So pond naravit appreciation post for his acting in we are the series I am watching him doing such an amazing job in that series…..frankly he has come a long way deom his starting days me,,,,the way he is depicting the character is so real,,,the snobbish rich kid,,,,self centered,,,,love-less,,,,deep voice,,,,,jealous as hell,,,,,and those emotions and dialogue delivery Its top notch for me also as someone who has to talk less and show more with his actions he is doing a fan job 👍👍

A joint research effort of u/sc127 and u/lemonsaltwater
Throughout Seasons 2 and 3, swans are a recurring theme in Colin and Pen’s story, both in terms of explicit imagery/sound and allusions to swan behavior and stories. There are so many allusions that it is clear the showrunners, and Julia Quinn,* want us to make these associations, as every detail is intentional.
(\while neither of us have read the books, but based on character names, as well as references to the books on this sub, we can assume this. If you've read the books, please comment with more swan references! We do not present this as something hidden/new but rather for the fun of finding all of the references.)*
The biggest allusion to swans is how swans mate for life and form into bonding pairs quite young, well before mating age. Trumpeter swans bond as young as 20 months — but then wait several years and don’t mate until at least the age of 4-7. Colin and Pen meet at a young age and form a friendship but it then takes several years for it to become romantic.
Let’s plunge our beaks underwater and dive into how these associations play out for Colin and Pen individually and then as a couple.

Colin’s character as a swan

Colin has always been a swan, even if he didn’t lean into it. It shows up in a variety of character traits throughout the seasons.
Male swans are fiercely protective of their partners. We see Colin’s protectiveness over Pen show up multiple times. I did a longer post on the evolution of Colin's protectiveness a few weeks ago, but here are some scene highlights:

• Ep 1x01: After Penelope beams at how happy she is to be wearing a pink dress, Cressida then spills her drink on her. Colin feels defensive of her, and rejects Cressida's bid to dance (big social no-no!) and dances with Penelope instead
• Ep 2x07, 2x08 (Cousin Jack’s scam): He not only gets angry at Mondrich for insulting the Featherington family, but also at Cousin Jack for taking advantage of the Featherington women

https://i.redd.it/3fwzxihqji5d1.gif

• Season 3 has multiple examples of Colin protecting Pen: after his dating help is revealed, balloon, protecting her from a mistake. It is notable that the few times we see Colin angry, they are all related to Pen’s feelings.

https://i.redd.it/u18mhwo8ri5d1.gif
We'll likely see more of this in Part 2 (and various book spoilers indicate this as well).
Male swans are also one of the few species of waterfowl that take an active role in rearing children. Male swans will sit on the eggs and protect them, unlike other waterfowl. In Seasons 1 and 2, Colin is often seen playing with his younger siblings. We see the male swan’s interest in child rearing most obviously in 2x02 when Eloise recoils from Daphne’s baby and Colin swoops in to tenderly and lovingly hold him.
https://i.redd.it/vce8xkfeli5d1.gif
Swans are known for mating for life and for being dedicated partners, unlike other species of waterfowl. Colin “My Wife” Bridgerton, hello. But even before Season 3, we see this in Season 2 when Colin is the only one in the front row who appears happy at Anthony and Edwina’s wedding, and according to Luke, Colin is actually crying because he loves love so much. He delights in love.
https://i.redd.it/xgsjjbu1mi5d1.gif
Afterwards, Colin finds himself somewhat depressed and “searching for answers at the bottom of his flask” after their “bungled nuptials.” For someone who sees love as "the one thing in life that holds genuine meaning," to see an engagement broken off at that point is deeply distressing. (We'll return to Anthony's wedding later.)
His recurring appearance changes after his extended travels: Swans shed all of their feathers during their annual summer migration period. After his travels between S1 and S2, he returns with facial hair. After his travels between S2 and S3, he returns with new clothing.

Penelope: Duck => Swan

Penelope, meanwhile, needs to go through a transformation in order to become a swan.
(There are a lot of motifs used for Penelope throughout the show: butterflies, cake, etc, but here we’re going to focus on ducks and swans.)
Let’s start with her name. To get all Colin-season-2 for a moment, “Penelope” is believed to derive from the Ancient Greek word penelops, which means “duck.” In modern language, “pen” is the official name for a female swan. And her last name is Featherington.
Something that starts as a duck and becomes a swan… that sounds a lot like the HC Andersen short story The Ugly Duckling, which is about a duck who is cast aside by society for being ugly, only to later learn that the reason it looked different was because it was actually a swan.
While Colin and Pen are more likely to quote Byron than Danish fairy tales, the allusions to The Ugly Duckling are quite strong throughout Penelope’s character arc. (And indeed, fantasy plays a huge role in their worldviews.)
This is directly referenced in the book:

“I thought you believed in me," she said, "that you saw beyond the ugly duckling.”

