I got a Playbar for Christmas (already own a gen II Play5 and 2 Play3s). I LOVE the Play5. Based on all of the reviews, I thought that I would really like the Playbar, but I just don't think it sounds good for music. Movies sound good (dialog is crisp, etc), but music just sounds 'off'. The mids are muddy. The highs sound artificially bright. I convinced myself that adding a SUB would fix it. Well, I got the SUB hooked up a few days ago and it has helped, but I still don't think it sounds very good.
Do you guys have any tips/tricks for improving the sound? I tried Trueplay a few times, but that made it sound worse. I've adjusted the base/treble. Really don't want to return it. Any other tricks that I'm missing?
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I'm surprised that adding the sub didn't turn it around for you. All I keep reading is that the sub takes it to a new level, I'm considering adding one to my playbar. I would contact Sonos support to see if they can help.
I don't have any great tricks but just a couple of ideas just in case.
Does whatever source material you are listening to sound good on your other players (ie it isn't a low bitrate radio stream that doesn't sound good on the other units?)
Is the Playbar at least one foot from a wall or objects on both ends and not inside a cabinet?
I don't have any great tricks but just a couple of ideas just in case.
Does whatever source material you are listening to sound good on your other players (ie it isn't a low bitrate radio stream that doesn't sound good on the other units?)
Is the Playbar at least one foot from a wall or objects on both ends and not inside a cabinet?
+22Music is designed to be best enjoyed in stereo reproduction and the Playbar simply wasn't designed to do that.
I started with a Playbar on it's own and certainly wasn't wowed by it's music playback but then I didn't buy it for that so serious music listening was done on my Stereo pair of Play 3s. Subsequently I added a pair of Play 1s as surrounds and set the music setting in the room settings to "Full" - This makes the world of difference when listening to music. I have further enhanced things with a Sub. Film enjoyment has been ramped up several notches as a result and when I do listen to music the setup is very good.
I hope this helps but in my opinion if your primary reason for buying Sonos gear is to listen to music then a Playbar isn't going to float your boat. Buy a pair of Play 1s set up in stereo mode and let things grow from there.
I started with a Playbar on it's own and certainly wasn't wowed by it's music playback but then I didn't buy it for that so serious music listening was done on my Stereo pair of Play 3s. Subsequently I added a pair of Play 1s as surrounds and set the music setting in the room settings to "Full" - This makes the world of difference when listening to music. I have further enhanced things with a Sub. Film enjoyment has been ramped up several notches as a result and when I do listen to music the setup is very good.
I hope this helps but in my opinion if your primary reason for buying Sonos gear is to listen to music then a Playbar isn't going to float your boat. Buy a pair of Play 1s set up in stereo mode and let things grow from there.
+22I never thought the playbar was very good for music (I have playbar and sub in my loft). The surround spacial effect the playbar gave wasn't tight enough to feel appropriate for music. However, after doing the Trueplay with the Playbar that came out with the last firmware, I really like the sound of the playbar and the surround effect is diminished (at least for me) when playing music from Sonos app. The Trueplay tuning completely changed my mind on the playbar for music.
Insertusernamehere wrote:
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Is the Playbar at least one foot from a wall or objects on both ends and not inside a cabinet?
Is the Playbar at least one foot from a wall or objects on both ends and not inside a cabinet?
I don't think it's a placement issue. It's sitting on my TV cabinet (1ft away from the wall) with no objects on either end.
Thanks for the response, by the way.
Stuart_W wrote:
Buy a pair of Play 1s set up in stereo mode and let things grow from there.
Thanks. Maybe I'll try that and see if it helps.
Yea, the playbar for me is about TV sound reproduction, not music. I guess it's OK, but I much prefer a paired set of their other speakers for anything beyond simple "background music". If I'm sitting down to read, I'll alway choose a stereo pair, not the Playbar. But that being said, I do think the Playbar and Sub are plain outstanding for the TV content, i.e. sports and movies. You just have to pick your poison 🙂
+1YES, playbar alone not so good for music (TV sound is ok).
But when you add SUB - well well, it fixes all issues with sound quality. My first purchase was Playbar + Sub, I was amazed with sound quality, after found that need 2 more Play1 speakers to create boost sound.
Back to question : playbar alone, it can play music, you won't get that boost effect without additional speakers, but it can handle sound for sure 🙂
But when you add SUB - well well, it fixes all issues with sound quality. My first purchase was Playbar + Sub, I was amazed with sound quality, after found that need 2 more Play1 speakers to create boost sound.
Back to question : playbar alone, it can play music, you won't get that boost effect without additional speakers, but it can handle sound for sure 🙂
After Trueplay I think the Playbar is pretty decent for music.... IF you're sitting in the exact location where you tuned it for "this is where I listen to the TV". It can do surprising stereo effects and has a great soundstage. But as soon as I go into the kitchen it sounds like a treble-heavy mess. Adding a Play 1 to the other side of the room helps immensely.
Stuart_W wrote:
Music is designed to be best enjoyed in stereo reproduction and the Playbar simply wasn't designed to do that.
I started with a Playbar on it's own and certainly wasn't wowed by it's music playback but then I didn't buy it for that so serious music listening was done on my Stereo pair of Play 3s. Subsequently I added a pair of Play 1s as surrounds and set the music setting in the room settings to "Full" - This makes the world of difference when listening to music. I have further enhanced things with a Sub. Film enjoyment has been ramped up several notches as a result and when I do listen to music the setup is very good.
I hope this helps but in my opinion if your primary reason for buying Sonos gear is to listen to music then a Playbar isn't going to float your boat. Buy a pair of Play 1s set up in stereo mode and let things grow from there.
I started with a Playbar on it's own and certainly wasn't wowed by it's music playback but then I didn't buy it for that so serious music listening was done on my Stereo pair of Play 3s. Subsequently I added a pair of Play 1s as surrounds and set the music setting in the room settings to "Full" - This makes the world of difference when listening to music. I have further enhanced things with a Sub. Film enjoyment has been ramped up several notches as a result and when I do listen to music the setup is very good.
I hope this helps but in my opinion if your primary reason for buying Sonos gear is to listen to music then a Playbar isn't going to float your boat. Buy a pair of Play 1s set up in stereo mode and let things grow from there.
I couldn't agree with this more. I had been listening to music (and TV streamed from an Apple TV) to a pair of stereo Sonos Ones and the sound was incredible. Recently added a Playbar to the mix and music does not sound as good. TV sound is incredible now but music is discernibly worse. Setting the surrounds to Full instead of Ambient (which is default) helps but it's still not great. Add to this that I only discovered after the fact that Sonos Ones as surrounds cannot be used as Airplay receivers (which I used a lot/primarily before) and I'm considering returning the Playbar. I listen to more music than I do TV at this point.
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