Speaker Pair Change Default Speaker

I don't quite follow. You nominated the speaker on the right as the "left" one?

The immediate consequence is that the stereo image will be reversed. Also if the Google Assistant is added to the pair it will be active on the right one.

There is a subtle change to the way the two units communicate with one another wirelessly, but that wouldn't normally affect performance.

You probably wouldn't notice stereo image reversal unless there's some reason to know that a sound is supposed to come from the left or right (maybe you're a professional conductor, and you know the cellos are supposed to be on the right of the orchestra instead of the left, or you were at the concert where the live recording was made and you know that the idiot who shouted that remark from the audience was on the left because it was you.). Different story if it was video+audio.

BTW I wanted to swap speakers recently (added gen 2 to gen 1, then wanted to swap so that gen 2 is the voice assistant), and I found that it is NOT automatically the speaker designated Left that is the voice assistant speaker. I first tried designating my gen 2 as left instead of right, which would have resulted in a reversed image, but it didn't work - the gen 1 was still the voice assistant speaker. Then I removed Google Assistant, put it back on the gen 2, and re-paired. Now the gen 2 was the voice assistant speaker.

BTW I wanted to swap speakers recently (added gen 2 to gen 1, then wanted to swap so that gen 2 is the voice assistant), and I found that it is NOT the speaker designated left that is the default voice assistant as everyone seems to think - it is the one that first had the voice assistant enabled (at least with Google Assistant). I first tried designating my gen 2 as left instead of right, which would have resulted in a reversed image, but it didn't work - the gen 1 was still the voice assistant speaker. Then I removed Google Assistant from both, put it back on the gen 2, and re-paired. Now the gen 2 was the voice assistant speaker.
This is why I said "if the Google Assistant is added to the [reversed] pair it will be active on the [physical] right one". It's been stated elsewhere that if GA is already on a unit before pairing then it will remain there.

BTW I wanted to swap speakers recently (added gen 2 to gen 1, then wanted to swap so that gen 2 is the voice assistant), and I found that it is NOT the speaker designated left that is the default voice assistant as everyone seems to think - it is the one that first had the voice assistant enabled (at least with Google Assistant). I first tried designating my gen 2 as left instead of right, which would have resulted in a reversed image, but it didn't work - the gen 1 was still the voice assistant speaker. Then I removed Google Assistant from both, put it back on the gen 2, and re-paired. Now the gen 2 was the voice assistant speaker.

This is why I said "if the Google Assistant is added to the [reversed] pair it will be active on the [physical] right one". It's been stated elsewhere that if GA is already on a unit before pairing then it will remain there.

 

That adding GA on one of the units first thing didn’t work for me...

I have a 5.1 set up with two Ones as surrounds.

I removed the surrounds, added GA just on the right one and then re-added both as surrounds. Once they were re-added, neither had GA working on them; I had to add the service again. When I did that, it only added to the left one.

I also tried removing the surrounds, adding GA to both and then re-adding them as surrounds but, again, had the same issue.

In a 5.1 set up, I don’t want to physically move switch the left and right speakers…

If anyone has a solution, I’d love to know about it