Success!!

Thanks to everyone who assisted me. I was able to do just as suggested and change my SSID. What the buggers do now is they only show one network so I had to also split things up so that the 2.4 network was there.

Anyway, it is all done except for now figuring out which speaker is left versus right for 4 different pairs!

I wish there was a way in the app to send a test tone to a speaker individually. I guess I'll have to connect everything and then unplug one speaker at a time to see which speaker, left or right disappears. One last step.

Again thanks for the advice and moral support. Totally appreciated.

@MG1214

Test tones? There’s also no need to unplug speakers.
Just set the speakers up. If a stereo pair go to the room in the App and use the balance slider to determine which should be left or right.

If using speakers as surrounds in a home theater go to the room and select remove surrounds. After they are removed go back to the room and choose “add surrounds”.

If using Era 300’s…again remove as stereo pair and set them up again as a stereo pair. These speakers do not have a balance slider.

Hi,

The first part of your suggestion I actually had done, but I didn't remove the surrounds as I didn't feel like doing that. It was late. 

I may just remove them as surrounds. I think I prefer the flexibility of having a fully independent volume slider. I actually really like being able to blend the speakers this way.

Thanks for having pitched in with great advice.

Your welcome.

Just to be clear (maybe I’m reading your statement incorrectly) surrounds do not have a balance slider. You can adjust (in your setup) distance and music playback as Full stereo or ambient.

Also, if you remove speakers as surrounds you shouldn’t use them (grouped) with TV audio in the same room as their will be a 75ms delay causing an echo effect. Using them in the same room for music (grouped) is OK; as there is no delay

Yes I had encountered this echo effect and did not enjoy it at all. I’m still at a bit of a loss as I currently use my system for 95% music only. However, for the first time in my life I have purchased a decent TV and can see myself now upping the percentage of use for movies. Perhaps I will just keep them as surrounds, removing and re-adding them first. It is a shame though that essentially I must waste the other pair of Fives though for any such non-music use. 

Quick question, are my two subs though fine with TV useage? I believe they are controlled by my Arc so if I understand correctly, if I leave the one pair of Fives as surrounds, they and the Arc and the two Subs will be used for home theatre. Hopefully that is the correct understanding.

Again, many thanks to you and the rest of the community. I have participated in many Internet communities since the start of the 2000s and I find this particular community very engaged and helpful.

@MG1214 

Removing and re-adding speakers as surrounds (as you may discover or already know) IMO is a PITA .  I’d leave the Fives as surrounds.

The two Subs can be used for home theater with the Arc as long as one of them is a Gen3.

I don’t think the extra set of Fives will be a waste. Personally, for serious music listening I prefer a pair of Fives over the sound stage produced by an Arc home theater setup. In fact I have a set of Fives up-front in the same room as my Arc home theater.

BTW...another option for the subs is to use one with the Arc and the other with the extra set of Fives. This option depends on how much low-end you want with you Arc home theater or if you’d like more low-end with the Fives for music. FYI, I have a sub bonded with my Fives that are dedicated for music.

Believe me, I don’t want to deal with the aggravation, but I’m driving myself crazy with not being 100% certain that the Five’s I have as surrounds are positioned correctly behind me. Last night I switched them and was not sure if it improved phase or not. It is really hard to know. I suspect that I can find some kind of musical file that will send out channel separated tones. Otherwise, I’m not entirely sure without removing and adding the surrounds in again how I can be certain that the Four Fives (two pairs) are actually in phase.

As to your other point I think how I have the Subs is fine (both Gen 3). I migrated from your normal stereo system world where I had two very large, high quality floor standing speakers supported by two SVS SB2000 Pro subs, so powerful, but balanced bass is extremely important to me for both any movies I may watch, but most certainly for music listening.

I think given that when I listen to music I have all of the speakers going (I still have two Moves gen 2 to add back in) I would just leave the subs as they are configured now. Please feel free to share any thoughts at all. I welcome input. Cheers.

I don’t know the layout of your room but take a look at the pics in the link to get an idea of how to position your surrounds. If you have (or can borrow) an iOS device you can use TruePlay to get the correct balance for the room ( in most cases). Trueplay is not a “silver bullet” solution but works the majority of times when used.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/arc
 

I probably will do this as I have a friend who is an iPhone user. The room is a pretty big room, probably about 40 feet long, 13 feet wide with a lowish ceiling, 7 feet high if I had to guess. I think how I have things setup is pretty decent for my needs, it is more about really dialing it in that last little bit. Because I have had full systems since the 1980s, and of course moved many times in my life, I have a fairly good ear for knowing when things are balanced. At least for my needs/preference.

I may snap a picture or two to add to this thread as it never hurts to have that visual for people to see as it may prompt a thought or suggestion. Thanks again, Cheers.

Yes, please do attach a photo. That’s always helpful. I hope this not the case; but if the Arc and Fives (as surrounds) are positioned at the extremes of your room length even TruePlay may not help. So please send the photos

BTW… you don’t have to send actual pictures. Just a hand drawn overhead layout view showing the positioning of the Sonos HT speakers and the viewing/listening position using rectangles to approximate the shape of the  seatings.

Not using the full length of the room as a listening area actually. The listening area is probably about 15 feet in length. I wish the room was smaller so that it was easier to pressurize, but I don’t tend to listen to music as often as I used to, nor do I listen quite as loud so I can get away with a lower power system such as the Sonos. Lower power as compared with my previous full sized system. 

I had many years of listening loud with big speakers. Now I’ve transitioned to that place where my needs and preferences have changed. I’m content with a lifestyle system like the Sonos. Well engineered, pretty darn good sounding and easy to use, so lots of upside to my switch over.

Again, just wanted to acknowledge that several people contributed to the thread and while I just selected the first post where the SSID hack was suggested as the best answer, I know that several people provided that information and added extra details.