Home Theater and Television Recommendation Megathread


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Looking for information on Sonos home theater setups? Find answers about surround sound, Dolby Digital, TV recommendations, and all the rest to get the best possible theater experience on Sonos here. We’ll keep this thread up to date with your recommendations for TVs and other devices as well.

How to get the most out of this thread:


Read through the starter posts to get caught up on the basics including what to get and how to get set up. If you’re looking for something specific, check out all of the content below. If you have a question not covered in the starting posts or covered in one of our FAQs feel free to ask. Please see the posting guidelines below for getting the best help.

This thread isn’t intended for troubleshooting problems so those posts may be moved to a new thread if posted here.

Posting guidelines


What are you looking for? Describe your question the best you can.
Include all the details you can about your current setup or what you’re planning to do.
The following are great pieces of information to include as well:
TV model:
Peripherals (what sources of audio/video you’re using):
What Sonos components do you have or are you looking to get?
Description of how your home theater is connected:


Contents: Looking for something specific?


Community Recommendations for TVs, Blu-ray players, and HDMI switches
Questions about peripherals such as the Apple TV

What is the best Sonos home theater experience?


The Sonos home theater experience starts with Beam, Playbar, or Playbase and gets amped up with a SUB and surround speakers. The best experience you can have is when the players are getting a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal and the surrounds are properly configured. You can use your remote control or your voice to adjust the volume of the speakers. And when you go to play music, you should get the sound you want to hear from all of your speakers.

The Basics of Sonos 5.1


A Beam, Playbar, or Playbase is the center of our home theater experience. Picking the right one will depend on your room’s layout, and what you’re looking to use.

On size, Playbar and Playbase are larger than Beam. You can use the Playbase below your TV, or wall mount a Playbar above or below the TV. Beam is a more compact speaker and can fit almost anywhere.

Playbar and Playbase have more drivers and produce louder sound with more width and bass than Beam. Beam is optimized for small to mid-sized rooms, whereas Playbar and Playbase are capable of filling large spaces.
Sonos Beam is the first Sonos speaker for home theater that supports voice control, but you can use Sonos Ones as surrounds with a Playbase or Playbar to bring some voice control to the setup. Beam also uses HDMI-ARC to connect to your television and supports CEC to work with your existing remote, while the other two use Digital Optical connections.

Playbase and Beam both support AirPlay 2. In order to get Airplay 2 with your Playbar, you'll need to have an AirPlay 2 compatible Sonos player in a separate room (not bonded as surrounds) that you group with your Playbar.

For steps on setting up a Playbar or Playbase, please see the directions here. We also have all the requirements you might need to know about listed here.

You can use a pair of Play:1, Sonos One, Play:3, or Play:5 gen2 units as rear surround speakers. The Connect:Amp can also be bonded as surround speakers with by following the directions here. Don’t forget the Sub, which can be tucked into corners, placed under a seat, or made a room decoration for some deep glass rattling bass.

Choosing which speakers are the correct surrounds to use with your Beam, Playbar, or Playbase depends on your home and what size room you’re looking to fill. Usually the Play:1s work great, but if you’ve got a large room in need of filling Play:3 or Play:5 gen2s may be needed. Take a look here for details on setting up surround sound for Sonos, which includes where to put your surrounds.

Make sure you don’t hang your Playbar upside down accidentally.

TV Basics


Your TV should have the onboard speakers turned off, and the audio settings set to pass Dolby Digital 5.1 to the optical output if possible. For more on selecting a TV please see here.

Checking Surround Sound


Standard configuration for Sonos home theater has the TV wired to the Playbar or Playbase with an optical connection, or HDMI-ARC to your Beam. Now it gets a little more technical, but stick with us. First, you need a source that is playing the Dolby Digital 5.1 format. Which is then being passed to the Sonos home theater device.

For the standard setup, your TV should pass Dolby Digital 5.1 to your Sonos over optical when you’re watching something with that format. If your TV is doing this you’re all set.

So how do you check that you’re getting 5.1 on Sonos? The system will tell you what’s playing under the About Sonos screen from any controller. Check under the name of the Beam, Playbar, or Playbase within Settings > About my Sonos System. If the line “Audio In:” shows “Dolby Digital 5.1” you’ll know you’re done. If it shows Stereo PCM there’s a few things to check out.

