break.
The most common complaints stem from early wireless connectivity glitches or setup problems rather than outright hardware failures. In some cases though, users report audio issues like unwanted distortion at high volumes weeks or months after purchase. Isolating whether that‘s due to hardware degradation vs software problems can prove tricky without extensive testing.
Anecdotal evidence suggests Sonos may have a slight long-term reliabilty advantage over Bose. However, since Bose products undergo stringent stress testing and quality assurance during manufacturing, that difference seems negligible at best. Both earn high marks for withstanding years of continuous operation across owners – an important factor for pricey upscale gear.
Sonos edges out Bose for customer service satisfaction based on public complaints and reviews though. Their support community forum provides helpful peer-to-peer troubleshooting advice 24/7. And direct email assistance rates well for friendliness if those self-fixes fail. Bose service seems mixed – some receive swift resolution while other customers face confusing automated runarounds trying to receive warranty claims.
As for direct warranties, Sonos beats Bose again by providing 2 years of coverage across all soundbar models which is twice as long as the standard 1 year Bose offers. Piece of mind against early-onset defects lasts longer as Sonos includes an extra year.
To wrap up this epic Sonos vs Bose showdown guide…
For those seeking top-of-the-line performance to show off an extensive media library or demonstrate their hi-fi gear to audiophile friends, we recommend either Sonos Arc or Bose Smart Soundbar 900.
For budget-focused buyers dealing with smaller TVs and media rooms, Bose gives you better selection. Their compact 300-series and Solo soundbars pack proprietary signal processing to extract clear vocals and reasonably spacious stereo playback from even limited drivers. Sonos can‘t quite match the breadth of affordable offerings.
At the end of the lengthy face-off between these two audio titans, both Sonos and Bose produce excellent home theater accessories that outshine generic competitors. Sonos soundbars promote the convenience of an ever-growing ecosystem, while Bose soundbars focus on fundamental precise sound.
