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Gumpa
Contributor I
December 29, 2018
Answered

Adjusting speaker (s) volume individually on surround system

I'm and "old" sonos newbie who has screwed-up his surround setup to the point where my wife wants it returned because it does not perform the way "we" thought it would. My system consists of a Beam & 2 Play 1 speakers. The issue is I hear the audio from my Beam only and nothing I do allows me to adjust my Play 1 speaker volume independently. I want to lower the Beam volume and independently increase the volume on my Play 1 speakers. If I use the app or the plus volume buttons on the Play 1 speakers the system volume changes. I've just submitted a diagnostics request (1302827367) in hopes they can give me some help. In the meantime - here I am - asking their user group. Thanks in advance for your assistance. Additionally I don't know the difference between a "surround system" and a "home theater system". Gumpa
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    Ken_Griffiths
    Ken_GriffithsAnswer
    December 31, 2018
    Gumpa,
    Assuming you are talking TV sound, you need to really play a 5.1 DD source to get the rear two channels working as intended rather than PCM 2ch stereo. If you are talking about music level, then you just need to change/switch the music audio level from 'ambient' to 'full' in the room settings... you can also retune the speakers using trueplay and tell the system that the speakers are further away from your seated position, when prompted by the trueplay process.
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    17 replies

    GumpaAuthor
    Contributor I
    December 29, 2018
    1 additional thought is the Play 1 speakers sound like they are on, just very low. Thanks Gumpa
    jgatie
    jgatie
    December 29, 2018
    More > Settings > Room Settings > (room name) > Advanced Audio > Surround Settings > TV Level
      GumpaAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 29, 2018
      Thought I had done that but I'll check and give it a try. Thank You !
      GumpaAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 31, 2018
      jgatie, again thanks for your reply. Still very frustrated. Turns out I had done just what you suggested - but I did it again yesterday just to be sure. Nothing has changed. I do get sound from both Play 1 speakers however the volume is very low still and it sounds like I'm only getting music playing in the background and not the dialogue that is the main part of the program. When I turn up the volume either using my system (non-sonos)remote or the + button on my beam it turns up the volume on the whole system, which is what I would expect. However when I just turn the volume up on my play 1 speakers using their + buttons it does turn up the volume but again on the whole system not just my play 1 speakers.
      Somewhere I think I read if I had a Beam bar and wanted sound in another room I could place the play 1 speakers in that room and it would do the trick. If that's true today I'm going to change them around and tell the beam bar my play 1 speakers are in a different room to see what happens. Any other suggestions are very welcome from anyone tuned in. I appreciate your help. Guess my next step will be to call CS @ Sonos but of course it's a holiday weekend and that will have to wait till Tuesday/Wednesday. Gumpa
      jgatie
      jgatie
      December 31, 2018
      Surround sound does not mean you get dialog in the rear speakers. The rears are for directional effects, and most dialog is tied to the characters on the screen. So unless a person is speaking off camera, behind the viewer or to the side, you will not hear dialog in the surrounds. This is as designed.
      Ken_Griffiths
      Ken_GriffithsAnswer
      December 31, 2018
      Gumpa,
      Assuming you are talking TV sound, you need to really play a 5.1 DD source to get the rear two channels working as intended rather than PCM 2ch stereo. If you are talking about music level, then you just need to change/switch the music audio level from 'ambient' to 'full' in the room settings... you can also retune the speakers using trueplay and tell the system that the speakers are further away from your seated position, when prompted by the trueplay process.
      GumpaAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 31, 2018
      Thanks, My stupid. Well, that would explain what's happening here. What do you think about my second thought of "saying" the play 1 speakers are in different rooms? Can I expect full sound from them, dialogue and all? or, do you have another suggestion. Gumpa
      GumpaAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 31, 2018
      Even if that's the case the volume from the play 1s is very low and barely audible.
      GumpaAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 31, 2018
      KG, Thanks. Well, I'm learning a lot today. You are way over my head when speaking about "you need to really play a 5.1 DD source to get the rear two channels working as intended rather than PCM 2ch stereo." No idea what that means except maybe I bought the wrong speakers for the job. As for Trueplay - "just need to change/switch the music audio level from 'ambient' to 'full' in the room settings... you can also retune the speakers using trueplay and tell the system that the speakers are further away from your seated position, when prompted by the trueplay process." I have already made those 2 changes in the system. It did help some, but not enough. Thanks Gumpa
      Storm3
      Trending Lyricist I
      December 31, 2018
      Instead of having them as surrounds unlink them and then group together?
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