Getting Dolby Digital to Sonos


There’s a series or things to check if you’re seeing Stereo instead of Dolby Digital. First off, is the starting audio format in Dolby Digital? Where is the audio you’re trying to play coming from? Are you sure that it’s in Dolby Digital 5.1?

Next, you’ll need to check that every device touching that audio source is capable of passing it as well untouched. If it’s a cable box passing the signal over HDMI to your TV for example, make sure your TV is capable of sending Dolby Digital from HDMI over the optical. For the Beam, the TV should automatically convert a Dolby signal to Dolby Digital 5.1 as Beam will use a handshake over HDMI-ARC to request the right format. Dolby Atmos or Dolby Digital Plus are compatible with Dolby Digital 5.1.

Note: In some TV manuals you may see a line that Dolby Digital is only passed for “Over the Air” sources which are the built in apps on the TV and doesn’t include HDMI sources.

If one of your devices doesn’t pass Dolby Digital 5.1 through, you may want to consider using a non-standard setup. The community has recommendations for HDMI switchers which can receive all of your HDMI devices and pass the audio to a Playbar or Playbase through optical, while sending the video to the TV through HDMI.

Audio Formats


You might encounter the following sound formats from most home theater devices: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, and Stereo PCM. The Playbar is compatible with all of these audio formats except for DTS and Dolby Digital Plus.

Dolby Digital is our 5.1 surround sound format for the Playbar. If your TV delivers a Dolby Digital format to the Playbar or Playbase, you’ll be getting surround sound.

The Stereo/PCM format will be decoded into a left front and right front channels and we’ll make a matrixed center, right rear, left rear, and subwoofer channel from the audio signal to play out of all players.

DTS is an audio format most commonly found on Blu-ray discs. It’s uncommon for this format to reach the Playbar as it would need to be passed unaltered through the player into the TV, and then back out through optical to Sonos. If this happens, the Playbar or Playbase will not play any audio as DTS is not a supported format. Please see below on transcoding a DTS signal.

Transcoding a DTS signal


Sonos home theater devices do not support the DTS format. If you watch to a lot of Blu-ray discs or are getting DTS-encoded audio passed through to Sonos, there are some suggestions you can work with. You’ll need to use a device in the middle which can transcode that audio to a different signal. Ideally, you’ll want to get it into Dolby Digital 5.1.

Certain Blu-ray players are capable of converting DTS to Dolby Digital output during playback already. Examples of models capable of this are the Samsung BD-F6500, Samsung BD-F5900, and Samsung BD-F5700. The easiest solution if your only DTS source is from these discs is to check if your Blu-ray player can support on the fly conversion. If it doesn’t, you might consider picking up one that does.

Some gaming systems can also do this transcoding, such as the Xbox One and the PlayStation4 both can. Directions for setting this up for each device is linked to their names.

Note that even when converting from DTS, the television still must be capable of passing Dolby Digital signal to the Beam, Playbar, or Playbase or the end result will be stereo PCM. The community has recommended using HDMI switchers instead if the TV isn’t capable of supporting Dolby Digital. See some of those recommendations and more here.

Choosing a Television Set


Choosing a TV can be tricky, there are a lot of options and you just want something that will work. For TVs to work best with Sonos, the most important thing is for them to be able to pass Dolby Digital audio from both HDMI and over the air sources to the optical connection. It’s also best if you have an IR remote control for the volume commands, universal remotes work great, but more on that in a bit.

There is a great list of TVs here made by the community of TVs they’ve used before. We don’t recommend any particular TV brand ourselves as many work great, but we’ll highlight some of the most popular community recommendations below, to see them  click here.

When you’re setting up that TV, you can check under Audio Settings to make sure it is set to pass Dolby Digital through the optical connection if that’s an option.

If your TV doesn’t have enough HDMI ports for your sources, doesn’t have an Optical output, or doesn’t pass Dolby Digital from HDMI or over the air sources you may consider using an HDMI Switch or Optical Converter for the HDMI signals. This is a device that you can wire your sources into, and it’ll have an audio output for the Playbar with an HDMI output for the TV to get video from. We have some community recommended devices listed here.

Remote controls


The Playbar has an infrared sensor which can read signals from most TV remotes. It doesn’t support Bluetooth or RF commands, though your remote might also have an IR blaster which can be placed in front of the Playbar’s receiver. The remote setup guides you through the process of teaching your Playbar to recognize your remote. This can be found under Room Settings > Playbar > TV Settings > Remote Setup.

