Sonos Sub Mini Pairs Well With Smaller Soundbars
Sonos has unveiled a subwoofer designed to accompany the Beam or the Ray.
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Sonos has unveiled its latest subwoofer, the Sub Mini, which is designed to partner with the company's more affordable soundbars -- the Beam and Ray, specifically.
The 12-inch tall Sub Mini features dual 6-inch woofers that oppose each other to stop the unit moving around on the floor. Sonos says it offers similar extension to the larger sub at a claimed 25Hz. The center tunnel is designed to "maximize bass while nodding to the design of the iconic Sonos Sub." This translates to: "If you have kids, they're going to put things in there." Especially as the Sub Mini vaguely resembles a fancy trash can.
The Sub Mini pairs with supported Sonos speakers using 5GHz wireless and you can use it in conjunction with such Sonos ecosystem features as Sonos Voice or the dozens of supported music services.
The model becomes the second subwoofer in the line after the long-running Sub ($749), which is now in its third iteration. It's amazing to think now, but when the original Sonos Sub was announced in 2012, the company's Playbar hadn't even been released. Instead, the Sub was billed as a great partner for the Play:5.
In the past 10 years, Sonos has released a whole host of new speakers and soundbars, and the existing Sub should partner with them all happily. Yet it was the debut of the most recent Ray ($279) and Beam Gen 2 ($449) speakers that necessitated a cheaper option. The Sub Mini makes the most sense with the similarly priced Beam, and I look forward to testing how the sub boosts bass performance for that particular Dolby Atmos-capable speaker.
Yet, while the Sub Mini may be cheaper than the Sub at $429, it's still not "cheap." For this money, you could buy yourself a home theater subwoofer from the likes of SVS or Klipsch. It is more affordable, however, than the entry-level Bose, the $499 Bass Module 500. The Sub Mini will be available on Oct. 6.