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amfnyc
Enthusiast I
November 25, 2018

Connect Sub to Multiple Groups?

In my living room I currently have a stereo pair of Play5 for music. I'd like to add a Beam just for the TV. I'm also considering adding a sub. Is there any way to have the sub work with both the Play5s and the Beam depending on which is active? I'm assuming the answer is no, but I thought it would be worth asking.
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    Jonj77
    Lyricist I
    January 20, 2024

    I’m not quite sure why this wouldn’t be doable. The sub is playing a signal. What difference does it make if that signal is coming from the TV in a 5.1 setup, or from the wi-fi to play music w/ a stereo pair.

     

    I’m new to the Sonos world, and I do love the sound, but the limitations in the configurations are perplexing. The advantage of a wireless set-up should be massive amounts of flexibility.

     

    I have to imagine that if a company like Apple made similar products, they would be enormously more customizable (although probably only when using Apple devices!).

    jgatie
    jgatie
    January 20, 2024

    I’m not quite sure why this wouldn’t be doable. The sub is playing a signal. What difference does it make if that signal is coming from the TV in a 5.1 setup, or from the wi-fi to play music w/ a stereo pair.

     

    I suggest you read the thread.  Especially the posts about the reconfiguration of the radios which occurs when a Sub is added to a room.

      Jonj77
      Lyricist I
      January 20, 2024

      I’m not quite sure why this wouldn’t be doable. The sub is playing a signal. What difference does it make if that signal is coming from the TV in a 5.1 setup, or from the wi-fi to play music w/ a stereo pair.

       

      I suggest you read the thread.  Especially the posts about the reconfiguration of the radios which occurs when a Sub is added to a room.

      I read the thread, I just don’t buy that explanation. Maybe I’m wrong, but I work professionally in tv and film, and it just seems like it should be doable.

      Like, if a mixer is mixing a video, they definitely have the flexibility to play back audio either as 5.1 or 2.0 and still make use of a sub in both scenarios while using all the same speakers. There’s definitely less flexibility in the sonos system.

      Maybe there’s a hardware limitation, but it seems like more of a software/programming limitation to me. It shouldn’t be that complicated.

      It seems like a feature they’d be able to build if they wanted to.

      jgatie
      jgatie
      January 20, 2024

      I read the thread, I just don’t buy that explanation. Maybe I’m wrong, but I work professionally in tv and film, and it just seems like it should be doable.

      Like, if a mixer is mixing a video, they definitely have the flexibility to play back audio either as 5.1 or 2.0 and still make use of a sub in both scenarios while using all the same speakers. There’s definitely less flexibility in the sonos system.

      Maybe there’s a hardware limitation, but it seems like more of a software/programming limitation to me. It shouldn’t be that complicated.

      It seems like a feature they’d be able to build if they wanted to.

       

      You don’t buy objective facts?  As stated before:  The connection to a Sub or surrounds is a special ad hoc one way 5GHz direct connection.  Which is why it takes time to reconfigure the radio and perform the handshake necessary for this special connection.  Also, it's simply not possible to have two of these direct connections at once to a single sub.

      These are facts, not an “explanation”.  Disagreeing with them is like disagreeing water is wet.  Also, comparing them to a fully wired system isn’t apples and oranges, it’s apples and satellite dishes.

      In addition, I find it telling that the Sonoseqncer app does all sorts of things the Sonos app doesn’t - pair unlike models, set levels across groups, set levels across all speakers, etc.  One thing it does not do is quickly and easily switch a Sub from one configuration to another, or have it bonded to more than one room at once.   If it is “more of a software/programming limitation” the rule breaking people behind the Sonoseqncer app probably would have done it by now. 

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