How to remove on-screen volume messages


During setup, you’ll want to turn the onboard speakers for the TV off so you don’t get any strange echoes. Some TVs will display a notification on the screen when they register the volume commands and the built-in speakers are off.

If you are getting this message there are a couple things you can do to prevent this. Here’s a page with some suggestions for getting around this notification message.

Generally, the way to go if the TV doesn’t have a setting to turn off the message is to program a universal remote with different commands for the volume. The TV won’t recognize these as commands for the volume, but the Sonos home theater device will. Volume changes, no on-screen message.

Another way around this, which works with a lot of TVs, uses the TV’s headphone jack if it has one. Most TVs will mute their speaker output when the headphone jack is engaged. Plug anything into that port and leave the TV’s speakers turned on within the settings. You won’t hear anything from them, but you won’t get an error on screen either. What you plug in doesn’t need to have a pair of headphones on them. You can cut off the end of a plug from anything, even if it doesn’t work.

Advanced Audio Playback Options


Within the Sonos Controller, you can find some advanced playback settings for Sonos home theater. There are two playback modes that can be toggled from the playing screen which can be useful: Night Sound and Speech Enhancement.

Speech Enhancement makes TV dialog easier to hear. Touch the icon on your Sonos controller’s Now Playing screen to turn this setting on or off.

Night Sound adjusts the audio when you need things a little quieter, it still maintains proper balance and range. At lower volumes, quiet sounds are enhanced and the intensity of loud sounds is reduced. Touch the icon on your Sonos controller’s Now Playing screen to turn this setting on or off.

Inside your Room Settings for the Beam, Playbar, or Playbase are two additional options.
Music playback which allows you to choose between two settings for the surround speakers:
1. Ambient: Default option; subtle, ambient sound.

2. Full: Enables louder, full range stereo sound.

Selecting Full has the surround speakers playing stereo along with the center home theater device when you have a music source playing, this has no effect when playing TV.

TV Dialog
Audio Delay (Lip Sync) is used to increase or decrease the sound delay if the video is behind the audio.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

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Community Recommended Devices


Sonos doesn’t make any specific recommendations for TVs, but there have been some good ones suggested on the community which work great with the Playbar and Playbase. Here is a list of TVs that pass Dolby Digital 5.1 from external components and over the air sources. We’ll break some of them down below here based on size. We’ll link you to the recommendation too.

If you’d like to recommend a specific TV which meets these requirements feel free to post it below here. We’ll be updating this list with your recommendations regularly. When leaving a recommendation, please note the following:

To make a TV recommendation:
TV Brand and Model
Does it pass Dolby Digital 5.1 from external components and over the air sources?
Does it have a pop-up on screen when the volume is adjusted?

To make a HDMI or Optical Switcher Recommendation:
Brand and Model
Does it convert any formats such as DTS into Dolby Digital?
What inputs and outputs does it have?
Is it ARC compatible?
Do you need to use a remote control to adjust the input?


Your TV Recommendations for Playbar and Playbase

39 inch and under
Sony KDL-32W653A
Sony KDL-37W5500

40 - 45 inch
LG 42LH5000
Philips 42PFL7008
Samsung UE40F8000
Sony KDL-42W653A
Sony 42W805
Toshiba 43U6863DB


46 - 49 inch
Samsung UE48JU7000 - 4k
LG 49UF695 - 4k
LG 49UF770V - 4k
LG 47LM6700
LG 47LV5500

LG 47LH3000
Samsung UE46F6740
Sony Bravia NX713 (KDL-46NX713)
Sony Bravia KDL-50W704A
Sony Bravia KDL50W755C


50-55 inch
LG OLED55B6V - 4k
Philips 55PUT4900 - 4k
Samsung UN55JU7100 - 4k
Samsung UN55KS8000 - 4k
Samsung UE55F9000STXXU - 4k
Samsung UE55JU7000 - 4k
Samsung UE55KS8000 - 4k
Samsung UE55KS9000 - 4k
Samsung UE55JS9000 - 4k
Sony XBR 55X850A - 4k
Philips 55pus7600/12 - 4k. Remote is RF only and doesn’t control Playbar.
LG 55LM6700
LG 55LV5500

