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nw83
Contributor III
November 10, 2018

Was about to buy a load of Sonos speakers but have config questions now

So I have been looking at Sonos for a while and I've listened to a load of their speakers in shops and in friends houses etc.

My intention was to buy

1x BEAM
4x ONE
1x SUB

In the main room I wanted the BEAM, SUB and 2x ONE (the other ONE's would be throughout the house and I'd add to the system in due course)

In the main room I wanted a 5.1 set up for TV and then presumed I'd be able to use the 2xONE speakers and SUB for music which I'd stream via airplay. After reading on here I gather that isn't possible, which is a shame to say the least!

So my questions are:

- Could I use the ONE's as a stereo pair with the SUB, but though the Sonos app rather than via airplay? (in which case I may as well just buy the Play 1's as I wont need the air play function, and I already have an Echo dot anyway)

OR, if that still wont work, which is hugely annoying...

- How long a process is it to unpair the ONE's / Play 1's from the BEAM and set them up as a stereo pair with the SUB? In reality we probably only watch a film worthy of 5.1 once a week so I'd have them set up as paired speakers most of the time, but if its a LONG process to then pair them with the BEAM it will also be annoying.

Thanks in advance.
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    14 replies

    jgatie
    jgatie
    November 10, 2018
    You can set the surrounds to play as "Full" for music sources. That will give you full volume out of the surrounds for anything except TV. The Beam will still be active, but many feel this is a good solution instead of having to reconfigure for each source.
    nw83Author
    Contributor III
    November 10, 2018
    Having a third audio source for music will mess up the sound stage, unless you can then lower the volume on the BEAM?

    And will the rear speakers play as a stereo pair or will each ONE get the full L+R channels?
    jgatie
    jgatie
    November 10, 2018
    Stereo pair. And yes, the soundstage is messed up. But that is how it works. I only informed you of this compromise because you seemed not to be aware of it.
      nw83Author
      Contributor III
      November 10, 2018
      Stereo pair. And yes, the soundstage is messed up. But that is how it works. I only informed you of this compromise because you seemed not to be aware of it.

      Thank you. Appreciated. Yes it may be a quicker compromise but if I wanted less than perfect sound I'd get something cheaper than Sonos.

      Good at least it uses them as a proper stereo pair though (and I presume utilises the SUB if connected and so it cuts out the low frequency from the ONE?)

      And you definitely cant then adjust the BEAM volume level on its own?
      Smilja
      Smilja
      November 10, 2018
      Read through the references I've provided in the other topic.
      »And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
      nw83Author
      Contributor III
      November 10, 2018
      Another quick question. I see you can run all the speakers from an existing router, or you can buy a boost.

      But if you connect one speaker via LAN cable, will this speaker effectively then become a boost?
      Smilja
      Smilja
      November 10, 2018
      Another quick question. I see you can run all the speakers from an existing router, or you can buy a boost.

      But if you connect one speaker via LAN cable, will this speaker effectively then become a boost?
      Sort of.

      https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3235?language=en
      »And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
      jgatie
      jgatie
      November 10, 2018
      Another quick question. I see you can run all the speakers from an existing router, or you can buy a boost.

      But if you connect one speaker via LAN cable, will this speaker effectively then become a boost?

      Yes, any wired speaker acts like a Boost.
      nw83Author
      Contributor III
      November 16, 2018
      Just to add to this as I bought my speakers and have been listening to them for a while now.

      What I didn't realise and what no one mentioned was that in the settings for the surround speakers you can set them to be louder during music play back, which effectively makes the BEAM a lower volume level, which is what I wanted.

      I'd still prefer if there was a specific toggle so you could completely mute the BEAM during music, but for now this is 90% of what I want to be honest.

      I'm also very impressed with the low frequency response in my room. I'm not sure I'll bother adding the SUB now (unless one comes up very cheap on ebay and I might give it a try).

      Very happy and look forward to expanding to all of the rooms in due course.
      upstatemike
      November 16, 2018
      Curious what would happen if you simply turn off the power switch on the beam while listening to music?
      Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever
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