For a brief refresher on The Ugly Duckling, let’s take Wikipedia’s summary and annotate it:

After a mother duck's eggs hatch, one of the ducklings takes longer to hatch and is bigger and perceived by the other animals as an ugly little creature. It suffers much verbal and physical abuse from its mother and siblings, and has an absent father.

Penelope is the youngest of three children. From the first episode, it is clear that her mother regards her as less desirable and less beautiful than her sisters. Her father is neglectful and largely absent. She is repeatedly subject to unkind comments and treatment by her mother and sisters. To take just one example, when suitors come over to meet Marina, and her mother closes courting hour, she says “Please feel free to bid farewell to Phillipa or Prudence, or even Penelope.” (Colin is the only one to take her up on this.)
Portia also insists that Penelope wear bright yellow dresses even though she herself prefers pink. Yellow is the color of baby ducks. Portia tends towards green, often in iridescent fabrics, which roughly maps to the coloring of several types of adult ducks (even females). (In the Ugly Duckling, the ugly duckling is gray rather than yellow like it’s siblings. However, they’ve taken a bit of artistic license here to reinforce the duck imagery.)

It wanders from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. It finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen tease and taunt him mercilessly, and once again he sets off alone.

We don’t have a direct literal correlation to the cats and hens, but we can interpret “leaving the barnyard” as Penelope being too early presented in society, and the “cats and hens” being the multitude of catty comments and “clucking hens” (judgmental, gossipy mothers) of society.
It’s also interesting how Cousin Jack is presented quite clearly as a hunter in Season 2, and the gun rack on the wall clearly makes Portia uncomfortable. There aren’t direct references to duck hunting, yet that was a common hobby. (We admittedly don’t know anything about rifles and can’t figure out if any of them he displays on the wall are specifically for duck hunting, but would love it if someone knew!) Cousin Jack, of course, nearly destroys their family.

The duckling sees a flock of migrating wild swans. It is delighted and excited but cannot join them because he is too young, ugly, and unable to fly. When winter arrives, a farmer finds and carries the freezing duckling home but he is frightened by the farmer's noisy children and flees the house. The duckling spends a miserable winter alone outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over.

We can read this as being when Pen watches Colin leave for Greece, and when she looks at the happy Bridgerton household. She is also too young and immature to fervently declare her feelings as she states one should. Nicola plays her as immature (the little hop when she speaks, high voice), and she is trapped in her mother’s house.
The allusion of the migrating swans is also interesting as one could see all of the Bridgertons as swans who glide gracefully on the surface of society (“pretty Bridgertons”). While not all of the Bridgertons exhibit swan-like behavior, Violet and Edmund do (but more on that below). Note how in 3x02 Penelope says the place she feels the most comfortable is/was the Bridgerton Drawing Room at Sunday tea -- surrounded by the flock of swans.
We could be a bit literal with our interpretation here and say that Colin’s protection of Pen with the Ruby scam is equivalent to the farmer’s care, and then is scared off not by children but his own friends. But I think we can look at it more broadly to say that Penelope goes from thinking she will be cared for — as Colin says during their dance in 2x08 — but then feels cast aside.
She then spends a miserable summer alone, without Eloise or Colin.

The duckling, now having fully grown and matured, cannot endure a life of solitude and hardship anymore. It decides to throw himself at a flock of swans, feeling that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness.

When we first meet her in 3x01, it is clear she has had an awful, lonely summer. She is shown in her old clothing -- notably more pink but still yellow, a sign of the impending transition -- and looking shy and hunched over.
https://i.redd.it/b1fn60pwqi5d1.gif
But she resolves to fully break free of her family and marry. Her first dress is iridescent emerald green — the color of peacocks, which is likely the most direct motif given she hides behind a peacock in the garden, but it is also the color of adult mallards and several other duck species.
She throws herself into the fray at great personal risk rather than having to continue to live with her family of ducks that reject her. However, she is still awkward and unsure of herself. While she walks down the stairs with confidence, once she's on the floor, she isn't fully carrying herself with confidence, and sort of slides her feet along the floor in a slouchy manner. She then proceeds to bungle her conversation with the lords who approach her. In other words, she still sees herself as an ugly duckling -- or perhaps ugly duck since she's grown. But Colin is able to see beyond that and has the first glimmers of starting to notice her as something different than everyone else.
https://i.redd.it/i2dcbfb1qi5d1.gif
Part 2 speculation:

The Ugly Duckling is shocked when the swans welcome and accept it, only to realize by looking at his reflection in the water that it had been not a duckling but a swan all this time. The flock takes to the air, and it spreads its wings to take flight with the rest of its new family.

