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Trending Lyricist I
January 14, 2017
Answered

How to switch/share Play:5 speakers between stereo pair and surround speakers for playbar (& back)?

I have a pair of Play:5's (gen2) that I use a a stereo pair for listening to music and I have a Playbar attached to the TV that I use for normal TV viewing.

On occasion of watching a movie (a couple of times per month), I would like to use the Play:5's as a Surround Sound pair attached to the Playbar.

This will involve me physically moving them and re-configuring them within Sonos (so it is not something I do often), but how do I go about doing this (ie un-configuring the stereo pair and re-configuring them as Playbar Surrounds) and then also putting them back as a Stereo pair afterwards?

Rgds

Gary
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jgatie
jgatieAnswer
January 14, 2017
It's all done via the Playbar settings menu. Add Surrounds menu to add, Remove Surrounds to remove.

13 replies

Lyricist I
March 16, 2018
Bump -- I want to use my two Play-1's as Surround speakers for my PlayBar/Sub when watching a movie, and then EASILY transition them back into a Stereo Pair (separate room) when I'm not watching a movie and listening to music.

Right now, to switch between "movie mode" and "music mode" I need to remove the surrounds, re-add the stereo pair (walking around pressing buttons on the speakers), re-tune them with the sonar sounds, etc.

And then I have to go through the same laborious process to switch back to "movie mode" -- add them as surrounds to the PlayBar, go press buttons on the top of each speaker, go through the sonar sounds as I re-tune them for the room, etc.

I just want the system to remember my two configurations and let me switch easily between them.
Lyricist I
December 19, 2018
I'm new to SONOS and haven't set anything up yet. Like a lot of other people here, I want true stereo for my music and surround sound for the tv. And I don't want the hassle of moving/switching things around. Here's what I THINK will work for me. Please let me know if I'm messed up: Set up my Soundbar, Sub, and two Ones (rear) for surround sound.
Two Fives (L & R) in front for music set to Full for stereo. I can "bond" the Fives and the Sub in the app calling them something like Living Room Music, and "bond" the Soundbar, Sub, and Ones calling them Living Room Surround. Will that work? I'm worried the Soundbar will play all the time, even when I just want two Fives in a music set up.
Airgetlam
December 19, 2018
So, the 5.1 system would be one "room" in the Sonos software, the two PLAY:5s would be a second "room".

But no, it's not that easy (not impossible, just a lot of keystrokes) to swap the SUB between being bonded with the two PLAY:5s and the Soundbar. That may be why they use the term "bonded" for the connection of the SUB to the speakers. It's intended to be semi-permanent.

But, having said that, you might be able to get away with that, depending on your ears and the kind of music you listen to. I have a pair of PLAY:5s in my kitchen, and they do an excellent job with bass. I keep my SUB bonded to my PLAYBAR.

As I suggest, it's not impossible to switch the SUB between the two, it's just kind of a pain. You could try the process, listen to all of the setups as you do, and figure out which configuration works best for you and your ears.
Bruce