LG 55EF9500
Samsung UE55JS9000 - There was an issue with audio content from this TV that should now be resolved. More here.
Sony KDL 50W808C
Sony KDL 55W829
Sony KDL5 5EX720
VIZIO XVT553SV
Panasonic 50-EX700B
Panasonic FZ802B - 4k OLED - 2018

56-59 inch
LG 58UF830v - 4k


60-65 inch
Sony XBR 65X850C - 4k
LG 60UH8500 - 4k
LG 60LM7200
LG 60PM670S
LG 65EF9500
LG OLED 65EG9600
Samsung PN60F8500AF
Samsung PS64F8500
Sony KD65x8508
VIZIO E601i-A3
Sony Bravia OLED XBR65A8F - 4k OLED - 2018

70 inch and above
VIZIO P702ui-B3u - 4k
VIZIO M70-C3 - 4k
Sharp LC-80LE632U
Sony KDL70R550A
VIZIO M701D-A3
VIZIO M801D-A3



HDMI Switcher recommendations from the community:
These switchers may work well with a Playbar or Playbase to get audio from HDMI sources that aren't converting through your TV. They usually have an Optical output to go to your Playbar or Playbase. For Beam, it's more unusual to find an HDMI switcher with ARC for audio, and CEC won't likely work with voice commands. The Beam can use the included optical to HDMI converter to get audio if ARC isn't available.
Octava HD-41
Monoprice ARC version 7974
ViewHD Prosumer HDMI VHD-PRO3X1i


Blu-ray Players that can transcode DTS to Dolby Digital on the fly
Samsung H6500
Samsung F7500
Samsung BDD5500
Samsung BD-F5900
Samsung UBD-K8500 UHD Blu-Ray Player
OPPO 203 UHD Blu-Ray Player
Samsung BD-H6500
 

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Sources and Devices Guide



Here are some devices that we've seen used with great success with Sonos home theater setups in the past. We’ll go into some of the details of how to use them best in each entry. Devices that can transcode DTS into Dolby Digital 5.1 have been marked with an *.

All entries are collapsed and can expand by clicking "Show Content".
Apple TV
The Apple TV can be set up to output Dolby Digital + surround audio to your TV through its HDMI output. The older Apple TVs can also send Dolby Digital + audio directly to your Playbar using the optical output if needed. The newest Apple TV only has an HDMI output so it can’t be wired directly into your Playbar.

The Apple TV’s audio output should be set to Dolby Digital Surround. As long as your TV can pass Dolby Digital 5.1 through its optical port you can enjoy surround sound on your Playbar.

You can use your AppleTV remote to control the Sonos volume as well. Previous versions of the AppleTV came with an IR remote, which can be taught to the Sonos home theater device’s IR sensor in the same way as other remotes.

The Apple TV 4(4th generation) uses a Siri remote which can also be used to control the volume level on your Playbar or Playbase. This remote uses HDMI-CEC technology to automatically recognize your TV so that you do not need to program it in order to control your TV’s volume.

You’ll need another remote control that has already been programmed to control the volume for the TV, not the original remote it came with. Then, on your Apple TV (4th generation), go to Settings > Remotes and Devices > Volume Control. Select Learn New Device. From there you can follow the onscreen directions to program the Siri remote.

Once the Siri remote has the right commands in there, if you haven’t taught the Playbar those same commands yet, you can do so under Sonos Settings > Room Settings > Playbar > TV > Remote.

With Apple TV and AirPlay, you can also send stereo audio right from your Apple TV to a Playbase or Beam.

Amazon Fire TV
The Amazon Fire TV can output Dolby Digital 5.1 if the app running supports this format. We recommend connecting your Amazon Fire TV to your TV using an HDMI cable. As long as your Amazon Fire TV app outputs DD5.1 and your TV can pass DD5.1 through its optical output, your Sonos will play surround. In this configuration you should set the Amazon Fire TV’s audio output to Dolby Digital + over HDMI.

You can also connect the Amazon Fire TV directly to your Playbar or Playbase using the Fire’s optical output if you have a model with that connection. In this configuration you will still get DD5.1 on your Playbar or Playbase if the app you are running supports that format. If the app you’re In this configuration you should set the Amazon Fire TV’s audio output to Dolby Digital over optical.

Please note that some TVs will try to pass Dolby Digital + through the optical unchanged, instead of converting it to Dolby Digital 5.1. If your TV does this, your Playbar or Playbase will not play and you’ll need to adjust the settings of the Amazon Fire TV to PCM instead of Dolby Digital. This may be the case if your Playbar or Playbase is wired directly to your Amazon Fire TV as well.