Penelope is shocked when Colin has feelings for her, and according to the trailer, is welcomed with open arms by Violet and the rest of the swan’s family (except Eloise, who does not exhibit swan-like behaviors herself, but that's a different topic). Given the focus on mirrors so far this season, perhaps this combined mirrougly duckling/swan theme will reappear. Penelope will then integrate herself into the Bridgerton family and identify more with them, rather than her family of birth. She thus gets both self-acceptance, a husband, a loving family, and freedom all at the same time.
Given the use of mirrors this season, I expect Colin will literally and figuratively help Penelope see herself in the mirror the way he sees her, in a parallel to what Colin says in S2 E2 about her letters:

Your letters were so encouraging. I thought, if Penelope can see me this way, then surely I can too.

A brief note on Penelope's clothing
We can see hints of this in her clothing. Over Season 3 Part 1, Penelope’s clothing changes from Featherington green to Bridgerton blue. Yet in the kiss scene and Colin’s dream, she’s wearing dresses that are such light blue/green that they almost appear to be white, and she doesn't seem to wear these dresses in other scenes. (The dream one is similar to the market scene, but the sleeve detailing is different -- it's much more feathery. Hmmm.) While white dresses can imply wedding, perhaps another thread to pull here is their swan-like whiteness. The moment when they kiss is the first time it occurs to him to see her romantically, and it is also the first time he sees her in a nearly-white dress. That she is in a feathery white dress in his dream reinforces the idea that, at least subconsciously, he has started to see her as a swan.
(Yet they aren't fully white — so there is still evolution to happen.)
https://i.redd.it/498qr6joqi5d1.gif
https://i.redd.it/a02jcjq5ti5d1.gif
Colin calling her Pen — "swan" — from the very beginning
And lastly, back to her nickname. The first time we ever see Colin talk to Penelope is in S1 E1 after Colin visits the Featherington house during courting hour for Marina, he refers to her as Pen. He refers to her again as Pen when they dance later in that episode. The viewer sees her transition from Penelope, a duck, and then becomes Pen, a swan. But Colin has always seen her as a swan, even if he didn’t realize it.
(We have not done a full analysis of the times he calls her Penelope vs the times he calls her Pen, nor of other people using her nickname.)

Audio and visual swan references

So, Colin is always a swan, and Pen transitions from duck to swan. Several times throughout the seasons, we see direct and indirect nods to swans in terms of imagery, dialogue, and other scene elements when Colin and Pen are together.
It’s notable that, as far as we can tell, swans and swan noises largely only show up when Colin and Pen are together. (There is one exception, discussed in the next section.)
The most obvious is in 2x05:

COLIN: After all, everyone else is finding some purpose to their lives. Anthony is to be married. Benedict has his artistic pursuits. And, well, here I am... feeding the ducks. [Looks at a swan as he says this]
PENELOPE: I am sure the ducks are most grateful.

