Most people who want better speakers with their TVs just pick up a soundbar they can slot in the space underneath. Sonos goes a different route with the Playbase, which comes in a profile resembling a smaller, slimmer bathroom scale, allowing it to serve as a base for center-stand TVs, as well as slide underneath TVs with legs on either end.
Measuring 28.4 x 15 x 2.3 inches (width x depth x height), the speaker can support the weight of TV panels up to 77 pounds, so it should handle even the largest modern TVs, with their slim and lightweight builds. It’s designed to blend in with your AV setup, too, ensuring it doesn’t create unnecessary distractions to your everyday viewing.
The Sonos Playbase replaces your TV’s limited sound output with ten drivers: six mid-range, one woofer, and three tweeters, each of which is powered by a separate class-D digital amplifier. It comes with the outfit’s Trueplay tuning system, which adjusts the setting of each tweeter and woofer to the acoustic factors of the room, along with a speech enhancement setting that keeps dialog volume consistent (so you can hear even the faintest whisper) and reduce the intensity of sound effects.
Built-in Wi-Fi allows the speaker to jump on to your home’s wireless network, allowing you to control it via the accompanying app, where you can adjust settings and stream music from your favorite sources. Of course, it plays nice with Sonos’ other speakers, too, making it easy to play the same audio in any room of the house.
Slated to go on sale in April, the Sonos Playbase is priced at $700.