This is Sonos’ next flagship soundbar

As Sonos continues chipping distant astatine fixing bugs and improving the show of its poorly received mobile app redesign, the institution besides remains focused connected respective caller hardware products. Among them is an ultrapremium soundbar that volition service arsenic a successor to the current Sonos Arc — astatine a importantly higher price. Codenamed Lasso, the instrumentality is presently successful constricted beta testing, and today, I tin stock the archetypal images of it. 

The exterior of the Lasso soundbar bears a beardown resemblance to the Arc, which Sonos introduced implicit 4 years ago. But inside, the components and talker drivers person been wholly overhauled and redesigned, and that’s expected to effect successful a outgo upwards of $1,200. Sonos aims to vessel Lasso aboriginal this year, though the timeframe could change.

Whenever it does arrive, Lasso (hardware exemplary S45) volition beryllium the archetypal Sonos merchandise to integrate exertion from Mayht, a Netherlands-based startup that the institution acquired successful 2022 for $100 cardinal successful cash. At the time, Sonos credited Mayht for having “invented a new, revolutionary attack to audio transducers.” CEO Patrick Spence said the woody would springiness Sonos “more unthinkable people, technology, and intelligence spot that volition further separate the Sonos experience, heighten our competitory advantage, and accelerate our aboriginal roadmap.”

But it’s taken rather immoderate clip to get Mayht’s ideas into a shipping product. Sonos has released respective tiny speakers implicit the past mates years — the Era 100, Move 2, and Roam 2 among them — that could’ve benefitted from Mayht’s innovative transducers, which are said to “enable smaller and lighter signifier factors without compromising connected quality.” But it’s the soundbar that volition connection the archetypal sensation of what the acquisition has yielded. Sources archer maine that it’s been a situation to marque Mayht’s transducer strategy much outgo efficient, arsenic it partially makes usage of “expensive” neodymium magnets.

Bloomberg antecedently reported the Lasso codename, its rumored price, and the inclusion of Mayht’s technology. The product’s last user branding isn’t yet known, but for now, Sonos is playfully including the Ted Lasso typeface connected beta units.

The Arc is already a precise awesome Dolby Atmos soundbar, and you tin expect adjacent greater immersion from Lasso and its revamped internals. Additionally, according to sources, the upcoming soundbar should present substantially amended bass show than its predecessor. With the Arc, you truly request to adhd a Sub oregon Sub Mini to get the astir retired of it. Sonos could possibly get distant with that with a $899 product, but if it’s going to complaint good implicit $1,000 for Lasso, the instrumentality needs to present top-tier location theatre audio without immoderate added help.

The images besides uncover a dedicated Bluetooth button, suggesting that Lasso could enactment Bluetooth audio playback. That diagnostic has been absent from each erstwhile Sonos soundbars. And akin to the company’s different caller products, there’ll beryllium a carnal power for disabling the built-in microphones.

Just similar the Arc, Lasso is designed to enactment with the precocious released Sonos Ace headphones for backstage listening with spatial audio. The institution has pledged to widen Ace compatibility to its much affordable Beam and Ray soundbars by precocious summertime oregon aboriginal fall.

As for the much contiguous future, Sonos continues to release updates to its mobile app astatine a predominant gait arsenic it tries to code lawsuit frustrations and assistance the antagonistic sentiment that has embroiled the company’s assemblage since May.

It’s wide to maine that Sonos is listening and moving quickly, but a batch of harm has already been done: the Android version of the Sonos app presently has a brutal 1.2-star mean reappraisal rating. The standing connected Apple’s App Store isn’t astir arsenic atrocious since older reviews are inactive balancing retired the spate of complaints that came with the redesign.