https://i.redd.it/53fkdvblui5d1.gif
https://i.redd.it/0lqr6dxnui5d1.gif
The implication being, of course, is that Colin does not realize he's not looking at a duck but at a swan. His feelings for her aren't romantic yet. But he is really looking at a swan — Pen. And that she, not the ducks, is grateful for his company and conversation.
Interestingly, quacking is heard in the background. It’s hard to say whether it’s ducks or swans — perhaps it’s intentionally ambiguous.
Singing swans = courting activities? Or a shift in feelings for Colin?
But let’s pull that thread a bit, as swans singing comes up several more times. Swan songs have historically had an association with death, yet “their sounds are more distinguishable during courting rituals and not correlated with death.” We could then interpret hearing swan songs as times that are courting-esque, or perhaps moments when Colin’s perspective on Penelope is starting to shift.
In 2x06, Penelope has a heated conversation with Eloise about Eloise’s feelings about Theo. Eloise asks her if she’s ever felt the torment of feelings for someone, and Penelope says she could only imagine it. She then looks over at Colin and swans are heard in the background.
A few moments later, when Penelope walks over to Colin for the “purpose” conversation, swans are again heard in the background. (Listen very closely as she walks over to him.)
In 3x01, when Colin and Penelope talk in the garden after the presentation, swans are heard in the background as Colin looks at her while she looks away. In this scene, Colin is wearing his beautiful embroidered vest, which features a duck near the collar. It also features a parrot. (Shout out to u/EverEarthling for this amazing deep dive on the vest!) Perhaps when Colin bought this vest in Paris, he still viewed Penelope as a duck, and himself as a parrot (i.e. one who parrots the behaviors of what society expects). Given this, we might not see this vest again, as gorgeous as it is.
https://preview.redd.it/9r4qb648wi5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=facbf720d29560adad66b31923c1646ab7fc66c8
While we might think these were coincidences because they happened to be near water, it seems unlikely, as there are a lot of garden/park/outdoor scenes where no swans are seen or heard.
In 303, at the end of the Willow scene, swans are heard in the background as Penelope leaves. Swans then re-appear the Hawkins Balloon Fair. There is a giant wicker statue of a swan, decked in lilacs and light pink roses, off to the side of the balloon. (Lilacs being the favorite flower of the Bridgertons and light pink being the Bridgerton color of first love.) While we don’t get an obvious camera angle of this, based on body positions, Penelope would have been looking at this swan statue the entire time while talking to Debling.
Their conversation is about birds, and despite literally staring at a giant bird statue, she struggles to come up with one, and instead names a sparrow.
https://preview.redd.it/x25logl1wi5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e95b51b6a6cf37cfb0010ea699158f5bfd12b86
Here's Nicola goofing around with said swan statue.
https://preview.redd.it/j1n4t28svi5d1.jpg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75bfa6f3a86aa6890d9ee9f8afc296b1762b77e2
In 3x04, the Queen has dancing swans in her wig. And, this is the first time in the season when Colin and Penelope dance together.
https://preview.redd.it/kmvtrgniki5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6caac598ac9992cd65b278059a1da22caa214e23
We also have a small wink in terms of grass. Swans who have not yet begun mating, even if they are paired, will gather in flocks in fields of grass. Paired swans who are too young to mate will move throughout the flock socially yet still be paired — much like the environment of a ball. In 2x03, Colin mentions how he once spent meditating for hours on a single blade of grass, and in 3x03, when trying to impress Debling and looking directly at a swan, Penelope says how she likes grass.
(Perhaps we can also interpret this to mean that Eloise is not a swan: she says she’d rather watch grass grow than talk to other debutantes. But, again, that’s for another post on Eloise being different than her siblings.)
Interestingly, at these swan social gatherings, “some individuals will have several courtships with other members of the flock, whilst others, tend to stay away from densely populated parts of the herd and do their own thing.” Sounds like Colin and Pen!
From the book, there's a mention of a "swan song:" (credit to u/leadwithlovealways)
https://preview.redd.it/4rui2ve22j5d1.png?width=3405&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0b63ac184f171f44735d9e58d2e43aff311383f

Colin + Pen = Swans

Let’s talk for a moment about the behaviors of bonded swan pairs and their mating behaviors, as there are a lot of parallels.
One important part of the beginning of the swan courting ritual is that both will drop their wings completely to their sides, and not puff themselves up at all. We can see this literally in terms of Colin and Pen in the carriage (both have their arms down at their sides), but also metaphorically: they are both at their most vulnerable, their least puffed-up, in the entire season.
https://preview.redd.it/2jmk55zcxi5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c3d3ce9c8046d8dacadf0254090ba5b2d6db57b
When swans are bonded, they will press their chests together and bend their necks together and rest their foreheads against one another, forming a heart shape. In their first kiss, we see Colin rest his forehead against Penelope’s ever so slightly — somewhat tentatively, almost, and his chest is not pressed to hers. (It is in his dream, though.). We see the forehead-resting and chests pressed together more times in the carriage scene.
https://i.redd.it/dqaj33bbyi5d1.gif
https://i.redd.it/unk6l20fyi5d1.gif
Mating dances
First, watch this video of swans doing a mating dance. (Or read, if you prefer.) Note how look away from each other and then back with intense eye contact.

They will stare at each other during the up and down motions of the necks and will sometimes raise both heads together at the same time to look at each other with sideways glances as they turn their heads from side to side.

Now, let's pivot back to Bridgerton -- and to another couple. In 2x05, Anthony and Kate’s pivotal dance when they can no longer ignore their feelings for one another resembles the courting dance of swans, with their arms interconnected and circling around another. While one could say that’s true of most dancing, this one is particularly striking, and perhaps it's when Anthony drops his rakishness or ability to think about others and starts to accept his committed, swan nature (though it takes him some time). You can also see echoes of the swan mating dance in how they pass one another side-by-side in Simon & Daphne's dance when they're truly in love, though the Kate/Anthony dance is much clearer.
The closest we’ve seen to Colin and Pen dance like this is 2x08, yet that dance is much more tentative than Kate and Anthony’s, and only bears a very faint resemblance to the swan mating dance. They make eye contact, but it is not intense or focused. Colin also refers to her as "Penelope", not "Pen," during that dance, and they barely touch. Distance is implied in multiple ways. But back to the topic of this post, one has to wonder whether we’ll see Colin and Pen dance in a way similar to a swan mating dance in Part 2.
Swan mating rituals
Now we're going to dive a bit deep in terms of parallels between swans and intimacy. Yes, this is completely fucking unhinged on an already unhinged post. I’m sorry if you will never be able to look at swans the same again.

