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larryj2112
Contributor I
Jul 19, 2018 11:34 PM UTC

I love my new Beam, but I think I need a new TV now...

I preorded the beam and I love it. Couple issues I am having a hard time understanding and I think it is my cheap-o TV. My Vizio M65-E0 4k HDR TV only has 1 4K input which is also the only input that supports ARC. Now, I currently have it set up using the provided HDMI to TOSLINK cable and it sounds great but I am not getting any sound from my two rear Play 1's when watching TV. No audio at all. So i figured I would sacrifice the PS4 and the DirecTV box and only use the XBOX One X for my 4k. Well, since the beam doesn't have a passthrough, I don't think I can even do that. Just making sure I am not missing something here. For now I think I am stuck with the current setup I have. At least untill I can get a new TV with more HDMI input options.
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1 reply

Edward R
Edward R
Retired Sonos Staff
Jul 31, 2018 2:27 PM UTC
Hi, larryj2112. The rears not working during TV is normal, unless you happen to be watching television encoded in 5.1. In order to do what it is that you appear to want, using the Sonos software, you would need to remove the surround speakers from the 5.1 setup. Following this, you could set them up as a separate stereo pair, then group this to the room that the PLAYBAR is in. You would then get the TV's sound in stereo from the rears. There may be some drops or a slight delay, however, as the signal travels over a different frequency, as when compared to these speakers being used as part of your surround system.

Grouped speakers use a 2.4GHz signal, whereas surround speakers use 5GHz. The reason for this is that 5GHz is less prone to interference and is capable of sending more information, with greater reliability. As the TV audio is uncompressed, this is essential.

The pitfall of 5GHz is that it can only be used over a comparatively short distance, which is fine for a surround system- not so much for multi-room audio. Hope this makes sense.

If your system is behaving fine in every other respect, I may have just saved you some money in saying that you do not need a new television.
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