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Questions regarding SONOS and BOSE

  • 18 October 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 1455 views

I currently have a Bose Lifestyle 48 system, but want to slowly convert to SONOS. My current system (Bose) has 4 cubes, 1 center speaker, and 1 sub (all connected to the bose lifestyle 48)
I am also using a LG OLED e7p 65" tv (if that matters)

1) I am wondering if I could possibly start with a SONOS Playbar and connect it to work with my current surround sound system?

2) In your honest opinion, for a large theater room, is the current Sonos home theater suggested set up (2 play 1's/3's, a sub, and a playbar) able to handle high quality surround sound for large rooms? If not, would it be possible/better to connect 4 play:1's/3's (two of which in the back), a playbar, and a sub? Or is sonos even up to the task of providing surround sound for such a large room?

I understand some people will say "Go do research". I have done research, but find conflicting answers and would prefer honest answers from people who actually know about the products

Thanks for any answers, tips, or help in general!
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Best answer by melvimbe 18 October 2017, 21:03

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4 replies

1 - The short answer is no. I'm sure there's some way you could get creative and get it all playing at the same time, but it likely wouldn't sound correct and such.

2 - How big is a large theatre room? And by theatre room, do you mean the primary purpose is tv audio, not music and syncing with wholehouse audio? My family room/kitchen zone is around 400-500 sqft and the playbar, 2 P:3's, and sub are more than enough. I do use it for music and part of wholehouse audio, so it works great for me.

However, if I had a room dedicated to tv audio only, I probably would be looking at a traditional receiver and speaker setup. Sonos does have the advantage of being wireless, but it is limited in that it can only do up to 5.1 and not all of the emerging sound codecs.
The other question is why. What is it that is missing that you are trying to bring in?
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melvimbe has answered the question well in my humble opinion. Sonos surround sound is pretty awesome but with a couple of limitations. I personally wanted my surround system to connect to a PC, PS4, BluRay and Smart TV. Sonos is not brilliant at connectivity as well as the codec issue mentioned above. I ended up keeping my existing Sony Receiver (Old, but top end in its day) and adding a Kef 5.1 system plus a Sonos Connect. This gives the best of all scenarios - I can stream from the Connect in to the receiver, but also the other way around, from the PC/PS4/BluRay into the connect via the receiver. This gives me extra streaming possibilities that I can play in sync around the house through Sonos.
I encountered a similar situation as 'Peter 215' above with our Bose Lifestyle 38 and Connect, which I just received as a Christmas gift.... after I did some research before requesting as a gift. We have two Play 3's which we wanted to augment with our older BOSE system. To play through your TV's Audio, you need a 2nd set of RCA cables to run from the Audio Out of the BOSE Console back to the Audio In of the Connect. I plugged into the AUX jacks on our BOSE console. We press the AUX button on the BOSE remote to play. On the bottom of the remote you will need to hit the BROWSE button to turn on the LINE IN to play with the TV. What is really cool, we identified the BOSE speakers on the Connect, in addition to the Play 3's. Each has it's own slide bar for separation and volume control. It's like having your own mini mixing studio. Incredible sound. Hope this helps, but if not, see a qualified audio/video shop who sells SONOS products. In the past, I have found the Big Box stores usually can't help with the more sophisticated set-ups. My guy here in Edmonton at National Audio/Video has been in the business for 40+ years and has seen it all. Happy New Year!