Answer truthfully, does SONOS do 5.1?

It’s my understanding that if the content is actually playing in stereo, you’ll hear almost everything from the front speakers with very little coming from the rear channels. If  you’re actually hearing the same audio from the front and back with a TV audio sources, chances are hearing surround sound, but whoever developed the soundtrack actually designed/programmed the rear channels to just repeat the front channels.  I see this quite freqently, particularly with youtube sources.  Just because their is a point in the scene where you might expect to hear specific audio from behind you doesn’t mean that the content creater actually wants to make it sound like it’s specifically coming from behind you...if that makes sense.

It seems to me tht the fundamental question is what the Sonos app says it is receiving, because I think that can be believed. 

If Sonos confirms it is only getting stereo when the OP thinks it is stereo, then the problem lies further upstream and the Playbar is innocent 

But if Sonos says it is DD5.1 and the OP isn't convinced then we have a different problem to resolve.

I don't think we know what issue we are tackling until the OP tells us what Sonos says it is playing. 

Thanks guys for the tips. I appreciate all the comments.

TLDR; I have checked to see if it says 5.1, it does but still no dice. Yes I think it’s lying. Anybody have a test where sound is distributing the 5 distinct channels? If so, which vid tester are you using? Please share. 

AJTrek has my eco system right, It’s 5.0 (the woofer costs a grip). Still the channels should output where they’re supposed to be coming from. I have a beam and 2 Play 1’s. 

I’m running my movies from my PC and it says 5.1 Dolby Digital, this by itself was a project that took me months to figure out. I bought a SB card (Sound Blaster x-fi 5.1 Pro). This turns any PC/notebook into a 5.1 entertainment system, this line is then fed into the Beam. I usually watch DolbyDigital movies. If it’s PCI then I’m able to convert that to DD, but I only use DD movies to do my testing in this case. 

Dolby Digital movies. Youtube tests and many others are a fail for me. Yes the SONOS sound great, I even hear the ambience in the rear speakers sometimes. But seriously, give me a go-to way that I can test and hear my distinct 5.1 (5.0) channels without activating the others, I need this closure. 

Moving forward, I have invested in a new TV, it has HMDI ARC and all the whistles. I’ll run my line into the TV instead of the PC and retest. FYI, not making it readily accessible to PC is just plain dumb but that’s another story. I don’t expect it to support every codec out there, we know SONOS isn’t good for that.

After all my research, I think SONOS was made for listening to music and not really for watching movies. Anyway I will the TV port instead on my PC card, I’ll also try to download an official AV 5.1 tester.  Keep yall posted on my new tests.

In the many other threads similar to this one, the culprit has always been the PC not sending an appropriate signal out to the Sonos device, but as I recall, those have been on optical outputs, not HDMI-ARC.

YouTube, to my knowlege only does stereo, probably due to bandwidth considerations. The video that I found for testing mentioned this repeatedly in the comments, but suggested that if you downloaded the file, and used another player, like VLC, it would work.

I’ll be interested in your test from a TV, I think you'll be pleased, assuming the source you use is not your PC. 

One further thing to note, the Sonos report indicates the carrier, and not the content. It is easy to encode a stereo only signal on a Dolby Digital carrier. As evidenced by the Cowboys pregames I watched. Sonos reported a Dolby Digital carrier, but the data encoded was only the front channels. Tested that in about 10 seconds by changing the channel to a movie channel, then back. So, while the About My System is useful in most cases, it's not the end all of data points. 

Thanks Airgetlam. Once again I do enjoy my Beam, however in general it’s very upsetting that it is not made for PC as many folks use their PCs as their main Home ET System.

This guy has given me hope about the 5.1 test -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ahs3AAzmlo 

...but if you and the other commenters are right then I would hope and pray that SONOS does something about the PC configuration compatibility. Again I’ll keep everyone posted on the tests. 

Sonos can only play a signal that it receives, there isn't much they can do about the ability for PCs that have difficulty sending Dolby Digital signals. It's up to the audio card in the PC to send an appropriate signal, and the software reading the file appropriately. Neither of those thing can be touched by Sonos. 
 

When you test with your new TV, make sure you're feeding it something other than you PC, such as a stand alone DVD player, even if you have to borrow one for a day or two. If you use your PC, it will be sending the exact same signal to the TV which will pass it to the Sonos.

Have a look at this (especially the second post by RandomPerson)

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/summary-of-problems-with-solutions-for-beam-suggestions-for-improvements-6826355

It fixed all my DD5.1/PC/Sonos Beam problems.