Sonos - Beam (Gen 1)
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
63
17
"Besides the center channel on Samsung is fantastic even on my Q800 which is not as good as the 990. It's so clear it's crazy, glass breaking in movies sounds real as well because of the center channel."
"blew me away with the level of detail it has ... nothing I've had even sounds remotely close ... none of them are even close to the Ambeo in terms of detail to the sound ... it's truly INCREDIBLE!!!"
"Sounds sooooo insanely polished & perfect it's almost scary how clean it sounds. ... If you strictly want the absolute cleanest sounding system, Ambeo Plus is the ONLY way to go!!"
51
3
"Now I get every feature that that my C3, XSX, ATV4K allow and it works perfectly."
"the speaker worked perfectly for the year or so I had it"
"What truly impressed me right off the bat was how effortless the setup was. ... It couldn't have been simpler—unbox the soundbar, surround speakers, and subwoofer, connect the power cables, and everything pairs automatically. ... the setup was quick and seamless."
2
2
"My favorite feature of the Sonos TV bars is that I can cast the sound to my other speakers. ... So when I ’m cooking I can still listen to the movie/tv from the other room. ... Seriously amazing tech"
"I did start enjoying it a lot more once I added surround speakers and other Sonos speakers for each room for multi room audio."
21
3
"I use a beam 1 for my pc sound in my office. It sounds really good up close. ... Definitely better than it did from afar when I used to have it in my living room with surrounds."
"perfect dialogue"
"The Beam has more bass"
5
1
"Yep, that spot is just screaming for a Sonos bar."
"I live in an apartment and don’t need anything crazy. ... AVR + wiring surround sound speakers just sounds like a hassle for an apartment."
"For a bedroom will suit 95% of people."
Disliked most:
115
111
"The bass is slow and sludgy on the Cadenza. ... They can't keep up with faster tracks. ... If you're listening to metal, prog, acid jazz, etc... then you may have some issues with that. ... Fast, heavyhitting techno? Not with these."
"I personally felt the bass was pretty anemic on it and I'm not a bass-head. ... Less bass than the ER2xr, Blessing 2, Blessing 2 Dusk, IE 200 etc. ... Very thin sounding. ... They have less bass than the Moondrop Blessing 2. ... They have less bass than the Etymotic ER2xr. ... They have less bass than the Sennheiser IE200. ... Just not enough bass and I"m no bass-head."
"The subwoofer is weak and almost non existent."
1
3
"Not happy you cannot shut it off without unplugging or disconnecting from WiFi so the soundbar is always on. ... I don want it on all the damn time."
"absolutely refused to function without an internet connection"
"Previously, it would get stuck in the “tuning” phase where it wouldn’t connect to the Beam to start the calibration."
0
1
"No bluetooth"
1
1
"Brighter, more detail, more balanced, better surround performance, just better in literally every aspect than the Beam."
1
3
"the app sucks"
"The Sonos ecosystem is a bit of a disaster right now ... avoid going any further down the Sonos rabbit hole by adding more speakers to a home network."
"Had so many issues I ended up taking it back to Costco. ... it’s not worth the hassle of Sonos."
bluealien78 1.0I’m running a Gen 1 Beam in my main bedroom with 2 x Play:1s as rears, and it’s a great soundbar for that size space. The Beam tends to struggle a bit in larger spaces though, so depending on how big your room is, thats something to keep in mind.
bretskii 1.0I've been building my setup slowly in fb market. I picked up the gen 1 sound bar for 50$, and I just picked up 2 era 100s for 115$ a piece. I have several other speakers around the house that I've picked up locally for 75-100 a piece. Just waiting on a sub to show up within a reasonable distance. If you don't need the latest and greatest, this is pretty effective, and still sounds awesome.
CleanSun4248 1.0I've got the sc9s and have discovered i can't get rear speakers as they don't make them which is annoying as i wanted surround sound. It sounds great for movies with the Sub and Dolby atmosphere, for other stuff though my gen 1 Beam sounds as good. If I could have my time again id go Sonos so I could get rears mind you that was way over my budget as well as adding a sonos Sub and I got a great deal on LG bar bundled with tv. Wow Orchestra is ok. I guess 'it depends' is the answer.
Miles better with my Beam and my LG bar with sub..watching shows without it seems hollow. If just watching tv with the news or something tv sound would be ok but anything else need better sound
My Sonos Beam is great, super clear and I don't feel like i need bass for most things
Ctnbl 1.0I have the first gen beam with rear surround speakers and it’s a huge upgrade compared to tv speakers or even other cheaper soundbars I’ve heard. The gen 2 is supposed to be even better so I would say it’d definitely be worth it.
darenisepic 1.0with that budget why not look at 2nd hand, you could get a sonos gen 1 and that would be 10 times bettet?
Difficult_Hand_509 1.0I’m still rocking my beam gen1 with 2 one surround and a gen3 sub. The sub rocks my house and I only use it to plus 3. I had to dial it down to not have my neighbors complain
FickleOrganization43 1.0My bedroom has 2 fives and a gen 1 beam. Reasonable for the television (I have a “real” home theater in the living room) .. and great for music.
It is large … with 15 foot ceilings. The Trueplay is great for tuning it.
I have similar stands. Mine are also in a large room. I have them vertical.. and on opposite sides of the room. I use a beam as a center channel for the television
Iamleeboy 1.0I don’t have stereo 100 to compare to, but I use a beam 1 for my pc sound in my office. It sounds really good up close. Definitely better than it did from afar when I used to have it in my living room with surrounds. Wouldn’t it just be easier to Bluetooth your music instead of swapping your set up? Don’t get me wrong, the sound swap feature is amazing and really convenient for tv sounds. But wouldn’t you be using your phone or laptop to play the music anyway?
jpporter 1.0I bought it for that price @ costco in January after a post on here. I did want ARC2, but for less than half the price went with the ARC. It is measurably better than my gen 1 Beam which has been moved to bedroom. It may even be better than my traditional 9.1 home theater in basement with \~5K in speakers/sub and Amp.
Lewdog44 1.0It'll look small but it will probably be plenty loud for your movies or music. Sub and rears will make it even better and totally solid. My MIL has a beam on a 65. It looks a lil funny but there is zero problem with it providing enough juice.
I know you got a small space but... get a used playbar for 150-200 or a gen 1 beam for 120
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