Sonically, the Era 300 ranks a bit below our top-ranked Edifier S1000MKII and the Sonos Five for playing stereo material, but the spatial audio capability makes it an attractive option. And if you don’t like the effect, it’s easy enough to go back to a conventional stereo mix. There’s also a very good chance many of your favorite songs are already available in spatial audio, with more tracks being added every day. That said, the difference-a much more expansive soundstage with a much greater sense of height-is immediately obvious even if you don’t have the ears of an audiophile.

Spatial audio is an emerging technology, and at this point, the quality of the experience depends on the skill and taste of the remix engineer. Most significantly, the Era 300 includes new spatial audio capabilities, so it can play Dolby Atmos tracks on Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. What’s more, even though adding a second speaker paired in stereo does improve the sound quality, according to our testers, it doesn’t necessarily merit the cost for all but the most discerning listeners. And because speakers are quite reliable and don’t become obsolete that quickly, the $449 price-while high-is a solid investment. In short, the Era 300 is a joy to listen to. The bass is deep but also tight, and that impact is likely to set your foot tapping. The single-box speaker delivers audio that’s clear and detailed, so you can hear nuances like a singer breathing between syllables or a pianist creaking the pedals. The new and innovative Sonos Era 300 is the best-sounding smart speaker in our ratings, topping our previous champ, the Sonos One, by a significant margin. Note that the ratings system is slightly different for wireless speakers and smart speakers, so you can’t directly compare the scores. Our trained testers put each model through a battery of lab tests for ease of use, versatility, and especially sound quality, which gets extra weight in our ratings.

Like everything we rate, from printers to pickup trucks, CR buys speakers anonymously through regular retail channels. The following are some of the top multiroom speakers in CR’s ratings. If your goals are more modest-streaming the 99% Invisible podcast quietly in the kitchen while the kids crank “Encanto” in the family room, all controlled by your smartphone-that’s also an option. If your aim is to execute an epic Rickroll and play “ Never Gonna Give You Up” perfectly synced through 16 speakers on four different levels of your house, go right ahead. Our top-rated multiroom speakers offer not only solid sound but also impressive flexibility. And if you own a smart speaker from one of the major brands- Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, or Google Nest-you can add other models from that company’s line to form a multiroom system that can send voice-controlled music throughout your home. Sonos has led the way when it comes to multiroom systems, but other companies have joined in, giving music lovers a variety of options. Even better, you can set it up yourself in a matter of minutes, right from your smartphone. Today you can buy a wireless multiroom speaker system with great performance and unprecedented flexibility for surprisingly little money. And thousands more on hiring technicians to snake wires through the walls, make the connections, and adjust the settings to get all of the gear working the way it should. Forget about spending thousands on speakers, amps, and keypads. Installing a multiroom audio system has changed a lot in recent years-for the better.

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