CEDIA 2013

Sonos’ Playbar soundbar uses proprietary tech to beam surround sound from its 9-driver array. To judge from the demo I caught at CEDIA — my first-ever experience with the Playbar — the effect is impressive. But some people may prefer real surround speakers located in the rear of the room. The company offers up its Play:3 wireless speakers for that very purpose, but custom installers have been bugging them to provide a solution that expands surround speaker options for the Playbar.
The result: a software upgrade that lets you pair the Playbar with the company’s Connect: Amp, a 55-wpc amp that gets audio signals wirelessly from the soundbar and connects to surround speakers of your choosing. Sonos demo’d the system using a pair of in-ceiling speakers, and the resulting surround was even more immersive than what I heard from the Playbar playing solo.