• Swans will keep intense eye contact during courting and mating. Yup, check.
• While mating for most birds lasts only a few seconds, for swans it can be at least 20 minutes if not up to an hour. Seems fitting given the mentions of a 10-minute long intimacy scene in Episode 5!
• Right before swans engage in the act, the male swan will drape his neck over the female swan’s. We seem to be getting hints of this in the trailer, with Colin standing behind her in the mirror.
• We're going to skip over specifics of swan sex positions. That would simply be too unhinged.
• Right after mating, swans stay close together and echo the head turning/tilting of the courting ritual. We get a glimpse of this after the carriage scene is interrupted, and one can hope this means we get lots of after-sex cuddling. If not, it’s totally in headcanon now.
• After mating, swans will clean one another. We can see this in how Colin lovingly puts Pen’s dress and hair back in place before straightening his own clothes in the carriage scene.
• Swans also tend to mate many more times than is necessary in order to fertilize eggs. Based on this, and based on what we’ve heard about Part 2, we’re probably going to see this parallel, too.
• Male swans eagerly build a nest once they’ve decided to mate. This matches what we’ve heard about Colin quickly buying a house for him and Pen.
• Swan couples that are new to a territory/nest usually don’t lay any eggs for the first year, so maybe they’ll wait a bit before having children. But that seems unlikely with these two given that birth control didn’t exist…

Looking forward

Given that swans mate for life, we can be guaranteed a happy ending here.
As the show goes on, one can predict that swans will represent the two of them in various ways, and that we might expect to see swan motifs in the decoration of their new home. (In the Part 2 trailer, in the wedding scene, the walls are decorated with a swan motif.)
https://preview.redd.it/yhtphnem1j5d1.png?width=2436&format=png&auto=webp&s=3dab8825cccd5db6cd6c8f35c1f9f8605a4e68b1
In terms of children, swans keep their children close to them during their early life. We therefore might be able to predict that both Colin and Pen will likely be very attached to their children, and we will be unlikely to see them without their children once their children are in the picture. Even though Colin loves to travel, we could also predict he’ll quickly want to settle down and delight in being at home with their children, just like a swan.
Since male swans actively participate in child rearing, we also hope we’ll get to see lots of heart-warmingly adorable scenes of Colin bouncing their babies on his knees and taking care of them in future seasons. Maybe we’ll be lucky and even get a Regency-ified version of baby wearing with Colin wearing their baby wrapped around him with a shawl!

Bonus: Press tour Easter eggs!

In the Netflix India Bollywood/Bridgerton video, Luke wore a duck sweater. u/sc127's read on this:

Black Swan theory regarding Nicola's outfit: Do you think it's alluding to Colin and Pen getting married? In the eyes of the Ton, they would consider the Polin relationship as a Black Swan. It fits the criteria of being a surprise, having a major effect, and can be rationalized in hindsight.
Pink Ducks on Luke: I think the symbolism is more straight forward compared to Nicola's outfit. Pink is Pen's favorite color and it is the Bridgerton color of first love. Colin is in love with a duck named Pen :)

https://preview.redd.it/mrxy2a7v1j5d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=2c4d919cbd7c18dab681e5516098c540e7d79b12

