surrounds or fronts

Thank you ! Iam using Sonos Sequencer app to get Fronts setup. Sounds good , but not sure which sounds better to people in community? 

Not many here use that app to add fronts and in my experience, those who do use it seem to be contrarians who don’t have much good to say about Sonos in the first place.  The app does have a bunch of unbiased fans on reddit, you may try to ask your question there.  

I have a Beam 2, Era 100s surrounds and Sub 3. Sounds great. I added 2 One SLs as front L/R with SonoSequencr about a year ago. I think it sounds even better. I never tried adding front L/R without rear surrounds. But only you can decide what sounds good to you. Try it both ways. Front speakers are an unsupported configuration (at this time), so you should look to reddit for any help or support.

Opinion from a non-contrarian 😀

The benefit of using two external front speakers depends on room size, symmetry, and sidewall composition. For best results soundbars expect to be located in mid wall with reflective surfaces on each sidewall.

This is not a claim that less than “best” is terrible. You probably will have more control over the result with the added, separate L/R. For many people a disadvantage will be the requirement to find a spot for two additional “boxes”. Actually, poorly located “boxes” might not sound any better than the soundbar.

I tried adding fronts with SonoSequencr, but I did not like it at all.  It may have been my room layout/size, but I found it to be louder, but just a wall of sound. I felt that it completely destroyed the bubble created by my arc ultra, sub and 300s. The atmos effects were just gone to me, and replaced by loudness.  I do realize that room size and layout has a lot to do with my perception. I turned my front surrounds into a stereo pair for music. For my two cents, I would start with rear surrounds and try fronts later. I did originally have a full home theater with separates. I may be weird, but the find the official Sonos solution to be more immersive, but I do realize many may disagree. 

I’d use the Sonos Era 100s as surrounds with the Ray. They can work as fronts, but they’re generally more useful as dedicated rear speakers for a wider, more immersive setup. Have you tried both configurations, and which one sounded better in your room?