If you’re using Sonos Ones as surrounds or a Sonos Beam, you can also configure them to control what’s playing on your Fire TV using the steps here. The Fire TV also has Alexa built-in with the remote, and using the Sonos Skill you can use the remote to control your entire Sonos system.

*Blu-ray players
Blu-Ray players can output Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound to Sonos. As long as your media has a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track the Blu-ray player will output that signal to your TV. If your TV passes Dolby Digital 5.1 through its optical port you can enjoy that media in 5.1 on your Sonos home theater.

Some Blu-ray players will also transcode DTS surround sound into Dolby Digital, then output that to your TV. By using one of these Blu-ray players you can enjoy 5.1 surround sound on your Sonos home theater even when the media only outputs in DTS. This thread describes some of the Blu-ray players which can transcode DTS to DD. There’s also a good discussion here around UHD Blu-Ray players that’ll perform this transcoding. We have some recommended from the community here.

Chromecast TV
The Chromecast TV can be set up to send 5.1 audio to your Playbar or Playbase. With the Chromecast TV wired into your TV via an HDMI cable, you can set the audio output to Dolby Digital +. As long as the running app support this format and your TV passes Dolby Digital through its optical output you can enjoy 5.1 surround sound on your Playbar or Playabse.
*Playstation 4
The PlayStation 4 can be configured to output Dolby Digital 5.1. With the PS4 wired into your TV using an HDMI cable, follow this guide to configure the audio output. As long as your TV passes Dolby Digital through its optical output your Sonos home theater will play surround sound from your PS4.

Supports transcoding for Blu-rays with directions on the link above.

Roku
The Roku player can output Dolby Digital + 5.1 to your TV through the HDMI cable. To do so, head into the settings menu then set the audio mode to “Auto” or “Surround sound.” As long as your TV passes Dolby Digital through its optical port the Playbar or Playbase will play in surround sound.
Smart TV apps
Many TVs these days have network connectivity and built in apps which can access your favorite services all on their own. So long as the TV is capable of passing Dolby Digital 5.1 content from over the air sources to optical you should be all set. Keep in mind, some apps don't broadcast or stream in Dolby Digital, so your content audio will vary.
*Xbox One
The Xbox One and Xbox One S can be setup to output Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound to Sonos. Please follow this page has some steps to configure your Xbox One for Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio. You can either connect your Xbox One to your TV via an HDMI cable or connect it directly to your Playbar or Playbase with an optical cable.

Supports transcoding for Blu-rays with directions on the link above.
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Philips 55pus7600/12 passes DD 5.1 through optical. Confirmed.
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Philips 55pus7600/12 passes DD 5.1 through optical. Confirmed.

Thanks for sharing! I'll get it added to the list. Does it have a onscreen popup about the TV speakers disabled when you adjust the volume?
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Unfortenately, the Philips remote doesn't work with the playbar.

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/playbar-doesnt-work-with-rf-philips-remotes-6557773
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Unfortenately, the Philips remote doesn't work with the playbar.

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/playbar-doesnt-work-with-rf-philips-remotes-6557773


Looking over that TV, you're right. It seems it doesn't come with an IR blaster either. The PLAYBAR can only read IR commands for volume outside of our app so using the Philips remote isn't the best experience. I'll make a note above. You probably will want to look into using a universal remote control instead of the native Philips one. Something with RF and IR which can be taught to control both Sonos and your TV.
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This thread is a brilliant idea. Anyone know whether the LG 65EF9500 mentioned here is the same as the LG 65EF950V - I have a feeling one is the US version and one is the UK version. The LG user's manual for the latter appears to confirm it does pass Dolby Digital via optical, but when I asked LG the question they said that the TV "will not output in Dolby", only in PCM. Is this because the manufacturers do not understand their own products?
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This thread is a brilliant idea. Anyone know whether the LG 65EF9500 mentioned here is the same as the LG 65EF950V - I have a feeling one is the US version and one is the UK version. The LG user's manual for the latter appears to confirm it does pass Dolby Digital via optical, but when I asked LG the question they said that the TV "will not output in Dolby", only in PCM. Is this because the manufacturers do not understand their own products?

According to the review here the 65EF950V is the UK version of the TV.

