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Hello,

I recently purchased the ultimate Sonos setup: The Arc, two Era 300’s and Gen 3 sub.

I am very satisfied with my purchase! The system sounds amazing, movies in Atmos are incredibly immersive even at lower volume and music in Atmos is an audiophile’s dream! The only situation that I think that system isn't maximized is listening to regular music in stereo.

the powerful Era 300’s would sound so much better paired by themselves with the sub. 
the problem is that there isn't a way to create a pairing preset. One for viewing movies and listening to Atmos content and the other for listening to regular stereo music.

I assume the reason being it takes a minute or two to pair  the speakers due to the handshake process over WiFi. 
I don't mind waiting a minute to switch between presets but I won't do it now because of the extra steps needed to remove and add speakers.

If you have the same setup, what are your thoughts on the subject? Is it a worthy feature request?

@ErezP 
Would you not ideally want your soundstage out in front when listening to stereo music? Would it not seem a little odd, listening to speakers on a soundstage that’s set behind your listening position only? 

My thoughts are to maybe do what some others do here in the community and consider adding either a pair of Fives (my own preference), or another pair of Era 300’s to the room set out in front of your listening ‘sweet spot’ position. I think that would be a much better option and in some cases, some users have added another Sub to the room too, to work with that added stereo pair for music.


It’s a little expensive, but worth considering perhaps, rather than having music audio from the rear speakers only?

Although it seems many are also happy to have their Sonos Arc act as front left/right speakers for music, with a few who also like to disable their rear surrounds (thats not something that I have tended to do in the past, but it’s each to their own and whatever suits them and their listening environment, I guess).

That would be an extreme overkill in my opinion. The system is extremely powerful for my room size. More speakers would also not look in place in my living room.

Point in question here is which set sounds better? I feel like the way the arc is under utilizing the Era 300’s in stereo mode is a waste. Sound stage with 'only' two Eras is still positioned in the middle of the room for a great phantom center, where in full theater setup the presence is lacking. 

I set my surrounds to Full Mode for music, it isn’t great for the stereo image but the surrounds then fully mirror the front channels and fill the room much better.

A stereo Pair really does sound good for music, my old Play 3s are set up that way.

I agree it sounds fuller when “Full mode” is enabled.

 

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