Sonos Announces A New Speaker To Embiggen Your Audio

Sonos has just announced the PLAY:5, a new speaker to replace the similarly-sized PLAY line. The new speaker is designed as a successor to the PLAY:5 speaker. Sonos, you’ll recall, offers a stereo system that allows you to set and forget wireless speakers around the house and even set up a surround-sound system wirelessly.

The 14-pound speaker has a touch-sensitive surface and positional sensors. It knows, for example, whether it is lying down or standing straight up, and the entire kit contains six drivers – three tweeters and three mid-woofers with dedicated amplifiers. You can use a single speaker or connect two – or more – wirelessly for a richer sound.

The real value comes in Sonos’ new TruePlay setup procedure. By “tuning” itself to your environment, the TruePlay app ensures that the music works in every room where you have a Sonos system set up. One of the primary problems in Sonos architecture is that you can stick them anywhere. This means one gets stuck in a bookshelf and another gets stuck next to a window. This means the sound is oddly calibrated. TruePlay aims to fix that.

The speaker will cost $499 and ships this winter.