There does seem to be a bit of uncertainty on that TV as to Dolby Digital output on Optical. Looking at this forum thread, it seems the general consensus is that the TV can output Dolby Digital over Optical from over the air and HDMI sources but you may need to enable it under one of the settings.

From there, it looks like the TV should be good. Let us know how it goes.
I'm using a Playbar + 2x Play1 for TV sound, and I can confirm that the LG 49UF770V television passes 5.1 audio by default, from all three HDMI inputs:
1.SkyHD STB
2.LG BP350 Blu-Ray player
3.OSMC on Raspberry Pi

The Sky remote controls the Playbar volume, and when I am changing the volume it brings up a little warning circle on the TV screen, which then goes away when I stop changing the volume.

Before buying the TV I asked LG in the UK about HDMI 5.1 passthrough, and their reply (which wasn't 100% clear) was that all their current models do this. Shops such as Currys and John Lewis couldn't advise, so I ended up buying the TV online and if passthrough hadn't worked I could have returned it.
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I'm using a Playbar + 2x Play1 for TV sound, and I can confirm that the LG 49UF770V television passes 5.1 audio by default, from all three HDMI inputs:
1.SkyHD STB
2.LG BP350 Blu-Ray player
3.OSMC on Raspberry Pi

The Sky remote controls the Playbar volume, and when I am changing the volume it brings up a little warning circle on the TV screen, which then goes away when I stop changing the volume.

Before buying the TV I asked LG in the UK about HDMI 5.1 passthrough, and their reply (which wasn't 100% clear) was that all their current models do this. Shops such as Currys and John Lewis couldn't advise, so I ended up buying the TV online and if passthrough hadn't worked I could have returned it.


Great, I'll get it added above. Just a suggestion, you could try turning the TV speakers back on and plug something into the headphone jack. This should shut off the speakers, but remove the volume message when you adjust it.
Thanks for the suggestion Ryan, I'll give that a try. By the way, this was the email exchange between me and LG - make of it what you will!

Me:
"I am looking for a TV which can output DD 5.1 on the optical output, from any source, internal AND HDMI external. This is to provide sound to a Sonos Playbar. Can you tell me which 4K models can do this please?"

LG's reply:
"...Any of LG's TV's, providing they have a optical port, will output, providing the content that is playing has a rating of 5.1 or higher, at rating of 5.1 also providing that the sound system you are using has a rating of 5.1 or higher..."
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LG have now confirmed to me that the 65EF950V (the UK version of the 65EF9500) does pass Dolby Digital 5.1 via optical when connected to external devices using HDMI.

I have one further question, which I suspect has already been answered somewhere but would be grateful for clarification. If I have a TV that does not pass 5.1 via optical, is there a workaround for getting the TV's internal apps to play 5.1 via the Playbar? I think I have read something about using the TV's HDMI ARC connection to take the audio from the TV to a switch and then to the Playbar. If so, how does that work with (say) Netflix, which outputs Dolby Digital Plus? Is there a switch which can convert Dolby Digital Plus to standard DD?
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Thanks for the suggestion Ryan, I'll give that a try. By the way, this was the email exchange between me and LG - make of it what you will!

Me:
"I am looking for a TV which can output DD 5.1 on the optical output, from any source, internal AND HDMI external. This is to provide sound to a Sonos Playbar. Can you tell me which 4K models can do this please?"

LG's reply:
"...Any of LG's TV's, providing they have a optical port, will output, providing the content that is playing has a rating of 5.1 or higher, at rating of 5.1 also providing that the sound system you are using has a rating of 5.1 or higher..."


Thanks for sharing. We'll hold off on adding the whole LG line to the list above, but from what I've heard their new TVs will all pass Dolby Digital. For older ones, there's a hidden installer menu you can access and turn the Dolby Digital on as well, but there's a bit of a process involved there.
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LG have now confirmed to me that the 65EF950V (the UK version of the 65EF9500) does pass Dolby Digital 5.1 via optical when connected to external devices using HDMI.

I have one further question, which I suspect has already been answered somewhere but would be grateful for clarification. If I have a TV that does not pass 5.1 via optical, is there a workaround for getting the TV's internal apps to play 5.1 via the Playbar? I think I have read something about using the TV's HDMI ARC connection to take the audio from the TV to a switch and then to the Playbar. If so, how does that work with (say) Netflix, which outputs Dolby Digital Plus? Is there a switch which can convert Dolby Digital Plus to standard DD?


