King Living lounges & Sonos collaboration - speaker positioning?

  • 16 December 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 3468 views

King Living (formerly King Furniture), an Australian furniture company has a collaboration with Sonos, where some of their reclining lounges have the option to add speaker brackets for sonos One/Play:1 surround/rear speakers, which are attached to the lounge (the power cord is hidden and attached to the couch electronics), and the center console can also house the sub, so it's fully concealed, inside the lounge.

My question is: Is this good speaker placement for 5:1 surround?

With the surround/rear speakers, I am concerned that because the lounges have 2 recliners, either the left or the right speaker will be very close to the person sitting on either chair, while the other is much further away (the couches vary in width from 2110 to 2670mm). Would it be better to have them on stands, or wall mounted so they are further away from the viewers? This could be tricky in my living room given the shape of it, so the rear speaker brackets on the couch would be a good space saving solution.

As for the sub, my concern is that the fact that it is concealed may impede the sound waves, and also that it is too close to the viewers, which is not ideal, particularly for low frequency sounds.

What does everyone think? I am looking to turn my 2nd living room into a pseudo home theatre, with 4k projector, 120" screen, and 5:1 Sonos sound system, with playbar, sub, and 2 x Play:1/Ones. Can I get away with using the lounge speaker brackets for the surround/rear speakers, and place the sub elsewhere in the room?




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2 replies

Userlevel 4
Badge +6
My Play 1s are placed in a similar postion, somewhat lower, and i find it good. The sub supposedly can go anywhere including under a sofa so their setup for the sub would most likely be OK as well.

Pricey but it looks like it would be a great setup to team with Sonos. Good to know there is the option at least.
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
The surrounds seem like they would be too low and too close to the listener for my liking, but I've never attempted a setup like this before. Dolby recommends that the rear speakers are just above ear height.
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/surround-sound-speaker-setup/5-1-setup.html

Also, with a screen that big, I wonder if the playbar sound will be too narrow? I already find there is barely enough stereo separation for my 55" screen and my Playbase.