Era 300 placement for surround

  • 23 November 2023
  • 9 replies
  • 565 views
D

Hello everyone,
I would like to have your opinion and your suggestions on the future placement of my Era 300 which I will receive shortly. I already have a Sonos Beam 2 (in white on the TV cabinet) and a Sonos Sub Gen 3 which is under my cabinet. Currently I also have 2 sound systems, one which is to the right of my sofa at window level and the other above the black furniture in my kitchen. I was thinking of putting the first era 300 (number 1) just behind my sofa with a stand to be at listening height. And the other on my kitchen cabinet in 2.

 

 

Is this the optimal placement or do you have other ideas?

Thanks in advance for your anwsers :)

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9 replies

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @DorianBriand 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

And congratulations on providing the best room layout pictures I have seen on this forum to date! 😁

I can see why you have chosen to put position 2 where it is - it certainly won’t be ideal, but given that a speaker on a stand in the ideal position next to the sofa is likely to get knocked over on a more-than-daily basis, your options are a bit limited.

If you are willing, and if the TV will fit, I would recommend the following change:

big blue = TV, small blue = Eras (on stands), brown = sofa

Or, perhaps you could reverse and put the TV against the windows, but that clearly has it’s own drawbacks (I’m thinking the reduction of natural light might be a concern).

Without rearranging the room, perhaps mounting the Eras upside-down and near the ceiling would work, but the mounts for Era 300 are wall mounts, not ceiling mounts, so I’m not sure if you could get that to work - you would need some kind of blocks on the ceiling to screw the mounts to, which could get ugly.

If you do end up putting them in the red squares, you will need TruePlay Tuning to make the best of the setup (which means access to a supported iPhone or iPad, at least temporarily). How effective Atmos would be, however, I am not sure. If you’ve bought direct from the Sonos Store, you’ll have 100 days to test them out - if it just doesn’t give the impact you want, you can get a full refund (we’ll cover shipping costs).

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
D

Hi @DorianBriand 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

And congratulations on providing the best room layout pictures I have seen on this forum to date! 😁

I can see why you have chosen to put position 2 where it is - it certainly won’t be ideal, but given that a speaker on a stand in the ideal position next to the sofa is likely to get knocked over on a more-than-daily basis, your options are a bit limited.

If you are willing, and if the TV will fit, I would recommend the following change:

big blue = TV, small blue = Eras (on stands), brown = sofa

Or, perhaps you could reverse and put the TV against the windows, but that clearly has it’s own drawbacks (I’m thinking the reduction of natural light might be a concern).

Without rearranging the room, perhaps mounting the Eras upside-down and near the ceiling would work, but the mounts for Era 300 are wall mounts, not ceiling mounts, so I’m not sure if you could get that to work - you would need some kind of blocks on the ceiling to screw the mounts to, which could get ugly.

If you do end up putting them in the red squares, you will need TruePlay Tuning to make the best of the setup (which means access to a supported iPhone or iPad, at least temporarily). How effective Atmos would be, however, I am not sure. If you’ve bought direct from the Sonos Store, you’ll have 100 days to test them out - if it just doesn’t give the impact you want, you can get a full refund (we’ll cover shipping costs).

I hope this helps.

Hi Corry,

Thank you for your very detailed answer. For the room layout, my girlfriend is an architect it’s simpler. 

For your advice to change the location of the Sofa, I will see if it’s possible because this means that I would have natural light reflecting against the television. I have an OLED 887 from Phillips, I don't know if it would react well.

Otherwise, as you can see in this photo. In the current configuration I could either add a leg behind the sofa with the other ERA 300 or put it above the fridge or even above my black kitchen cabinet like my existing sonos one sl. What do you think ?

Full square (ideas) 

Red Line (existing)

Thank you in advance,

Dorian

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @DorianBriand 

For your advice to change the location of the Sofa, I will see if it’s possible because this means that I would have natural light reflecting against the television. I have an OLED 887 from Phillips, I don't know if it would react well.

I’ll admit I did not think of that when giving that suggestion, and it’s very good point.

Otherwise, as you can see in this photo. In the current configuration I could either add a leg behind the sofa with the other ERA 300 or put it above the fridge or even above my black kitchen cabinet like my existing sonos one sl. What do you think ?

I would say on top of the fridge would probably be preferable to on the kitchen worktop (and not just because it’ll be less likely to get food on it), and either location would certainly better than where your One SL is currently!

As an architect, I’m guessing your girlfriend would not approve of the TV being against the window either?

I think with this particular space, there are not going to be any “correct answers” - perhaps it will be best to just try each position for a week or so, see which one you end up preferring. TruePlay Tuning would be highly recommended after each relocation, however.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
D

Hi @DorianBriand 

For your advice to change the location of the Sofa, I will see if it’s possible because this means that I would have natural light reflecting against the television. I have an OLED 887 from Phillips, I don't know if it would react well.

I’ll admit I did not think of that when giving that suggestion, and it’s very good point.

Otherwise, as you can see in this photo. In the current configuration I could either add a leg behind the sofa with the other ERA 300 or put it above the fridge or even above my black kitchen cabinet like my existing sonos one sl. What do you think ?

I would say on top of the fridge would probably be preferable to on the kitchen worktop (and not just because it’ll be less likely to get food on it), and either location would certainly better than where your One SL is currently!

As an architect, I’m guessing your girlfriend would not approve of the TV being against the window either?

I think with this particular space, there are not going to be any “correct answers” - perhaps it will be best to just try each position for a week or so, see which one you end up preferring. TruePlay Tuning would be highly recommended after each relocation, however.

I hope this helps.

Hi @Corry P, 

I'll talk about it with her and let you know again :)

For the TV behind the windows, the sofa is too large for place it on this wall.

If I put the Era 300 above the fridge (knowing that there will be 40 cm above before touching the ceiling), should I put it upside down?
Otherwise in terms of the kitchen cabinet I also have 60 cm between the worktop and the black storage unit.

Thank you again for your responsiveness

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @DorianBriand 

If I put the Era 300 above the fridge (knowing that there will be 40 cm above before touching the ceiling), should I put it upside down?

No - you’d need to put both speakers upside-down. Doing so to only one speaker would not work (the left/right imaging would not be correct). Unless you find a way to mount the other speaker inverted and near the ceiling too, of course, but I think that would require mounting brackets that don’t exist.

Otherwise in terms of the kitchen cabinet I also have 60 cm between the worktop and the black storage unit.

This would only be an argument for having a speaker on the worktop upside-down, unless I am misunderstanding, which would not make sense.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
A

Could you provide more details or context about the "Era 300 placement for surround" post? https://apkbgmi.com/

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

@Afaan 

Please provide specifics regarding your question/issue. As this original post indicates yours may be simple or complex. Diagrams are very much appreciated.

You may want to start your own post for a personalized response instead of piggybacking in this one.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
Airgetlam

Who is @Afaan ? I’m not seeing a post (although they did show up when I did a @, so maybe a mod has moved the post?

Bruce
D

@Corry P

Finally, I think I will place the Era 300s like this to have them at listening height and to be able to keep an overall sound in the room for the music. We agree that I don't tilt them towards the sofa I put them parallel to the tv? What do you think of this configuration?

 

Thank you and I couldn't see @Afaan message

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @DorianBriand 

Don’t worry about the missing post - it was spam, and the author has been banned.

As to the positioning, I think it may be the best you’re likely to get in that particular space and with that general layout. You are correct in not pointing them towards the sofa.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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