ATMOS - Request! Would you buy new speaker if SONOS would release new playbar??

Is it not the case that regardless of all these old, new and wonderful formats that even though sonos does it things “it’s own simple way” .. are the results not sufficient? I know I am currently still trialing my Playbar, but regardless what is thrown at, regardless of how it’s converted down to the playbar, it sounds bloody good. I have an old Pioneer LX03 with 5.1 that I switch between to compare. You know what, the Playbar sounds cleaner, with more depth - all regardless of having surround sound and all manner of names such as DTS, Dolby Digital, Etc lighting up as it would on my LX03.

The only reason I am thinking of returning it at the moment is because they might update it .. but even if they do, they’ll need to update the Playbase; but that was only recently released. So people who bought that are not going to be too happy.

Also as bad as some of you believe optical is. All new TVs deliver Dolby Digital and DTS through there fine. Sonos can take this and present it in its own way to deliver a great sound. It’s Atmos today, but really.. how many people who buy a playbar are interested in 7.1 or beyond sounds? Maybe just a few percent. Here in the UK houses are small, not like the huge houses in the US. Same all through Europe. Not many need anything beyond a playbar in truth. It delivers better sound than the TV. THAT is the point behind it! I have a Sony A1 UHDTV and it has some pretty decent sound delivery through the screen. But the Playbar is still way better.

I just don’t want to buy it now and they introduce a new one next month. That’s all. But if they do, they need to change the Plsybase .. then perhaps everything else with HDMI and God knows what. It’s going to start to look messy. Sonos was about simplicity.

All I want for Christmas is a new updated connect (ConnectHD?) that allows you to connect digital sources via HDMI and decodes dolby/atmos/dts/MA-HD/LPCM as well as wirelessly, AptX/airplay/chromecast for playback on existing Sonos speakers, as well as perhaps a new PlaybarHD that can do height channels via DSP and be combined with existing sonos speakers for rears/surrounds.
I expect it will just be socks though.

All streamers are going to be supporting everything you throw at them, why SONOS doesn't jump ahead is ridiculous. Their argument that their customers only stream is also ridiculous. The day I bought my playbar i also made sure to buy a frickin bluray to have best quality possible. Its ridiculous to drop almost 2k on a living room full of sonos to not have features i'd get in a $200 receiver (at least for DTS anyhow). If you only support DTS or some form of atmos with 5.1 systems that'd be fine. I'll definitely be waiting to upgrade other viewing rooms until full support is available.

All streamers are going to be supporting everything you throw at them, why SONOS doesn't jump ahead is ridiculous. Their argument that their customers only stream is also ridiculous. The day I bought my playbar i also made sure to buy a frickin bluray to have best quality possible. Its ridiculous to drop almost 2k on a living room full of sonos to not have features i'd get in a $200 receiver (at least for DTS anyhow). If you only support DTS or some form of atmos with 5.1 systems that'd be fine. I'll definitely be waiting to upgrade other viewing rooms until full support is available.

But the question is, the sound that it delivers already, is it not sufficient? I mean, thrown all your DTS and God knows what else that is down converted somehow somewhere along the way, but are you so unhappy with what you actually hear? What do you actually want to hear that is so different than you already hear? Will the dialog be crisper, will the surround effects be cleaner or more special. Do Sonos need a playbar that delivers anything other than it already delivers.

I was looking at a high quality retailer in the UK (John Lewis) and their most popular selling soundbar is .. Sonos Playbar. Given all the hoo-hah from reading here about how everyone wants Atmos, DTS.. do the numbers really support this?

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electricals/dvd-blu-ray-home-cinema-soundbars/soundbars/_/N-7htc?intcmp=cp_ele_dvdbluray_smbl1_top_soundbars_x261017

There are many soundbars listed. Bose is currently out of stock but even when it wasn’t, it was knowhere in its listing to Sonos.

I just wonder if a lot of you are actually aware of the actual marker and what the majority of people want. If people were that bothered about the latest buzzword then it would show in the listings of popularity. It shows Sonos IS exactly what customers want and remains top selling without the need to be the latest to list features the majority care little about.

DTS licenses Play-Fi, a direct competitor to SonosNet. For Sonos to license DTS would be supporting its competitor. Not something they are likely to do without compelling business reasons. Especially considering Sonos is focused on streaming, and DTS is primarily available on disks.

Personally, I find the sound effects on modern movies to be a huge distraction from the dialogue, and have little use for all these sound processing systems. Give me a movie with a great story, skip all the effects, please.

Is it not the case that regardless of all these old, new and wonderful formats that even though sonos does it things “it’s own simple way” .. are the results not sufficient?.

No. It’s not sufficient for a $1700 home theater system. Not even close.

If your main criteria is “better sound than the tv” there are a host of options at less than half the price that Support modern audio codecs.

Sonos just should not be calming this as a home theater solution. It’s fine for wireless, stereo audio, but is still many times the cost of similar offerings.

All streamers are going to be supporting everything you throw at them, why SONOS doesn't jump ahead is ridiculous. Their argument that their customers only stream is also ridiculous. The day I bought my playbar i also made sure to buy a frickin bluray to have best quality possible. Its ridiculous to drop almost 2k on a living room full of sonos to not have features i'd get in a $200 receiver (at least for DTS anyhow). If you only support DTS or some form of atmos with 5.1 systems that'd be fine. I'll definitely be waiting to upgrade other viewing rooms until full support is available.

But the question is, the sound that it delivers already, is it not sufficient? I mean, thrown all your DTS and God knows what else that is down converted somehow somewhere along the way, but are you so unhappy with what you actually hear? What do you actually want to hear that is so different than you already hear? Will the dialog be crisper, will the surround effects be cleaner or more special. Do Sonos need a playbar that delivers anything other than it already delivers.

I don’t think you understand how audio processing and decoding works in a multi-speaker setup.

Just because sound is coming from all the speakers does not mean anything.

Additionally, listening to an MP3 vs a hi-res audio file is not the same.

That is effectively what is happening here. Scaled-down version of the audio at best and no audio whatsoever at worst. That is not acceptable.

I have an LG 65E7P OLED as well as a Sonos Playbar, Sub and two Play 5s in my living room. Now that I have a TV which supports Dolby Atmos, and content is becoming available I really want a Playbar that supports Atmos (as well as the other formats currently missing). I've been considering the Yamaha YSP-5600, but love the quality of the sound I get through Sonos and the streaming. Sonos, please sort it out... you're seriously falling behind. I've heavily invested in your products, but people like me will start finding better options if you don't innovate.

^ but what about the very people that buy Sonos because ifs SIMPLE. Surely these outweigh you guys desiring ATMOS and the necessity to have 50 speakers situated around your room. To be honest, it’s ridiculous. It’s neved going to take off beyond 5.1 which is more than enough for people who want better sound sound than a TV. However many years in, I can’t think of that many friends who even having 5.1. Yet here you are talking as if ATMOS warning buyers are keeping Sonos afloat. No, simple design and good sound for better than your TV is. Sure, they can uodste if.. but let’s be reasonable about who it’s aimed at to begin with.