Meet Sonos’ Next Flagship Soundbar

As Sonos continues to fix bugs and improve the performance of its poorly received mobile app, the company is also staying focused on several new hardware products. Among them, an ultra-premium soundbar that will succeed the current Sonos Arc — and likely come at a higher price. Called Lasso, the device is currently in limited beta testing, and today I can share the first images of it.

The exterior of the Lasso soundbar looks a lot like the Arc, which Sonos launched more than four years ago. But inside, the components and speakers have been completely redesigned and reengineered, which should translate into a price tag of more than $1,200. Sonos plans to ship Lasso later this year, though that timeline could change.

Regardless of its release date, Lasso (hardware model S45) will be the first Sonos product to feature technology from Mayht, a Netherlands-based startup the company acquired in 2022 for $100 million in cash. At the time, Sonos praised Mayht for “inventing a revolutionary new approach to audio transducers.” CEO Patrick Spence said the deal would give Sonos “more incredible people, technologies, and intellectual property that will further differentiate the Sonos experience, enhance our competitive advantage, and accelerate our future roadmap.”

But it took a while for Mayht’s ideas to translate into a marketable product. Sonos has released several small speakers in the past two years—the Era 100, Move 2, and Roam 2, among others—that could have benefited from Mayht’s innovative drivers, which are said to “enable smaller, lighter forms without compromising quality.” But it’s the soundbar that will offer the first taste of what the acquisition has yielded. Sources tell me that it’s been a challenge to make Mayht’s driver system more cost-effective, as it partly uses “expensive” neodymium magnets.

Bloomberg The Lasso codename, its supposed price, and the inclusion of Mayht’s technology had been previously reported. The final branding of the product is not yet known, but for now, Sonos is playfully including the Ted Lasso font on beta units.

The Arc is already a very impressive Dolby Atmos soundbar, and you can expect even greater immersion from Lasso and its revamped internals. Additionally, the upcoming soundbar is said to offer significantly better bass performance than its predecessor, according to some sources. With the Arc, you really need to add a Sub or Sub Mini to get the most out of it. Sonos might be able to get away with an $899 product, but if it’s going to charge well over $1,000 for Lasso, the device needs to deliver top-notch home theater sound without any additional help.

The images also reveal a dedicated Bluetooth button, suggesting that Lasso could support Bluetooth audio playback. This feature has been absent from all previous Sonos soundbars. And like on the company’s other recent products, there will be a physical switch to disable the built-in microphones.

Like the Arc, Lasso is designed to work with the recently released Sonos Ace headphones for private listening with spatial audio. The company has pledged to expand Ace compatibility to its more affordable Beam and Ray soundbars by late summer or early fall.

As for the more immediate future, Sonos continues to release updates to its mobile app at a frequent pace as it attempts to address customer frustrations and dispel the negative sentiment that has mired the company’s community since May.

It’s clear to me that Sonos is listening and evolving quickly, but a lot of damage has already been done: The Android version of the Sonos app currently has a brutal 1.2-star average rating. The rating on Apple’s App Store isn’t nearly as bad, as older reviews still offset the wave of complaints that accompanied the redesign.