Only two of the four side-firing speakers of Era 300 are playing when used as surrounds with Beam (Gen 2)

Hi ​@Julian Kupka, welcome to the Sonos Community!

I’m sorry to hear that the Era 300 isn’t sounding just how you’d like it. The Era 300 uses channel virtualization created by the driver array, so a Dolby test track isn’t going to give the best indication of how the Era 300 sounds when in use. Due to the virtualization on the Era 300, a Dolby test track isn’t going to map 1:1 with the speaker drivers, so it might ‘sound’ like something is wrong.

When testing, it’s always better to use a movie or show that utilizes the surround channels while you sit in your desired listening position than it is to listen to the specific driver/channel. When you’re testing this way, you can also adjust the surround settings for TV Level and Surround Distance; the former changing the sound levels for only the surround speakers and the latter changing the sound levels relative to the soundbar, the Beam Gen 2 in your case. If possible, I’d also suggest Trueplaying your speakers, as it will help fine-tune your system no matter where you’ve placed it in your room. 

If you’re tested like I suggested above and you’re still noticing silent or missing channel audio, then please contact our support team for further troubleshooting support.

I hope this helps!

I seem to remember this being a feature of the ERA 300’s when used as surrounds, whereby the centre front firing speaker would not be used.  In fact looking at a Goggle search and this is definitely the case.

My own experience is that they sound great in this config.  If the front speakers were in play they would likely drown out the surround effect especially from the Beam front channels.  

The front speakers seem to be there for Music playback in the main.

​@Jamie A Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it.

I am aware that Era 300 uses channel virtualization, but it still surprises me that the left and right side drivers, which face inwards (i.e., toward the other Era), seem to play nothing (even after Trueplaying). When I put my ear directly next to the top-facing driver and outward-facing side drivers (both the treble and mid-bass drivers) I can hear sound clearly. However, when I put my ear directly next to the inward-facing side drivers, there is no sound coming from the treble driver. I can here something from the mid-bass driver´s position, but I believe it is just sound leakage (due to the construction of Era 300) from the other side´s mid-bass driver, as the sound is much quieter and a bit muffled.

Is there any difference in virtualization when Era 300s are paired with Arc or Arc Ultra instead of Beam (Gen 2)?

Could you please recommend a movie scene to test the use of inward-facing side srivers? It would be great if Sonos integrated a demo and/or soundcheck feature for the surround system in the app.

For the avoidance of any misunderstanding, by inward-facing drivers, I mean the drivers indicated by the green arrows.

It sounds strange, when I play music via my Arc Ultra - Sub 4 and 2xEra300, music comes out of all speakers in the Era300 (except the front). They are set up so that they use Background Sound and not Full when playing music.

​@Peter_254 I tried both the Ambient and the Full surround modes for music listening, and there isn't much difference with the inner drivers. This might be because Beam (Gen 2) is smaller and less powerful compared to Arc Ultra, and Era 300's as surrounds are digitally suppressed so they don't overpower Beam.

Julian Kupka wrote:

 

For the avoidance of any misunderstanding, by inward-facing drivers, I mean the drivers indicated by the green arrows.

​@Jamie A

In connection with the topic of surround speakers, I would like to ask one more thing – the correct direction of the surround speakers.

Should they be directed as shown in this picture (as well as in other promotional images from Sonos), i.e. perpendicular to the wall with the TV, or should they be directed towards the listening position (the so-called sweet spot), as is the case with traditional speakers?

I searched for information about this on the web, but I couldn't find any official statement from Sonos. Could you please check your internal documentation to see if it specifies anything? It would be great to include this information in the tips that appear in the app when adding surround speakers to the system.

Thank you for your response. 

Just listened carefully and it's a bit strange.
My Era300 is almost the opposite of yours. The inner speakers (those towards one's listening position) are subdued and the bass is more prominent, the outer ones are very clear in sound and have a higher treble. The upward speakers are very weak but sound comes out of them.

Have you tried turning up your surround speakers/Era300 mine is at +2 for music.

I almost only use Airplay because I think their App is a bit slow and sometimes not so stable.

Try watching this Youtube regarding placement of Era300.

How to position your Sonos Era 300 for best result

​@Peter_254

It’s not almost the opposite of my situation, I have it similarly as you.

The inner speakers are subdued - I can’t hear the tweeter and the mid-bass driver is very faint. Since the inner tweeter isn’t playing, it generally feels like the bass is more prominent on the inner side (since the higher frequencies are completely missing).

In my case too, the outer speakers are clear, the reason being that the outer side has also tweeter playing, so the full frequency range can be heard.

The upward speaker has only tweeter (there is no mid-bass driver facing upwards), which is why the sound feels kind of weak, as it lacks the lower frequencies. 

Thank you for the video on positioning of Era 300´s as surrounds. I follow Peter Pee and have seen this video. It makes complete sense to me what Peter is saying, that the surround speaker should be directed towards the main listening position. As I mentioned, this is the standard setup for surround speakers. However, on the official Sonos pictures, the Era 300s are always pointed perpendicularly to the wall with the TV. In the official Sonos video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vG0PlcpUmg), however, surrounds are pointed towards the main listening position. That’s why I asked ​@Jamie A  if Sonos has any internal documents stating how the surrounds should be directed. Due to the virtualization of respective channels done by Era 300s, the standard directional rule might not apply.

Hi ​@Julian Kupka,

From what I’ve been told by the team, the Era 300s should be placed facing the wall your TV is on, not directed towards the viewer position. The overall shape should be a box position rather than a triangle, if that makes sense. Due to the design of the Era 300 having speakers on all sides, facing them parallel to the wall is the ‘correct’ orientation (though nothing is stopping you directing them towards the listening position).

I hope this helps!