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When will we get a new Playbar?! Perhaps in 2018?!
Sonos needs to support the newer audio formats and Atmos. They do that and I'll gladly buy the new playbar (and it appears many other people will do so as well). They don't do that and I'm going to go with a traditional wired system. I love my 5.1 system but I want Atmos at home.



I am happy to have changed my sonos 5.1 to a heos 5.1 after 3 years of work-arounds. I added a connect to the heos (their app sux) so its part of my sonos ecosystem. I think i might swap the heos out for something like samsung hw-k950 with an attached sonos connect.
New home theater Sonos product will be presented June 6 !
A USP that hasn't been sold in 5 years and was replaced by a free controller? I'm not sure you understand the concept of a unique selling point.
Looks good, but Sonos has the USP (for the moment) of a dedicated controller in the form of the CR200 which beats Bluesound's controller Aps.



However if a dedicated controller is of no interest and high quality sound is, then game on!





(PS - Of course the CR100 is better than the CR200 but that is another story!)
Sonos Faces New Competition As 24 Bit Bluesound Slashes Prices



Source:

https://www.channelnews.com.au/sonos-faces-new-competition-as-24-bit-bluesound-slashes-prices/




here in UK hardly any music channels on TV are in 5.1. Sonos' 'pro-logic like' efforts are woefully bad such that the rear speakers are mostly silent (in TV mode) without a 5.1 source - hence the reason you see so many topics by those with a Playbar and 'Play x' rear speakers saying they dont work !




I don't play music channels on my TV. Why would I? I have Sonos. :D


To watch the music videos whilst listening to the music :?
Wonder what Sonos patents this new device infringes on?
Funny, I remember Denon promising Alexa functionality as coming early last year. 😉
Denon announces new HEOS HomeCinema HS2 soundbar



The HS2 has AirPlay, Bluetooth and support for hi-res music, with Alexa functionality coming later in the year.



Denon's latest foray into the home cinema arena comes in the form of the HEOS HomeCinema HS2 - a 4K-compatible soundbar and subwoofer pairing, packed full of features.



Read more at https://www.whathifi.com/news/denon-announces-new-heos-homecinema-hs2-soundbar#3BFETbi5haHuDeId.99
I honestly rare think about whether the audio is coming across in true 5.1 or not. I don't really want to spend much time thinking about. In truth, it sort of makes me feel old because I can't always tell what speaker is producing which sound. I mostly just don't want it sound bad, and it never really does. I want it to be 5.1 if it can, but if it's not, I'm not going to spend any time messing with the configuration.



That said though, I do really like having the full stereo mode for non-tv sources. I do occasionally listen to amazon music through the fire tv as I like the visual feedback though. It would be nice to have the sonos option to switch full stereo in those scenarios, but I doubt I would bother with it. Ideally, and maybe this isn't possible, I'd rather Amazon have a configurable option on the firetv to output the audio in stereo instead of 5.1 when playing music...since it knows when music is playing while the playbar would not. Probably too much to ask for though.




here in UK hardly any music channels on TV are in 5.1. Sonos' 'pro-logic like' efforts are woefully bad such that the rear speakers are mostly silent (in TV mode) without a 5.1 source - hence the reason you see so many topics by those with a Playbar and 'Play x' rear speakers saying they dont work !




I don't play music channels on my TV. Why would I? I have Sonos. 😃
Every one of my TV stations broadcast in 5.1, HDTV in the US requires it, and I don't watch non-HD channels. For the very few that broadcast in 2.0 because the source material is 2.0, there are other modes like Pro-Logic (Sonos says it's mode is Pro-Logic-like) for those who complain (like below) that not all speakers are not in use (not me).



For music, I listen to stereo sources in stereo, I care not a whit about what speakers are in use or not in use, I want the source as recorded.



Agree to disagree.




here in UK hardly any music channels on TV are in 5.1. Sonos' 'pro-logic like' efforts are woefully bad such that the rear speakers are mostly silent (in TV mode) without a 5.1 source - hence the reason you see so many topics by those with a Playbar and 'Play x' rear speakers saying they dont work !
Every one of my TV stations broadcast in 5.1, HDTV in the US requires it, and I don't watch non-HD channels. For the very few that broadcast in 2.0 because the source material is 2.0, there are other modes like Pro-Logic (Sonos says it's mode is Pro-Logic-like) for those who complain (like below) that not all speakers are not in use (not me).



For music, I listen to stereo sources in stereo, I care not a whit about what speakers are in use or not in use, I want the source as recorded.



Agree to disagree.




So they should do full stereo (multichannel stereo) option




If you mean stereo at full volume out of the Playbar/Playbase and the surrounds, it does for music. Set the surrounds to Full in the Settings for the room, and you will get the equivalent of 5 channel stereo for music sources.




What has been asked by many people, already for a long time, is to have the the same 'Full' option for TV audio as exists for music.

Yes, its not going to fit all TV viewing but would be good for music sourced via the TV (music/concert DVD/bluray, music TV channels, youtube etc) and also sporting events.




So the exact opposite of what anyone into home Theater would want.



Got it.




My opinion:



- 80% of people owning an home theater configuration do not listen to 5.1; because of many things: broadcasters not broadcast 5.1, Sonos does not decode 5.1 (just dd), most of the sources are not 5.1, use TV for music listening... And why buy so good and expensivespeakers to let them off most of the time? And developing full stereo is by far more simple than implementing codecs or fake 5.1.



