Phantom center speaker from Sonos Amp with stereo (not surround) input signal

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
May 28, 2019
3 replies
598 views

Will the phantom center speaker, produced by the Sonos Amp, be of lower quality if the Amp is fed only a stereo input signal, compared to if the Amp is fed a true 5.1 surround input signal?

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Best answer by Ryan S

@d00p, there will be a difference in audio, as you will not only have less dedicated audio channels, but the stereo audio may also be lower quality format compared with the format you're getting 5.1 from (stereo PCM vs Dolby Digital 5.1). Assuming they're the same quality stream, the phantom center channel will likely be pretty similar, as what happens is the left and right sides will both play the audio signal for either case.

If you're also adding other channels, the differences will be more noticeable.

Ryan SAnswer

Retired Sonos Staff

@d00p, there will be a difference in audio, as you will not only have less dedicated audio channels, but the stereo audio may also be lower quality format compared with the format you're getting 5.1 from (stereo PCM vs Dolby Digital 5.1). Assuming they're the same quality stream, the phantom center channel will likely be pretty similar, as what happens is the left and right sides will both play the audio signal for either case.

If you're also adding other channels, the differences will be more noticeable.

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D

d00pAuthor

Contributor I

OK, thanks for the feedback.

If I understand this right; 5.1 surround input should be preferred over stereo if at all possible.

Correct?

Airgetlam

Correct.

Bruce

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