I took the plunge and pre-ordered the Ace, and I’ve been putting it through its paces for the last couple of days. I’m pretty deep in the Sonos ecosystem, and I’m a big headphone collector, so I’m tossing in my thoughts here for those thinking about taking the plunge on these $450 cans.
TL:DR - the Aces come in at a high price point in the market at $450. At that price, these may be a tough sell for many. The overall sound is very good - but not definitively better than the category leaders in the market, many of which cost substantially less. Early/Gen1 bugs will leave some thinking that the product is half baked or leaves them out entirely, especially Android users. All that said, this is still a Sonos product, so there are enough things done well about the Ace that it could be a decent proposition - especially if you catch a sale and/or after upcoming software updates. Hard to hate, hard to love.
Now to give some context and get into the deeper review. As mentioned, I am pretty deep in the Sonos ecosystem because I’ve steadily added to my setups over the years. I started with a 5.1 system, Playbar + Sub + two Play 1s about 10 years ago (now in my kid’s playroom) and now I have Sonos in my whole home - another Arc-based 5.1 setup (media room), a Playbase 5.1 setup (living room), a Beam (bedroom), Move (outdoor patio) and a Roam (travel).
I am also a headphone collector and have 22 pairs, ranging from “consumer” stuff like the Ace, AirPods Pro/Max - and all the way up to high-end reference gear from the likes of Audeze, Sennheiser, Meze, Focal, etc. I listen to many types of music, from hip-hop to classical, and I also do quite a bit of gaming. I have a young kiddo so have the need to use headphones for TV viewing pretty often.
Starting with the overall design, comfort, control and included accessories - Sonos does a mostly solid job. The design isn’t overly striking in any way, but it is a well-refined “standard headphone” type of design with clean lines. The Aces are light while still feeling solidly built, have a smooth but appropriately firm sliding hinge for headband fit, have easily removable pads, and while they don’t completely collapse, they get compact enough to fit in the included zip-up hard shell carrying case.
The respectable carrying case isn’t the only included accessory. A USB-C cable is included for both charging and USB-C audio (no included wall charger), and a USB-C to 3.5mm cable is included as well for plugging into analog sources. The inclusion of these cables and capabilities gives the Aces a lot of general versatility and are good things at this price point.
The design lends itself to an overall very comfortable headphone. The band has a very soft cushion and connects to the cups in a way that distributes the weight very well. The cushions of the cups are a well-padded and very comfortable faux leather situation with a firm but not too imposing pressure on the head. These are easy to wear for hours without discomfort for me. I will note that while everything is fine for me, the cups are not particularly large, and the pads are angled, so people with large ears may find their ears touching the cups a bit.
The controls are also well designed. Sonos chose to avoid any type of touch controls with the Aces and has just three buttons - one for power and Bluetooth pairing, one for ANC/transparency/on-device voice assistant, and one for volume and track/audio source/phone call control. It reads more complicated than it is for the controls to become second nature. It is a very good overall control scheme. It’s not quite as good as the Digital Crown design of the AirPods Max, but I’d give it a strong second to that.
When it comes to hardware design and general ease of use, Sonos has always done well across its product range, and that continues here. Grade: A
Sound is one of the most subjective/difficult things to review, and I’m going to try and be as neutral as possible and use some good points of comparison. Overall, the Aces perform fairly well for the product category, and while they bring their own approach to the table, it is very much debatable whether what they bring in terms of sound is worth the fairly high $450 entry point versus $450 for the AirPods Max, $299 for the Sennheiser Momentum 4, $328 for the Sony WH-1000XM5 or $379 for the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra - all very mature and respectable market leaders with similar product features in this category. There are wireless headphones out there that are priced higher like the Focal Bathys ($799) or the Bowers and Wilkins Px8 ($529), though one could argue that those are catering to the luxury and/or audiophile market (all Amazon US prices as of this writing), where the sound expectations have a higher hurdle to overcome.
Let’s first talk about tonal balance. The general tuning of the Aces is very similar to all of the other products I mentioned above, which is a version of a “V-Shaped” tune; bass is boosted, and treble is boosted, creating what has become commonly known as a “fun” type of tuning that I call warm and sparkly. While all of the products I mentioned do this in some way, each does it slightly differently, resulting in a slightly different overall sound presentation, the Aces are no exception. Let’s dive in.
The bass on the Aces is very noticeably boosted throughout the entire band, and the biggest boost is in the sub-bass region. This means the Aces bring slam, boom and rumble to the listen. It could be argued that these get into bass head territory, and I believe those that like bass would be happy with the Aces in that department. While the bass is certainly very prominent, it is not overly loose and still maintains a decent level of control. It is a thick but fairly clean bass. It hits thicker than the AirPods Max but less so than the Momentums and XM5s. If you like to feel those big explosions and soundtrack moments in your TV viewing and gaming, the Aces will fit the bill, as the depth the bass can reach is impressive. The downside to the bass tuning is that since the entire bass band is boosted, if you are listening to a track that has a lot of action in the bass region, it can be overwhelming and lack detail. It can also lead to some bleed into the lower midrange on certain tracks.