- 50% people live in little flat appartments, not in theaters; they have noises around and not complete silence, they want immersive sound to forget about the noise around. And they cannot turn up the volume too much when they are on the sofa because of the neighbors especially in the evening/night I need to have surround sound as well near my ears.



Do you find it reasonable?

Hope so.



Camillo


Just because receivers can do that. Why would you?



I cannot fathom a use-case for that in a home theater.




pick one of the 50+ a music channels available through satellite TV - why should it matter whether my music is via a sonos music source or a TV source ? the 'Full' option should be available on both sources.



There are many others asking this. see here https://en.community.sonos.com/wireless-speakers-228992/full-stereo-option-when-watching-tv-audio-please-6341426/index1.html



unfortunately the crappy search on this forum does not lend itself to continuing old threads once they have dropped off the bottom of the page new topics are made asking the same thing over and over.



this thread is about a new Playbar/base for 2018 to address the shortcomings of the current one. Im just asking they also include a feature available in every other AV receiver (which is the alternative option to sonos 5.1) on the market today for "Multi Channel Stereo" from any source - not much to ask I think (like DTS/HDMI !)




Just because receivers can do that. Why would you?



I cannot fathom a use-case for that in a home theater.




Never underestimate the ability of the average user to recognize crappy sound. I have seen more than one "Home Theater" where the owner put their surround speakers on top of the entertainment system housing their TV and say it sounds "amazing".




So the exact opposite of what anyone into home Theater would want.



Got it.




many AV receivers have a variety of 'sound modes' - one that many of them feature is "Multi Channel Stereo" which is also what is being asked of Sonos. They have it for Music so why not have it for TV also ? Not sure why you say its "the exact opposite of what anyone into home Theater would want" yet a feature included on almost all AV receivers on the market today !

This is a market sonos are competing in so its not too much to ask for such a feature to be added on Sonos also.

see here https://www.the-home-cinema-guide.com/av-receiver-listening-modes-explained.html for a list of the most common AV receiver brands and their 'sound modes' - all with "Multi Channel Stereo" !




Just because receivers can do that. Why would you?



I cannot fathom a use-case for that in a home theater.




So the exact opposite of what anyone into home Theater would want.



Got it.




many AV receivers have a variety of 'sound modes' - one that many of them feature is "Multi Channel Stereo" which is also what is being asked of Sonos. They have it for Music so why not have it for TV also ? Not sure why you say its "the exact opposite of what anyone into home Theater would want" yet a feature included on almost all AV receivers on the market today !

This is a market sonos are competing in so its not too much to ask for such a feature to be added on Sonos also.

see here https://www.the-home-cinema-guide.com/av-receiver-listening-modes-explained.html for a list of the most common AV receiver brands and their 'sound modes' - all with "Multi Channel Stereo" !




So they should do full stereo (multichannel stereo) option




If you mean stereo at full volume out of the Playbar/Playbase and the surrounds, it does for music. Set the surrounds to Full in the Settings for the room, and you will get the equivalent of 5 channel stereo for music sources.




What has been asked by many people, already for a long time, is to have the the same 'Full' option for TV audio as exists for music.

Yes, its not going to fit all TV viewing but would be good for music sourced via the TV (music/concert DVD/bluray, music TV channels, youtube etc) and also sporting events.




So the exact opposite of what anyone into home Theater would want.



Got it.




So they should do full stereo (multichannel stereo) option




If you mean stereo at full volume out of the Playbar/Playbase and the surrounds, it does for music. Set the surrounds to Full in the Settings for the room, and you will get the equivalent of 5 channel stereo for music sources.




What has been asked by many people, already for a long time, is to have the the same 'Full' option for TV audio as exists for music.

Yes, its not going to fit all TV viewing but would be good for music sourced via the TV (music/concert DVD/bluray, music TV channels, youtube etc) and also sporting events.




So they should do full stereo (multichannel stereo) option




If you mean stereo at full volume out of the Playbar/Playbase and the surrounds, it does for music. Set the surrounds to Full in the Settings for the room, and you will get the equivalent of 5 channel stereo for music sources.




So they should do full stereo (multichannel stereo) option




No idea what either of those two options are. Full-stereo is stereo. Multi-channel stereo is also stereo and redundant.




Sonos is not a home theater company and based on comments from the CEO they will not be releasing any products that cater to that demand. Spend your money elsewhere if HT is important to you. Otherwise you will be disappointed.




This^^^



Sonos makes surround sound soundbars that can be easily connected to an optical out from a TV and are a great sounding replacement for the tiny speakers on a flat display, while also being wireless and part of the Sonos multi-room system. That is their selling point. What they are not is a substitute for a true Home Theater system, given the deficiencies in speaker configuration and codecs supported.




So they should do full stereo (multichannel stereo) option




Sonos is not a home theater company and based on comments from the CEO they will not be releasing any products that cater to that demand. Spend your money elsewhere if HT is important to you. Otherwise you will be disappointed.




This^^^



Sonos makes surround sound soundbars that can be easily connected to an optical out from a TV and are a great sounding replacement for the tiny speakers on a flat display, while also being wireless and part of the Sonos multi-room system. That is their selling point. What they are not is a substitute for a true Home Theater system, given the deficiencies in speaker configuration and codecs supported.
Any official news from Sonos on this before i go spend £1500 on a rivels system? Thats a lot of cash to lose for the sake of not confirming a possible 2018 release.



Sonos is not a home theater company and based on comments from the CEO they will not be releasing any products that cater to that demand. Spend your money elsewhere if HT is important to you. Otherwise you will be disappointed.