Question

Rear Speaker Volume Arc.

  • 25 July 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 868 views
M

We have a bar and two speakers. My husband is fairly deaf. I'd like to turn up the two rear speakers so he can hear properly (they are either side of his chair) without making the bar volume higher as currently it's too loud for the rest of the family.

Is there a way to set this up please?

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6 replies

Airgetlam

No, not really. You’ve got two issues here. 

Yes, you can adjust the level of playback in the surround speakers. Go in to the controller, select Settings, then System, and the room name that has the Arc in it. Then click on Surround Audio, which is under the Sound heading. This will take you to a place where you can adjust the volume of the surrounds with regard to the Arc.

However, and this is the main issue that will fail your intent, is that when playing a surround (Dolby Digital, etc) signal, the data that is sent to the surrounds is not the same thing that is sent to the center/voice channel, so you’d be increasing the sounds of applause, or cars moving back and forth, etc, not any of the voices, which is what you’re wanting to do. 

Unfortunately, there is no way to do what you want to do, with Sonos, or frankly any other speaker set I’ve seen. It seems to be a great niche product to create, but I suspect the market is in the low thousands, not millions which most companies chase. 

There are many who have found that a optical connection to the back of the TV, from a set of wireless/Bluetooth connection is a passable solution. When my father was alive, I took a similar route, but there is a certain fatigue with wearing headphones, so it didn’t always work as well as I wanted.

Sorry not to be able to provide you a tidy solution, but there isn’t one, to my knowledge. 
 

 

Bruce
M

Oh boy. Thank you. 

Airgetlam

Yea….sorry. 

Bruce
Paul A
Userlevel 6
Badge +17

Hi @motherofmany.

Welcome to the Sonos community and thanks for reaching out to us.
I do agree with @Airgetlam. If you are after the surround audio that’s the way to get it done by going to settings » system » room name (with the Arc) » surround audio. However, this only gets the surround audio increased not the main/center speaker. On the other hand, if you are after the main speaker's audio /TV dialogue without blasting the Sonos ARC at the same time can please everybody’s listening perspective. I would recommend either unbending/removing the surround speakers and just group the speakers to the Sonos Arc so it can mimic the Audio of the Sonos Arc at the same time have it’s own volume control so you can adjust it separately than the Arc without compromising other people in the same room’s listening perspective/preference this solution sacrifices the surround audio. However, if you have an “extra” Sonos speaker to spare, you can use that speaker and group it to your Sonos Arc 5.1 Home theater speaker, have its own volume level adjusted on the Sonos App at the same time not compromising the surround audio.

I hope this helps.

Please let us know if you still have further questions or concerns. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

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M

Thank you. I’ll try that tomorrow. 

Airgetlam

The challenge with that solution is there is a delay between the Arc and any other room, which is a requirement by the Sonos multi room software solution. If the same people who can hear the Arc can hear the ‘other’ speaker as well, it will be unsatisfactory. 

Bruce
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