It is the midrange on the Aces that surprised me the most, though when I think about how Sonos likely dedicated as much thought to how these sound for TV as to how they sound for music, it makes sense. In a usual “V-shaped” tuning, it is the midrange that is the least present or gets a bit left out of the mix. This often results in vocals and many common core instruments and pieces of the mix somewhat veiled, and is the reason many audiophiles don’t like the V-shaped tuning. The Aces mostly avoid this. The midrange balance is pretty on-target with the exception of a bit of a dip in the upper mids. This means that you get a very full-bodied core sound when listening to the Aces, and that’s a very good thing. Male vocals are very often put on full display because of the added warmth of the bass boost. Female vocals can sometimes take a bit of a back seat, along with instruments like guitar, as a result of the dip in the upper mids, but to notice either of these, you’d really have to be a focused listener (more on why later). The story of the midrange is that it’s better executed than many in the category. This translates well to TV/gaming as well, as dialogue is typically easy to make out, even when there’s lots of other action going on.
The treble on the Ace, as mentioned, is definitely boosted, but in a targeted way that overall, works. I mentioned that the upper midrange where female vocals and some higher instruments live is a bit de-emphasized. Well, the treble is boosted in the “sparkle” region, where sounds like symbols reside - as well as the “s” and “t” sounds in vocals. This boost makes details shine a bit more, and it also hides the under-emphasis of the upper midrange a bit because it still pulls forward the sparkle of all vocals. This upper midrange and treble boost combination is also seen in some well-regarded higher end headphones from the likes of Sennheiser and Meze Audio, just to name a few, so kudos to Sonos for pretty solid execution on the treble. The downside to boosting this region is that some people’s ears are sensitive to this frequency range, and can find sounds like snare drums, loud symbols and the like in this region to be grating to listen to for long periods of time. I don’t find the boost to be extreme, but it is there, so those that are treble-sensitive, just something to note.
This is a good point to make note that this has all been related to the default tonal balance of the Aces right out of the box. Connecting to the Sonos app does allow you to adjust the frequency response - though it is a very basic EQ just like other Sonos products - a simple treble/bass slider. Most of the options at this price point offer greater level of control with a at least a 3-5 band EQ, but it’s better than nothing.
Last in the sound department is a bit about the staging and technical performance. Again, the Aces do what they do fairly well for the category, but whether what they do is definitively better than their peers is debatable. The sound that comes from the Aces is crisp and clear, and one of the most immediately noticeable aspects of the presentation is the good horizontal spread of the pieces of the mix - everything is placed very well with pretty good separation. The sound stage isn’t overly wide by any means, and we aren’t talking about a 3D/holographic sound stage (unless you’re using Dolby Atmos, which I’ll come back to), but the sound does indeed go ear-to-ear horizontally. Even so, the focus of the Aces is always front and center. The stage is very center-focused and intimate, with the edges of the left and right channel wrapping around to the ears. It is a pretty in your face presentation that works well. The center position also has a small but distinct depth and separation from the mix, which is impressive for a wireless headphone (I had to wonder if the fact that the inside of the pads of the Aces are angled contributes to this). The fact that the stage is so center-focused also keeps the vocals and heart of the mix emphasized, and this pairs well with its midrange tuning. This presentation also is another testament to being well-designed for both music and TV listening.
I am not always a fan of Dolby Atmos for headphones, as what the technology can do is often overhyped, but the Aces do handle Atmos mixed sources (or multichannel sources when using TV Swap) very well. It essentially makes the sound stage a bit bigger, along with more precise positioning of the pieces of the mix. I find it best for video content and hit or miss for music.
The overall sound package that the Aces deliver is solid, well-executed, V-shaped listen. The sound is warm, crisp, clean, dynamic/lively and is presented very well, in a way that will work for many genres of music, TV and gaming. The aces definitely deserve to be in the conversation among the market leaders, but each of these market leaders also have strong overall presentations that are arguably just as good, if not better - and allow for a bit more control with more EQ personalization options. The Ace’s premium price relative to this competition has to be taken into consideration as a point of comparison in evaluating overall sound. Grade: B+ / A-
I realize that when evaluating a pair of wireless headphones nowadays, the technology feature set is a big factor as well, and that’s where things get even more interesting for the Aces. This is because depending on your particular Sonos setup, mobile device setup, and general home listening setup, the technological features of the Aces are various levels of either lacking or unfinished.
Let’s start with the good. Regardless of the device you’re using to connect, you get to experience the active noise cancellation and transparency modes of the Aces, and both are very good. The noice cancelling mode isn’t quite as good as Bose, and the transparency mode isn’t quite as good as Apple, but both are respectable compared to anything else, a good showing. You can also enable head tracking in the Sonos app when connected to any device audio via Bluetooth, which for Android users may be an added convenience, depending on your device (for Apple users, this is a feature built in option at the system level between any iOS device and AirPods). You also get a fairly good mix of codec support, including some lossless options if your device supports it.
