Replaced my PLAYBAR...

I'm actually looking into doing the opposite. I have a 3.1 system with a Denon AVR at the moment and I'm looking into getting rid of the setup for the Sonos 5.1 setup.

Interesting, how come? What do you feel the main advantage would be? Aside from having 2 surround speakers that will give you low quality Dolby Digital?

My LG OLED TV fixed my 5.1 pass-thru problem but still couldn't handle DTS elegantly. It also has terrible lipsync problems when using optical.

That's unfortunate. I was able to get mine synced up nicely.

Aside from having 2 surround speakers that will give you low quality Dolby Digital?

In a word: wires. I don't want to run wires for surrounds and then try to hide them. Our living room is fully carpeted and I can't squeeze any wires between the carpet and baseboard.

For the Sonos I'd just need to get an audio extractor for the optical as my TV doesn't pass through 5.1. I could hide the extractor/switch in my entertainment center and just run one HDMI out to my TV and the optical to the Playbar. And the switch is compatible with my Harmony remote so no worries with switching inputs.

We watch 95% of our TV through a 4th gen Apple TV so I'm not as concerned with the lack of audio formats supported. Plus I have a Play:1 in our dining room and a Play:1 in the home office downstairs, so it'd be nice if they were connected to the TV (music through Apple TV, football games, etc.). I know I could get a connect but then it would only play in stereo versus 5.1 if we had the Sonos setup.

That's unfortunate. I was able to get mine synced up nicely.


Mine synced up just fine, most of the time. It just randomly had annoying faults, even when using internal apps like Netflix. Sometimes rebooting the TV fixed it, other times rebooting the PLAYBAR did.

Aside from having 2 surround speakers that will give you low quality Dolby Digital?

Lots of axes to grind - there really was never any good reason why a £2000 5.1 system couldn't at least support basic DTS. If it did, I'd have really struggled to replace it. Kudos to Sonos for offering a refund to mislead buyers but, at the time, there really were no decent alternatives on the market. Now pretty much everything includes Spotify, digital radio, WiFi and other options - it's USP has been eroded and now it's just a legacy soundbar.

In a word: wires. I don't want to run wires for surrounds and then try to hide them. Our living room is fully carpeted and I can't squeeze any wires between the carpet and baseboard.

For the Sonos I'd just need to get an audio extractor for the optical as my TV doesn't pass through 5.1. I could hide the extractor/switch in my entertainment center and just run one HDMI out to my TV and the optical to the Playbar. And the switch is compatible with my Harmony remote so no worries with switching inputs.

We watch 95% of our TV through a 4th gen Apple TV so I'm not as concerned with the lack of audio formats supported. Plus I have a Play:1 in our dining room and a Play:1 in the home office downstairs, so it'd be nice if they were connected to the TV (music through Apple TV, football games, etc.). I know I could get a connect but then it would only play in stereo versus 5.1 if we had the Sonos setup.

Could you not use something like the wireless surround speaker device I linked above? Although I've never seen a carpet under which you can't hide wires - they're thinner than the gripper around the edge of the room.

In a word: wires. I don't want to run wires for surrounds and then try to hide them. Our living room is fully carpeted and I can't squeeze any wires between the carpet and baseboard.

For the Sonos I'd just need to get an audio extractor for the optical as my TV doesn't pass through 5.1. I could hide the extractor/switch in my entertainment center and just run one HDMI out to my TV and the optical to the Playbar. And the switch is compatible with my Harmony remote so no worries with switching inputs.

We watch 95% of our TV through a 4th gen Apple TV so I'm not as concerned with the lack of audio formats supported. Plus I have a Play:1 in our dining room and a Play:1 in the home office downstairs, so it'd be nice if they were connected to the TV (music through Apple TV, football games, etc.). I know I could get a connect but then it would only play in stereo versus 5.1 if we had the Sonos setup.

Could you not use something like the wireless surround speaker device I linked above? Although I've never seen a carpet under which you can't hide wires - they're thinner than the gripper around the edge of the room.

I've thought about a wireless adapter but was concerned about audio quality, delay, etc. I'm just not looking to do any major work to hide the wires.

I think what this thread proves is that the best solution varies by individual, what their priorities are, what equipment they are starting with, and how much they want the TV audio to be integrated into a whole-home audio system. And there is no perfect solution for anyone.

There is no bigger fan of Sonos than I, but even I'm a bit baffled by the hoops Sonos forces SOME people to go through because of only having optical input and not supporting DTS. So I understand the OP's choice to go for a traditional AVR, if that suits him best. I am sticking with Sonos. Neither of us is right or wrong.

What it really comes down to for me is to make up my mind on what I want to do. It would be much more cost effective for me to keep the AVR setup I have and figure out the surrounds, Connect, etc. issue versus going all in on the Sonos 5.1.

I think what this thread proves is that the best solution varies by individual, what their priorities are, what equipment they are starting with, and how much they want the TV audio to be integrated into a whole-home audio system. And there is no perfect solution for anyone.

There is no bigger fan of Sonos than I, but even I'm a bit baffled by the hoops Sonos forces SOME people to go through because of only having optical input and not supporting DTS. So I understand the OP's choice to go for a traditional AVR, if that suits him best. I am sticking with Sonos. Neither of us is right or wrong.

Absolutely, this is nothing to do with right or wrong. I'm sure there are many happy owners out there. This thread isn't for them. This is for those who, like me, struggle with daily challenges and are looking for a way out.

Many of us have owned PLAYBAR for many years now and may have written off the cost. I'm moving mine into the room where we have our gym equipment. Currently it has my old Panasonic Plasma and a Play:5 for audio. Throwing the PLAYBAR in there will give me audio that's in sync with the music videos I play when exercising and the redundant SUB will offer more base which helps get the heart pumping.

So I've upgraded the audio in both rooms for the cost of one and it works well, for me at least.

What it really comes down to for me is to make up my mind on what I want to do. It would be much more cost effective for me to keep the AVR setup I have and figure out the surrounds, Connect, etc. issue versus going all in on the Sonos 5.1.

I personally think you'll save so much money by running a wire that you could even buy a new carpet if needed. Likely it may just need refitting.

Your audio codec requirements are apparently minimal but pretty much every blu-ray is now DTS based and doesn't contain a Dolby Digital track. This may not be an issue though.

What will be an issue is the center speaker. You're used to having one that provided a very clear vocal track from whatever you watch. PLAYBAR won't do this so well. They offer a speech enhancement mode for a reason, without it you may find dialog very hard to hear. Even with it on we struggled a fair amount on TV shows - movies generally have a better mix. On a true AVR set-up, you can adjust the EQ and balance on the speakers as required. With PLAYBAR you're limited to the preset it arrives with, or using TRUEPLAY tuning which can be hit and miss - it changes slightly every time you tune it, even in the same room.