The new Sonos Beam is the ideal soundbar for a smaller room or if you’re looking for something more compact to deliver your TV's audio in crystal clarity.
As with any piece of audio equipment though, you need to make it work for your living room (or wherever you're putting it).
Finding a place to put it
First things first, you should think about finding the best place for it. Keeping it central to the TV screen is important, but don't worry if this is next to a reflective surface like wood on one side and a soft material on the other, we can fix that with Trueplay (more on that later).
The perfect place might mean wall-mounting it. Flexson offer a range of dedicated Sonos Beam mounts to get it out of the way. If there's no convenient wall, you could look to attach it to a special stand like the Flexson Adjustable TV Stand. It is designed to hold both your TV and the Beam perfectly together. It'll hold TVs weighing up to 45kg, measuring 32-inch - 65-inches.
Both TV and soundbar are held in place securely, but you can still swivel the TV 25-degrees left or right, ideal placing in a corner. What’s more, the clever design means the cables are discreetly tucked away inside the aluminium and steel stand. Oh, and like the Beam, the stand is available in either black or white finishes.
Getting the best sound
Now the TV is sorted, you can optimise the audio with Trueplay. This is a brilliant piece of Sonos software. For 60 seconds, you walk around the room waving an iPhone or iPad up and down and the speaker listens to a series of sounds so that it can adjust the audio accordingly. The difference in sound quality before and after can be remarkable.
Surround sound movies
Would you like some surround sound with that? With Sonos, you can add two more speakers at the back of the room and because they are connected wirelessly, there's no messy wiring, just each speaker's power cable.
For excellent surround sound you could add two Sonos One speakers. The Sonos One speakers have the Alexa virtual assistant built in.
But our advice is to save yourself some cash and buy the similarly-sized but lower-priced Sonos Play:1 speakers. They sound the same but lack the virtual assistant the Beam has.
It's important that your speakers are the right height for them to sound their best. The Flexson Adjustable Floor Stand for the Sonos One or Play:1 holds the speaker safely at a height you chose between 63cm – 1.1m and comes in black or white finishes. It also has a power cable built in to add to its versatility.
Add some bass
Maybe you want even more oomph in your home cinema - in which case, adding a Sonos Sub makes a big difference to the audio your TV will offer. What's more, because bass is non-directional, you can put the Sub wherever you like. Under a sofa or on the wall, if that suits you best, especially if you want to save floor space, for instance. Flexson’s wall mount for the Sonos Sub fits the Sub perfectly, hiding behind the speaker so that it looks good and almost seems to float. It routes the cables neatly and works so the Sub sounds great.
Don’t disturb the neighbours or the kids
Finally, with all this audio capability, you might be worried about making too much noise. Don't be. Turn to the Sonos app and you'll see the TV you're playing the sound through. On the left of the Now Playing screen is a crescent moon icon. Tap this and you'll turn on Night mode which reduces the intensity of loud sounds.
Want more? The same screen also includes a Speech Enhancement option which boosts voices but not the special effects which might have been drowning out the speakers.
Sit back and enjoy
Now all that’s left is for you to sit back and enjoy the new Sonos Beam whether you’re listening to music, catching up on your favourite TV shows, or settling in for a summer blockbuster.