Beam and stereo pair
I am wondering if there is any plans to allow a stereo pair to play along with beam rather than rear surrounds,most people don’t have the space to have rear speakers so a front set to widen sound option would be more useful,also if ambients are in stereo in tv playback then why does it switch to mono during music playback
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The Beam already contains the left and right front channels, so I'd be surprised if Sonos introduced a way to including secondary front speakers. That said, allowing for separated front speakers is a common request, whether it includes the Beam/playbar.playbase or not.
As far as your second question, I wasn't aware of that. I have mind set to play full stereo for music playback, instead of ambient audio.
As far as your second question, I wasn't aware of that. I have mind set to play full stereo for music playback, instead of ambient audio.
I realise the beam has left and right channels but I don’t think the spread is very good,being able to extend this via a couple of play 1 or 3 s would be awesome ,
I assume you don’t have ambient speakers then?
Userlevel 7
+20
Hi, sc0gman. The "Full" setting should play on all speakers, too. Have you found this to not be the case? We don't have plans to enable you to permanently bond a stereo pair to a Beam, though I would happily pass on the suggestion for you. You could always have them configured as two separate "rooms" and then group them, of course.
Full does play but it’s not quite right as it is ‘rear’ speakers ,if I group stereo pair wouldn’t there be a delay during tv playback
And my point is if ambients are stereo ,why revert to mono during music playback ,seems odd
It doesn't "revert to mono during music playback". Both the rear surrounds and Beam play in stereo.
Understood, but the Beam is designed to be a soundbar, not just a center channel. If Sonos were going to create a setup with separate front speakers, I expect that they will create a separate center channel speaker for the job. But it's all speculation.
I wasn't trying to suggest that you could use the full stereo setting during TV playback, or that it's the solution for front speakers that you want. It isn't. And yes, there will be a delay if you group a separate stereo pair of speakers (separate room) during TV playback.
My rear speakers have no stereo separation during music playback
I may have to just upgrade to Playbar
Userlevel 7
+22
Rear speakers SHOULD have stereo separation as long as you are feeding it a stereo source
Upgrading to a Playbar is unlikely to resolve your problem.
You could try and fault find the issue yourself by starting with removing the surrounds from the Beam in the controller and then set them up as a new room stereo pair (You don't need to physically move them). Then play a really good stereo track and confirm they are playing in stereo. Add them back as surrounds and set the music playback as "Full" and play the same track. Try it with the "Full" setting switched off. If you are still getting mono then submit a diagnostic and post the number here and/or call Sonos - it's possible some interference issues are causing this or even a hardware fault on the Beam
I’ll try that later and let you know
Is there possibly a setting on my tv which I have set wrong
Userlevel 7
+22
Not Unless the source of the music is the TV or if you’re routing the audio through the TV
Ok took everything off my Sonos,added beam then added 2 play 3’s and now everything in glorious stereo with lots of separation
Is it just my imagination,if I set music playback to full in surround settings when I play music my two play 3’s are much louder than usual,by this I mean max volume is much higher
I just bought a Beam but I haven't realise that I can't have an additional pair of front speakers 😞 I bought it to have a wider stereo sound with better speakers when watching TV and it looks like that it is not made for this. It will have to return it to the shop. I am still a bit confuse while I can't have a central sound from the Beam and stereo from my two Play 3? It seams a waste of an opportunity.
Not sure where you would get that idea as it's made quite clear that you can only connect rears and a sub to the beam. As stated above the beam already contains the front three channels, it would require a completely new system with a dedicated centre speaker and that would then pair with the two play 3's.
Ultimately, that seems highly unlikely and at that point you're better off just getting a receiver based system.
Ultimately, that seems highly unlikely and at that point you're better off just getting a receiver based system.
@vazandrew: It is clear when you install it, I didn't find it clear on the web site but It didn't know what I was looking either.
Anyway, would it be difficult to have the Beam working on mono (central speaker) and have the attached pair doing the stereo? Is that a stupid idea?
Another question: when I am just playing music (spotify) the to Beam+ attached pair/the rear speakers, the music only plays on the Beam and not sound comes out of the pair. Is that normal?
Anyway, would it be difficult to have the Beam working on mono (central speaker) and have the attached pair doing the stereo? Is that a stupid idea?
Another question: when I am just playing music (spotify) the to Beam+ attached pair/the rear speakers, the music only plays on the Beam and not sound comes out of the pair. Is that normal?
It is also made clear on the website.
Again, the beam is already a 3.0 speaker. It can’t suddenly become mono. It would require a completely new speaker that was made to be purely a centre speaker. If you’re looking at better separation then you shouldn’t be getting a Soundbar in the first place and are better off with a receiver and separate speakers.
When playing music, make sure the rears are set to full, rather than ambient, within the sonos app settings (room settings - advanced audio - surround settings)
Again, the beam is already a 3.0 speaker. It can’t suddenly become mono. It would require a completely new speaker that was made to be purely a centre speaker. If you’re looking at better separation then you shouldn’t be getting a Soundbar in the first place and are better off with a receiver and separate speakers.
When playing music, make sure the rears are set to full, rather than ambient, within the sonos app settings (room settings - advanced audio - surround settings)
Thanks vazandrew. I found this https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3335?language=en_US but I haven't try yet.
@SonosManu. You may want to take a look at the Sonos Amp. It connects to the TV in the same way the Beam does, but allows you to use your own wired speakers for front stereo speakers with a phantom center channel. You can play music on it the same way you do with the beam. You can add a sub and surround speakers the same as a Beam as well. The only downside is that it does not have alexa built in, but you can place an echo in the room and accomplish pretty much the same thing.
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