Question

how to best fit audiophile sound into a room with Arc and the full set up?

  • 22 October 2020
  • 10 replies
  • 1353 views
C

I Have an arc, sub and two Sonos ones in my large living room but I miss having a proper audiophile systems. Short of going it alone and getting a connect and loudspeakers, has anyone found a pair of active audiophile level loud speakers, ideally standing, that can be added to the sonos set up? Any ideas on how to get an audiophile experience without just adding another system are welcome. 
 

By audiophile experience I am looking for a really clean sound that is true to recording or source, that I can equalize to have a clear deep bass but an airy high treble and low mid (but clear) sound.  The Sonos system is flattening my tracks and making it hard to equalize, despite the new equalizer. 

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10 replies

K

Unless you define what exactly you mean by an audiophile experience, the answers will be all over the place.

C

Updated to include what i define as audiophile for me. 

K

The problem with even that definition is how subjective it is.

Seeing the ridiculous amounts I have spent on audiophile kit in decades thankfully gone by, I claim to be an ex audiophile where spending silly money is concerned. But I do know what that kind of kit sounds like, and I have no problem listening all day to my play 1 pair+ Sub or Connect Amp + Quad speakers that is now in place at home. I feel no diminution of sound quality from the music I listen to.

By the way, one irony - many audiophiles look at things like equalizers with disdain, as something that corrupts the “virgin” signal from the source. Hogwash, but something to note.

I have used Sonos True play tuning on the 1 pair+ Sub and all I needed to do was boost the Sub output a little - there is no need to even touch the other eq controls, and I get all the bass/airiness etc etc etc that audiophiles love to endlessly talk about.

But in your case, here is the thing - for those that are used to listening to music on well set up stereo systems with a front separated speaker pair, the Sonos products configured and set up for TV will never sound as good as a Sonos set up for music alone.

And since you have the kit, try this - move the Sonos Ones out of the surround locations, and place them like a typical stereo speaker pair, preferably on stands. Then move the Sub to somewhere between the two Ones, bond it to the speaker pair, and then run Trueplay on the set up.  Don’t sit further away from the speakers than they are from each other and then listen to music on the set up to be able come to a better assessment of how Sonos can sound while playing well recorded music - stereo or mono. 

It is as audiophile as I need it to be at my place - a subjective opinion of course.   

This experiment should give you insights on next steps.

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I agree with Kumar, and his “experiment” suggestion is a good one. 

When I was younger (and my hearing was better) I had a Linn system costing £lots - pre-amp, multiple amps, bi-amped and bi-wired speakers etc. Linn’s sound is “warm” but was a sound I liked. Other systems were more clinical but to me sounded to harsh. Over the years my hearing deteriorated for many reasons not worth going into. 


I bought into Sonos mostly for its multi-room capability. But I preferred it’s sound over Bose and other systems I auditioned. But (sorry, Sonos) I wouldn’t consider their kit to be “audiophile”. It is very good for the price, and I’m very happy with the sound. I’ll be buying more kit soon. But the One SL for £179 incorporates a set of 2 loudspeakers, 2 amplifiers, the enclosure, a computer, wifi and Ethernet network capability, a contribution towards the cost of the app, a contribution towards R&D costs, and some profit to cover staff wages, etc. So IMHO the “loudspeaker” is hardly in audiophile territory. 

K

But the One SL for £179 incorporates a set of 2 loudspeakers, 2 amplifiers, the enclosure, a computer, wifi and Ethernet network capability, a contribution towards the cost of the app, a contribution towards R&D costs, and some profit to cover staff wages, etc. So IMHO the “loudspeaker” is hardly in audiophile territory. 

Most typical audiophile makes are less than 10% of sales of Sonos, and thus lack the economies of scale that Sonos commands. For the same reasons in the quote, they would be hard put to design, manufacture and market an identical product as the One for less than a few multiples of the price for which Sonos sells it - basic economic realities associated with scale drive that state of affairs.

And a One pair + Sub isn't peanuts for the price at which even Sonos sells the bundle - and the same economies of scale would mean a similar “audiophile” bundle from a small scale maker would be priced at around the USD 4K mark.

But all this is finally just for context - the proof of the pudding is in how the music sounds when this bundle is set up with the same care one would take with the USD 4K “audiophile” set up. All else is irrelevant.

Defining territory as audiophile by just price points isn't a good idea. Especially when the other clever thing that “audiophile” makes do is to price the product a lot higher than needed for profitability, so as to appeal to the elitist in the make up of every audiophile, who firmly believes that for something to sound good it has to expensive. Witness a DAC priced at USD 50K, as a classic example.

C

Thank you. I have installed two Fives. When I had them as a stereo pair they did the job enough, but they are in a large room that also has my tv arc + sub.  When I added it to them, the sound quality significantly diminished for music. I can’t manage to set them up for two uses. For example, I would prefer to use them as a stereo pair when listening to music, and rear channel when using it with the tv. I understand as a stereo pair it would disconnect from the arc and subwoofer, which is fine. 
 

Does anyone know if this is possible?  Thank you again for the suggestions. 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Yes this is possible, but not very practical, because you'd need to set the speakers up (including Trueplay I believe) with every change. When needed for music you'd set the Fives up as as stereo set (in their own room). When needed for surround you'd bond them as surrounds to your soundbar.

You can choose the Five's to emit full stereo when playing from Sonos (i.e. not TV) sources. have you tried that?

C

How can I choose the Fives to emit full stereo sound when playing from Sonos, but connected as rear surrounds when playing from the tv.? I can’t find that option, just the ability to increase their volume when music is playing and decrease the arc. 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Go to System-Name of your soundbar-Audio from surrounds (or such, my system is in Dutch).

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

You already have them set to Full rather than Ambient, but move the Music slider to the right to bias music sound to come from the Fives rather than the Arc. This only affects the front/rear balance when input is “not tv”. 

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