If there is a device that has forever changed the sound in the living room, that was without a doubt the subwoofer. Sonos sub. No matter if it is used to listen to music or watch a movie, its deep and clear bass has transformed (for the better) the way we consume multimedia content. The problem, of course, is its price, which stands at 850 euros. Too much for the vast majority of pockets.
Precisely for this reason, the company founded almost twenty years ago in Santa Barbara, California, has just launched a smaller, cheaper version, which it has named Sub Mini. Although, as ABC has been able to verify after a couple of weeks of testing, it really has little of a mini. A speaker still cost 500 euros(a little more than half than the Sub) but the result is worth it.
First of all, though, let’s point out something important: The Sub Mini is still a subwoofer, so we’ll only get the most out of it if we connect it to other Sonos speakers. In fact, not compatible with other brands and it is specially designed to work together with one of the several sound bars of the Californian firm (Arc, Beam or Ray).
That said, let’s give the ‘Mini’ thing another spin. And it is that, both by size (30.5 cm high and 23 in diameter) and by weight (6.35 kg) or features, the speaker is only small if we compare it with its older relative, whose weight is 16 kg . .
balanced bass
Like all subwoofers, the Sub Mini will take care of transmitting the lowest frequencies (between 20 and 200 Hz), which are beyond the reach of ‘normal’ speakers. And that means that the deepest sounds, from a bass to many special effects, will come to life in our living room and will be reinforced, but without overlapping what the sound bar emits.
We will feel the full power of the device when the villain of the movie sets off a bomb, or when the bassist of our favorite group scores a solo or the drummer earnestly hits the bass drum. And there goes an important difference with the subwoofers of other brands: unlike what many others do, rumble the louder the better, the bass coming out of the Sub Mini is balanced, discreet, you could even say elegant. But they are there, causing sensations that can only be fully appreciated if we disconnect the speaker. Then it will seem to us that the music has suddenly been ‘naked’, that something is missing… Whoever tries it, will no longer be able to do without it.
A design with sense
The device’s design, with a large opening in the center (Sonos calls it the Center Tunnel), is no accident. Its curious shape, in fact, in addition to being attractive, is designed to minimize vibrations of the soil itself, something that, on the other hand, our neighbors will greatly appreciate. Also, the less vibration there is, the less distortion the outgoing sound will have, which results in higher quality.
On both sides of the tunnel, facing each other for a force canceling effect, are two 15cm woofers. The device also has a processing system that further improves acousticsgreatly reducing the differences that there might be with a larger subwoofer.
To set it up, all you have to do is open the Sonos app on your mobile and leave your phone on top of the speaker. The connection is almost immediate. Later, and thanks to the function Trueplay, the speaker will ask us to move with the phone around the room, to know its dimensions and adjust the power. Although this operation, today, can only be carried out with an iPhone and does not work with Android mobiles. To finish, it only remains to pair the Sub Mini with the sound bar and that’s it.
As we have seen, the size, the design and, above all, the quality of the bass make the Sub Mini a highly recommended device, but it will only be useful if we are users of other brand speakers. Still, when you install it, the sound literally goes to another level.