Sonos Ray

This is like stepping up to a whole other level! I have had an adequate sound bar for my little Panasonic TV for some time now, but I wanted to upgrade to something that would allow me to listen to audiobooks, especially the ones recorded in Dolby Atmos with better fidelity. The Sonos Ray really delivers. Set-up was an absolute cinch, especially when I completed set up within the free-to-download Sonos App. These are first impressions as I only received the speaker today, but what I really like is that the sound is not overbearing. It compliments what I’m watching or listening to. In that way, this is a discrete soundbar. It doesn’t broadcast to the room that it’s there. At the moment I’m listening to some classical music from Apple Music, through my phone and from there to the Ray. I could never have done this through my old sound bar without being frustrated or disappointed. The Ray has provided me with a very good sound system for my living room and for what I believe to be a very reasonable price. I think the people who engineered this piece of kit were extremely thoughtful in its design and performance. Oh, and I was able to discard the old sound bar’s remote: this one operates through my TV remote, or my iPhone/iPad volume button. First class!

I bought this to complement a relatively cheap 43" TV I installed in one of our main living areas, as an addition to our main TV setup elsewhere (that one with Sonos Arc). Having come previously from a large AV surround amp and discrete speakers / subwoofer and also the Sonos Arc, I was just wanting something to improve on the crappy sound that is built-in to TVs these days. For the price and the size of the unit (it's really very compact), I wasn't expecting amazing sound. I was quite stunned at the depth and volume this little box produces. Sure, the surround presence isn't really there, it's more of a wide soundstage, but for the price and size, it really packs a punch. I was thinking I'd give it a go at first and maybe add a sub-mini later if needed, but for a second-TV setup (and the TV was not much more than the cost of this soundbar) I've decided that it isn't worth it. There's quite a heavy punch from some soundtracks that belies the size of this little speaker, and the bass extension is surprisingly low. Sure, a sub is going to improve things a lot, but on a budget this soundbar rocks. Good vocal clarity in the mids and highs too. I was worried about the lack of HDMI and remote, but it really isn't needed if you have a simple setup with a smart TV (and I don't need Dolby Atmos for this TV). I don't have any other sources of audio for this soundbar, so the optical input straight from the TV works just fine. The setup process learns the type of remote you're using, and there are only a handful of remotes (non-IR based) that may be more of an issue, so do check the Sonos website first to see if yours is one of those. The volume buttons on both the TV remote (Panasonic) and the Amazon Fire stick control the Ray perfectly. And the other bonus is that this fits nicely in my Sonos ecosystem. This is an excellent value bit of kit, with Sonos's usual build quality.

has made a substantial difference to the sound quality of home tv. Easy to set up and easy to use. Just make sure you get the remote control set up to use the sound bar otherwise it'll get confused. Looks great, much smaller than I expected, fits in with other technology around the house, and is proving to be a very very good buy. No more muffled voices and rewinding to hear sentence.

Picked this up in the BF sales for £140 which I consider a very reasonable price for a sound bar (especially the overpriced Sonos brand). I'm using it connected to a Mac Mini and have had no issue. As with most speakers, sound quality is rather subjective - some people like bass, some don't, some like treble, some don't. Out of the box I found the sound fine but with some equaliser fiddling I got a sound I very much enjoyed. I would say the speaker itself can reproduce a very good sound on most frequencies, but if you aren't running your input through an equaliser first the only option you have with the speaker itself is a "speech enhancement" option in the app (which I assume boosts treble) and a "night sound" (which I assume clips the high and low end). There's no ability to change bass or treble on the device yourself (like my cheaper Bose). In fact there's no remote control at all, you just have to hope your current TV one is compatible. As this device only has optical input (no HDMI-arc) it will detect infrared only - no bluetooth or RF. Bear that in mind. It's definitely worth noting this speaker sounds great close up at low volumes so if it's right in your face under a monitor like mine, it does a good job at all ranges without blowing your head off. I like to play music or movies as I work all day so I don't want loud volume, but I do still want a good quality sound and to be able to hear all frequencies. For this kind of usage, it's very impressive. + Great sound, especially when tweaked and at low volume - although it sounds great at loud volume too + Has an option in the app to turn the LED on the front off (THANK YOU) + Has audio sync/delay option and dialogue/night modes + Touch controls are a nice... "touch" - You need your own remote - No HDMI-arc input, c'mon, it's 2024 - Only one input (optical) - *Really* would like an EQ in the app - You need to do all your setup using the Sonos app (good app, but remember when you just bought something you didn't have to connect to your wifi and update first?)

As described, plug and play...straight forward, great sound upgrade for my Samsung smart TV 📺 so far no issues and was simple to install. Sonos 👍

Audio clarity and sound is good. Needs to pair with subwoofer for base to have effect.

Doesn’t support Windows PCs. Doesn’t support Linux. DOES NOT SUPPORT BLUETOOTH CONNECTIONS. Like you can not stream to it from devices via Bluetooth you can only do it via the app/ AirPlay and the app seems to only be available for iOS. So basically if all you have is apple devices have fun, but otherwise don’t buy.

Satisfied with product quality. Base is good enough. Theater like sound. Too small but impressive.

Slim Versatile desktop soundbar with built in native Wi-Fi streaming of Apple Music, AirPlay 2, digital radio, YouTube and occassional movies. Paired with the Creative x4 usb dac over optical on Windows with Dolby digital encoder enabled (Windows only with the Dac) the volume on the ray is amazingly loud and punchy. On the app it’s only at a 20 but you will rarely go beyond that. On Macs without the encoder, volume is usually at a normal 50-75. Good for desktop use over optical.