The lower-cost Sonos TV upgrade
Ray is the Sonos soundbar to consider when the TV room is real but modest. Sonos lists optical input, TV remote sync, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Speech Enhancement, Night Sound, and Sonos app control. It is small enough for tighter shelves and secondary rooms.
The price is the point, but so is the limit. Ray is not the cheap Beam. It skips HDMI eARC and Dolby Atmos, so the recommendation depends on the TV having optical output and the room not needing a more modern home-theater path.
Setup path
Connect Ray to the TV's optical output and finish setup in the Sonos app. Before buying, check the TV or PC because optical is not guaranteed on every current setup.
Use the Sonos app for tuning, Speech Enhancement, Night Sound, music services, and whole-home grouping. AirPlay 2 gives Apple devices a direct music path when the TV is off.
Where it fits
Use Ray for a bedroom TV, small apartment TV, guest room, den, or older setup where better dialogue matters and HDMI eARC does not.
It also makes sense when a Sonos home wants the TV to join the broader audio system without spending Beam or Arc Ultra money.
Where it is the wrong buy
Skip Ray for the main TV room if the budget can reach Beam Gen 2. HDMI eARC and Dolby Atmos support are worth the step up in rooms where movies and shows matter.
Also skip it if the room only needs music. Era 100 is the cleaner fixed-room Sonos speaker, and the portable Sonos options make more sense for bathrooms, patios, or travel.
Best for
- Small TVs, bedrooms with TVs, and secondary media rooms
- Sonos homes that want a lower-cost TV audio upgrade
- Buyers whose TV or PC still has optical output
Skip if
- You want HDMI eARC, Dolby Atmos, or a cleaner modern TV-room path
- The room is the main living-room home theater
- You need built-in voice control, a Matter controller, or Thread coverage
Alternatives To Consider
Content feedback
Spot a mistake or missing context?
Send a quick note so it can be checked against the source material.