Now, the not so good. When Sonos announced the Aces, the company very accurately talked about how headphones were one of the most requested products of the community, and everyone in this sub can probably attest to that. But what has been released, at this point in time especially, IMO misses the mark by not doing the we want the headphones to do most - connect seamlessly to our larger Sonos systems, and on top of this, it highlights the challenge of forced obsolescence when dealing with home theater speakers and advanced technology in the same package.
The best way to illustrate this is to state plainly that the Aces are first and foremost Bluetooth headphones. They connect to your Sonos system indirectly via the app on your Bluetooth device, not directly to the system itself via WiFi (mostly). This means a few things. If you’re envisioning using the Sonos app as a hub main hub for navigating your music library across sources and handing it off between your Sonos speakers and headphones, that’s not in the cards with the Ace (ha). As a matter of fact, you can only use the Sonos app to play and pause media playing on the Ace, not select and navigate.
If your goal is using the Aces to listen to your TV, it can be done via a feature called TV Swap, but the situation isn’t exactly pretty for a lot of people. You can press a button on the Aces or within the Sonos app to trigger a direct WiFi connection between a TV-connected Sonos speaker, but at launch and of this writing, it only works on the top-of-the-line Sonos Arc soundbar. This support is coming via software update to the Beam and Ray at an unannounced date. This means that for folks like me that have been building a Sonos ecosystem for years, arguably the most loyal and valuable customers of Sonos (and the ones requesting this product for years), the usefulness of the Aces may be substantially reduced. Out of the four rooms that have Sonos sound bars in my home, again, all purchased within the last ten years or less, only two will ever work with the Aces. My Playbase and Playbar are forever excluded, and if you’re using something like the Sonos Amp to connect a turntable or other device to your Sonos system, you’re also out of luck. If you are an Android user, the picture is even uglier, as the TV Swap feature doesn’t work AT ALL, meaning that until an update arrives, also at an as yet unannounced date, the Aces are essentially a regular pair of Bluetooth headphones for Android users.
For me, this is the most disappointing thing about the Aces. Unless you are a fairly recent inductee to the Sonos ecosystem, the Aces probably are really more general Bluetooth headphones that can connect to a Sonos speakeTV than Sonos headphones that also connect to Bluetooth devices. This is in a world where there are certainly other options for connecting headphones to your TV’s audio. Many smart TV’s and set top boxes now offer a direct Bluetooth connection, and if you have an Apple TV, using AirPods via AirPlay is a much more seamless experience. All of these things, combined with the recent revamp of the Sonos app that took away features and left many unhappy in the name of updating the app for future products (including the Ace), should make you think twice about if the Aces are the best way to get TV audio via headphones for you and your setup - and about the longevity of your particular Sonos setup in general. I realize there are technical challenges that make better Sonos system integration a challenge, and that for some, the issue about older products isn’t an issue at all, but it is worth bringing to light for those making a long-term purchase decision.
The second most disappointing thing about the launch of the Aces is the continued trend of companies releasing products at full price that are essentially unfinished. I already discussed that for Android users at launch, there is no TV Swap at all, so these are effectively just regular Bluetooth headphones with no Sonos system integration at all. I also touched on the fact that TV swap support for the Beam and Ray is missing for all platforms. There is also a very cool-sounding form of TruePlay that Sonos is calling TrueTune. This will calibrate the room, so that when using TV Swap to listen to audio, you’ll get an even more “immersive” listening experience that takes Spatial Audio and head tracking to the next level by trying to actually mirror the acoustics of the room as if you had no headphones on at all. I can’t report on that because, you guessed it…the feature is coming at a yet unannounced date. On top of this, there are bugs out of the gate. Sometimes my Aces don’t show up in the Sonos app, and TV Swap sometimes doesn’t trigger or glitches out.
All of this makes judging the technological features of the Aces difficult. On the side of being Bluetooth headphones - the ANC, connection possibilities/versatility, multi-device connection, head tracking/spatial audio support, and battery life, the Aces are a strong showing. On the Sonos side, your experience will be highly dependent on your current Sonos setup, source setup, how you like to navigate your music library, your level of patience to receive updates, and your trust/level of care for when/if Sonos will release an update that breaks something between your Aces and your existing setup or releases a new speaker that doesn’t work with the Aces. These are all considerations that again make the $450 asking price seem steep when there are other options in the market with equal or greater capabilities for a substantially lesser price. Grade: C-
Overall, I view the Aces as a solid pair of Bluetooth headphones, and as Bluetooth headphones for day-to-day needs, they are worth considering, though arguably not the best value in terms of overall sound quality and features. The AirPods Max, Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra all bring comparatively good sound and feature sets at the same or a substantially lower price. Whether that premium is worth it because of the Sonos interplay, well, your mileage may vary, depending on your setup. They have the potential to be pretty great for some, while at the same time being annoying for some - hard to hate, hard to love. I hope this review was helpful for those taking a look at these or building a Sonos ecosystem in general. Happy listening!

I'm just trying to listen to all of the FTL Jump Jingles but no matter how low I set voices, the ship AI and Democracy Officer don't shut up and I can't listen to the music. Is there like, a hidden setting I'm missing or something?
And they're still audible