TEST: “Symphonic” speakers from Ikea and Sonos

Ikea and Sonos have had great success with their collaboration. For Sonos, it’s probably about “If you can not beat them, join them”. If Ikea had gone to a competing manufacturer of multi-room systems, it would have been catastrophic with the low-cost market muscle they have. Now it’s even worse for competitors to shake Sonos’ market dominance.

Because that’s what the Sonos app is all about. We do not think Sonos earns very much from Ikea, but they have delivered technology and probably experience that Ikea customers appear as first-time buyers of Sonos products. Win-win, here.

Furnishing friendly

What, at least until now, has separated the Sonos products from Ikeas, is that Ikeas are extremely furniture-friendly. In the previous round, they came up with one speaker that can stand on the bookshelf and one that also does the job as a table lamp. The speakers that now look like pictures you can hang on the wall, fit into this development. They should be seen, but not as speakers.

Cheaper

We do not know the agreement between Sonos and Ikea, but it is easy to see that Ikea has low prices on its “Symphonic” speakers. The bookshelf variant costs 1200 kroner and the table lamp variant 1900 kroner, or 1700 kroner on offer recently. The new picture frame speaker costs 1799 kroner.

On the other hand, Ikea has not entered the Sonos smart speaker area. If you want to know how far it is to the moon or silent alarm clock, Sonos will do it. But you can ask your cell phone and get answers from the speakers, even if it might be going across the creek for water.

Art?

The speaker comes with either a white or a black motif, with a colored cabinet. In addition, they sell two loose motifs. Everyone has an open cloth that will let the sound through. In the US, Ikea has reportedly established a partnership with a print service that can print other designs. We would guess coming here too. Pictures of the pod, grandmother, cabin or Mona Lisa can be a nice change. A handy person should also be able to put on a motif himself.

You do not need to hang up the new “Symphonic” speaker. It comes with a pair of rubber feet, and there are many options for attaching them to the frame. This allows the speaker to stand on the long or short side of a table, or the floor for that matter, although the sound should rather reach the ears from a slightly higher height.

Big

The frame is that big enough. It covers about one-fifth of a square meter, but that’s how it should be if it is to be a visible decoration. It is 6 centimeters thick. So quite thick compared to a normal picture on the wall. The front is 57 times 41 cm and covers well over the speaker box itself.

As always, there is very little information about the technology. Ikea, on the other hand, talks a lot about design. If you remove the actual replaceable picture frame that holds the decoration, and which is attached with magnets, the speaker drivers will appear.

Here you can see that it is a midrange driver and a much smaller treble. In addition, there is an opening for a passive bass. It is by what we can judge quite affordable drivers, therefore we were surprised at how well it sounded. We assume that Sonos is responsible for the sound itself.

We have listened to different varieties of music, and the speakers do a very good job. Roughly on the same street as Sonos’ own One speakers. They play quite loud even if it should be desirable – and without distorting the sound, as many do. Even the bass hangs at high volume. But by all means, it’s good bass, but these are not subwoofers.

They can also play from Iphone, Ipad and Mac via Airplay 2, and they are compatible with Spotify Connect. So there is no shortage of sources.

App

To set up and use the speakers, you need Sonos’ S2 app. It provides setup, software updates and hides all the complexity needed to handle many speakers around the home. That is why they are called multi-room speakers.

The app also collects all the sources, whether it is streaming services or radio over the internet. But even if it’s easiest, you do not have to use your mobile phone to adjust the volume. There are buttons for volume up and down and to pause the sound on one long side of the speaker.

Mono and stereo

Like all Sonos speakers, you can have one or connect two to a stereo pair. The software ensures that the sound adapts. We tested a stereo setup and let ourselves be convinced that it is correct. As always, to our liking. There is a trend that audio sources in mono are fine enough, but when you want to enjoy music, it should be divided into two channels. Especially because it is coded in right and left. These are speakers that should be visible, and it is usually not difficult to hang two on the wall. They have good value as decorations too, even without sound.

An alternative to these is that if you have a soundboard from Sonos, such as Arc or Beam, you can set them up as rear speakers. Although the advertisement tries to imagine that a good soundboard can throw the sound in all directions, even so that it is reflected from the wall on the opposite side, we have the benefit of being convinced. These do a much better job, and the app – which supports such a setup – makes sure to distribute the sound. If you love movies, the sound is guaranteed to be much better with a couple of these.

Inside the speaker box, a connection to the generous 3.5 meter long power cable is included. There is also plenty of room to coil up what is left over. Here we also find a connector for a power output that allows you to operate the other speaker in a stereo setup from here – and a port for ethernet connection if there is a router nearby.

Conclusion

Sonos has a very high market share in Norway. With Ikea on the team, it has become even more impressive. It is almost as if we can state that “together they are dynamite”. It’s not easy to get to others in this porridge of audio products.

This speaker is an impressive addition to the family. Not only is it decorative and can be hung on the wall, it sounds good too. The vast majority, apart from sound purists, will think that this is more than good enough. Especially if you can afford two pieces in stereo.

If you are in the market for good sound, we can recommend these. Alternatively, you can buy Sonos’ own One speakers. They cost 500 kroner more and can be voice controlled with built-in microphones. Alternatively, you can buy a cheaper One SL without microphones. They cost 200 kroner more. It is possible that One plays a little sharper, but it is not much. And they are far from as location-friendly as Ikea’s picture speakers.

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