In case you hadn’t noticed, the EOFY sales are still kicking on in Australia and, as expected, the annual sales event has been throwing up superb deals left, right and centre. For me, however, there’s one deal that’s stood out in particular – a 37% discount on the Sonos Ace headphones at The Good Guys.
The Ace headphones have practically been glued to my head since they launched approximately a year ago and, while I’m well aware they’ve received a fair amount of backlash, I believe there’s much to love about the famed speaker maker’s first headphone attempt.
And even though I had to wince at their AU$699 launch price, this discount drops them to just AU$439. So now, I can’t recommend them highly enough – perhaps more so than the new Sony WH-1000XM6, which aren’t going to see any discount anytime soon.
Sonos has gifted its Ace headphones with a number of connectivity options, including Bluetooth, aptX Adaptive and Snapdragon Sound, for devices that support it. It’s also possible to connect via a cable to enable lossless high-resolution audio from compatible sources.
Their main party trick, however, is the ability to connect to a Sonos soundbar – the Arc Ultra, Arc, Ray and both generations of Beam are all supported – and at the touch of a button on the headphones, sound will be diverted from your soundbar to the Ace instead. Sonos appropriately calls this TV Audio Swap, and if you own a Sonos soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos, then you’ll also get Dolby Atmos from the Ace headphones.
Thanks to a recent software update, they now support the anticipated TrueCinema feature, which creates an even more immersive spatial audio experience when watching movies. The update has also ushered in improvements to the ANC performance and, hand on my heart, I believe it’s definitely worked. Whether I’m wearing them at home and my partner is sitting next to me on a work call, or I’m on the train to work in the morning, I can barely hear a murmur. They’re certainly up there with the best noise cancelling headphones.
Now, I’m not going to say they’re the absolute best-sounding pair of headphones ever, a sentiment shared by our tester in our Sonos Ace review, but I do still find them to be wholly enjoyable to use for music on a daily basis. I predominantly listen to dance and electronic music, and I’m more than satisfied with their performance.
The consensus at the time of our review was that, compared to similarly priced rivals such as the Apple AirPods Max and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, the Sonos Ace didn’t quite do enough to justify their lofty price tag. And now with the Sony WH-1000XM6 on the market, that’s still the case.
However, with this significant price reduction, those same qualms are easier to forgive. They’re still definitely an energetic listen with great bass weight, and they are capable of picking out good amounts of detail from your favourite songs. Plus, the noise cancellation is effective for those morning commutes. Oh, and did I mention just how comfortable they are? I’ve worn my pair for an entire eight-hour working day and not felt fatigued, something I can’t say of many other pairs.
For more Sonos deals and discounts, check out the latest Sonos coupon codes.
