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teamjim
Contributor I
December 29, 2018

Beam + .... Sub or 2x Play:1

Got a Beam. It sounds much thinner than my LG bar+sub that was 1/3 price 3 years ago. Quite disappointing really. I know it doesn’t have a sub, but considering it’s 3 times the price I’d expect it to be better.

So now I need to either return it or bulk it up with a sub or 2x play:1. Which is better? I’m guessing the sub, but it seems even more overpriced than the beam. I could get 5 play:1’s for the price of one sub 😞
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    7 replies

    Chris
    Chris
    Lead Maestro
    December 29, 2018
    Yes I was disappointed in the beam as a stand alone speaker.

    Your cheapest alternative would be trade the beam for the Playbar or Playbase (much better sound).

    As far as next step from Beam - if music a priority I would go a pair of Play:1s. The 3 together in full mode for music are really good.

    If TV sound is priority a Sub will add a lot to the Beam.
    Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
      keeper
      Enthusiast I
      December 29, 2018
      Ive just added a Beam with 2 Play 1s, very happy with it, no sub required.
      teamjimAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 30, 2018
      Do the 2 surrounds manage to add any bass in some way. I am leaning towards the 2 surrounds due to being nearly 1/4 price of a single sub, but my wife would notice the surrounds lol
      keeper
      Enthusiast I
      December 30, 2018
      From what I’ve listened to I would say the base is coming from the Beam rather than the surrounds.
      Blink44
      Contributor I
      December 30, 2018
      I just replaced a Samsung soundbar and sub with a beam and 2 play 1’s. I admit when I first set up the beam alone it sounded a bit thin but turn up the bass in the app and add 2 play 1’s I’m completely blown away. Genuinely see no need for a sub especially at that price. Honestly couldn’t be happier with the 5.0 system running on the beam
      teamjimAuthor
      Contributor I
      December 30, 2018
      Nice. Do you play mainly music or movies? And is that with the surrounds on full or surround mode
      Blink44
      Contributor I
      December 30, 2018
      Mainly tv and movies. Gave it a good test run watching Jason Bourne on Netflix and with the Liverpool arsenal game last night and both sounded amazing. I have the 2 play 1’s set as rear surround speakers so 5.0 setup and as I said i cranked up the bass in the sonos app eq settings and honestly couldn’t be happier with it
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