That's a good question, looking over the TV you have, I don't know if any of the HDMIs on there can output audio to a switch. Though this sort of setup could work with some TV's, but I'm not sure if yours can handle it. You may be best using another device that has access to the apps you're looking to use instead which can output 5.1.

This thread has a few switches that are community recommended which can convert audio formats, so you can take a look at those.
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For everyone looking for information about TVs that support 5.1 passthrough rtings.com just posted an excellent article about this subject including extensive testing they have done. They have a lot of information about each manufacturer as well as test results for most current TVs. Here's the article:

http://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough
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That is an excellent resource, I just wish there was something similar for the UK. That said, there remains some inconsistencies and the potential for misinformation. For example (and it may be an isolated error), if you look at their review for the Samsung JS8500, the answer is "yes" for all 5.1 pass-through questions. However, in the questions below, someone asks about 5.1 pass-through via optical to a soundbar, and gets the following reply: "Samsung TVs can't do 5.1 passthrough, so yes, you would need to do HDMI".
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That is an excellent resource, I just wish there was something similar for the UK. That said, there remains some inconsistencies and the potential for misinformation. For example (and it may be an isolated error), if you look at their review for the Samsung JS8500, the answer is "yes" for all 5.1 pass-through questions. However, in the questions below, someone asks about 5.1 pass-through via optical to a soundbar, and gets the following reply: "Samsung TVs can't do 5.1 passthrough, so yes, you would need to do HDMI".

We've seen the Samsung JS8500 to pass Dolby Digital 5.1 from HDMI sources over the optical connection. There shouldn't be an issue with that TV playing audio to Sonos. You can go into the settings and manually set the Audio Format to Dolby Digital and HDMI Audio Format to Bitstream.

Moderator Edit: We’ve recently identified an issue with Dolby Digital content coming through the optical on this TV. You can find more information on this issue here.
Considering getting a Soundbar.
Haven't seen any mention of Panasonic Vieras.

Any advice?
Userlevel 7
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Any advice?
Go for the Playbar.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Considering getting a Soundbar.
Haven't seen any mention of Panasonic Vieras.

Any advice?


Most Panasonic Viera TVs work with the PLAYBAR, depending on the year, they can even pass Dolby Digital 5.1 to the PLAYBAR through the optical too. It's worth bringing up here that depending on the model you have, you may need to follow the directions here to turn off the onboard speakers.
Badge +1
The new Panasonic DX900 does pass through the DD5.1 from HDMI, I've just replaced my old Samsung with this, but it has really bad lag which makes it unwatchable. hopefully an update will fix this......ill keep you posted
Great news, thanks for sharing re dx900. Panasonics traditionally haven't passed through ac3 I believe. I've been reading a fair bit about this particular tv so I do hope it gets released in Australia soonish (or at all). You happy with yours? What are you doing until the lag gets fixed? Stereo downgrade or switch?
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Great news, thanks for sharing re dx900. Panasonics traditionally haven't passed through ac3 I believe. I've been reading a fair bit about this particular tv so I do hope it gets released in Australia soonish (or at all). You happy with yours? What are you doing until the lag gets fixed? Stereo downgrade or switch?

The TVs is amazing I previously had the hu8500 with sek-3500 and the dx900 really does blow my old set out of the water. I message Panasonic and they even said that it wouldn't do pass through 5.1 but in the manual it said that it would pass bitstream Dolby from HDMI so it must a new feature for the 2016 models, it's just ashame about the lag, so I'm using a switch box at the moment which I'd bought before hand and it's all working fantastic. Just need a 4K bluray now 🙂
Philips 55pus7600/12 passes DD 5.1 through optical. Confirmed.

Hi Lieven,

I cant confirm. I've got the 55pus7600/12 and a playbar but cannot get any 5.1 signal into the playbar, no matter what input I give it through the pus7600 (TV, youtube, USB). The sonos app always tells me that Audio in is Stereo. In the TV I have disabled the internal speakers and activated Multichannel. Can you please tell me what I have done wrong or how you got 5.1 into the playbar through the pus7600?

Cheers,

bube
Hey guys. I am thinking of picking up a playbar and sub but would like to know if my tv outputs 5.1 because thats where i am going in the near future. My tv is Sony bravia kdl-50w805b. Thanx in advance