Next Generation Playbar! 2017

No indication this is in the works, and Sonos wouldn't say if it was.

They should it is the reason why I have not purchased a playbar. Looking for a 5.1 that has wireless sournd speakers without having to go through tv. I would probably settled for hdmi playback from tv rather than optical.

They should it is the reason why I have not purchased a playbar. Looking for a 5.1 that has wireless sournd speakers without having to go through tv. I would probably settled for hdmi playback from tv rather than optical.

I held off buying a playbar for years due to no HDMI - but I bought one last week and regret not picking one up earlier. I love this thing, turns out I don't actually need HDMI, not having it simplified things for my set up.

Anyway, I urge you to try it out (buy from Sonos, return it if you don't like it) - personally I think the whole package out weighs not having HDMI.

I'm not sure how you "simplified your setup" unless you removed your devices? HDMI is easy and a universal standard for hi def sound and video. Unfortunately won't be interested until that capability becomes a reality. I hope they redesign the playbar or come up with another system to use play 1s as suround on a standard receiver. That would be worth every peny.

I'm not sure how you "simplified your setup" unless you removed your devices? HDMI is easy and a universal standard for hi def sound and video. Unfortunately won't be interested until that capability becomes a reality. I hope they redesign the playbar or come up with another system to use play 1s as suround on a standard receiver. That would be worth every peny.

I was skeptical too. But Taking the receiver out of the equation was huge-, dumping it and the old 5.1 speakers, speaker cables, switching inputs to turn on and play music with a connect, even with a universal remote it wasnt easy for others in my house to manage. Freaking cable mess, clutter, having to manage it, space it took up. Gone, good riddance. Kicker is the playbar sounds so good.

HDMI still goes to the TV, so HD video- I dont worry about the sound format - DTS, DTS-HD or whatever, my sources convert it for me to DD5.1 automagically. Like i said, simple.

Sounds like its not for you though if you want hdmi on your sound bar. Why not pick up a different brand and add a connect for sonos zone?

Condensing your sound field is not what you want which is the limitation of a optical connection. As someone who both owns and sells this product a update is much needed. A HDMI connection allows for two way communication between both products limiting the need for the extra remote or using a universal. HDMI will also allows for increased soundbfields or channels 5.2, 7.1, 7.2. The current 5.1 with an entra sub or a pair of play 1, 3 or 5's up front would sound top level. The increased sound channels will help with the desired dome effect for movies. For music the performance increase would be noticeable on all levels

I am uncertain if Sonos will ever go towards augmenting the current abilities of 5.1 to 5.1/7/1/7.2 I/

To be clear, I'm on record as saying the SoundBar needs to have an update in the future to incorporate an HDMI input... but the way my 2 home theatre audio systems (5.1 and 3.1) augment my home *audio* systems makes it a clear winner for functionality and delivering on the theatre experience.

Given the amount of *noise* I have seen on this forum from people expecting different audio from simple surrounds (that are actually working properly), it has led me to wonder if any serious amount of market share will ever actually consider anything else beyond 5.1. For the record... I don't believe so.

Sadly, I agree with SHARKB8T. While there are a lot of us who are fairly vocal here on these boards, I'm not convinced that a true upgrade to the PlayBar to include HDMI inputs and a true 7.1 speaker system would garner a significant increase in market share for Sonos. Which is sad, as I'd really like it to occur. And hopefully, we're both wrong, and some smart marketing person over there is pushing the case (or has already done so, successfully). However, I suspect implementing such would be a fairly intrusive change to manufacturing. Do they need to license the HDMI tech? Or DTS, or Atmos, or whatever, in order to make such a device? What's the correct number of HDMI inputs and outputs? And how much change would there be to the current production line that makes the Playbar in order to make these changes? How many new items would need to be sold in order to pay for all of these things?

I think it's not as easy a decision for them as I'd like it to be.

For me, the main issue is not wanting HDMI for 7.1 but for 5.1 support. The problem, as the Playbar sits today is two folds:

1) It relies on the TV to pass 5.1 though optical, and not all TVs do this. And not all TV manual tell you this. Either someone has tried it or you have to buy the TV and try it yourself. If the TV does not pass 5.1, then you will get Stereo. Since I already owned my playbar, when I upgraded my TV two years ago, I made sure the new TV passed 5.1 through optical. If I were to buy the playbar today and not knowing what my TV will do, I would skip the playbar.

2) TV's will pass AC3 (Dolby Digital) and DTS through optical. Yes, optical has the bandwidth to support DTS...but playbar doesn't support/decode DTS. The new optical standard now even supports 7.1 compress bandwidth...google it.

For me...ok, keep the optical, no problem. But add DTS support...heck, for playbar Gen 2, add Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD 7.1 support. It is not a bandwidth issue...can't think of anything else but a license issue.

Sonos make speakers to make money. The product does not meet your requirements, therefore you are not the target market. When the extra revenue from an upgrade increases profit more than alternative uses for the development resource, Sonos will do it. If that point ever comes.