Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 in the size of Beam
Sonos Beam Ultra is a compact Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 soundbar with five tweeters, four woofers and nine class D amplifiers, with HDMI eARC, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, AirPlay 2 and Trueplay.
Beam Ultra has a footprint close to that of Beam, 75 centimetres wide, but a new acoustic architecture, with dedicated tweeters for the sides and the ceiling. It is meant for those who want a soundbar that stays discreet under the TV and can grow over time, with a subwoofer and rear speakers.
Key features
- Five tweeters, two of them upward-firing
- Four low-profile woofers
- Nine class D digital amplifiers
- Dolby Atmos in a 7.1.2 configuration
- HDMI eARC, cable included
- Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and Apple AirPlay 2
- AI speech enhancement and night mode
- Trueplay with iOS and Android devices
Acoustic architecture
A front tweeter defines the centre channel, two horn-loaded tweeters point to the sides for stereo separation and two more, also horn-loaded, send sound towards the ceiling for the height effects. Four low-profile woofers take care of the low frequencies. Nine class D amplifiers power the drivers.
Connecting to the TV
The supplied HDMI cable goes to the eARC or ARC port of the TV; the optical adapter is optional. Dolby Atmos requires encoded content and an eARC connection. Besides Atmos, Beam Ultra decodes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, multichannel PCM and DTS Digital Surround. The TV remote works without any setup. It is not compatible with CCFL-backlit TVs produced between 2004 and 2012.
Dialogue, night and placement
Speech enhancement uses artificial intelligence to recognise voices and offers four levels, to be chosen in the Sonos app. Night mode compresses loud sounds and lifts quiet ones. If the soundbar is placed in a recess with its top covered, a dedicated setting simulates the overhead effects.
Surround and headphones
A pair of Sonos Play or Move 2 speakers can act as rear channels and then go back to being a pair of portable speakers. A subwoofer and other Sonos surround speakers can also be added. The TV audio, Dolby Atmos included, can be sent to Sonos headphones for private listening.
Music and network
With the TV off, Beam Ultra plays music over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2, including tracks in Dolby Atmos. The USB-C port accepts the Line-In Adapter for an analogue source and the Combo Adapter for a wired network, both optional. Trueplay senses the acoustics of the room and corrects the equalisation. Voice control is provided by Sonos Voice Control.
Included accessories
Beam Ultra comes with a 2 metre power cable and a 1.5 metre HDMI cable. The optical adapter, the USB-C adapters and the wall mount are sold separately.
