Sonos doesn’t really do “5.1”

I mean, sure that is an option, but not particularly realistic or cost-effective IMO.
I think what’s meant here is just to use a traditional AV amp and speakers for home theatre, with a CONNECT adding Sonos audio to the rig. Which is what I do, and it’s entirely cost effective.

Hi all
Just to clarify few things here,I have a full Sonos 5.1 setup and I’m very happy with it,indeed Sonos products can only do proper DolbyDigital 5.1 sound at the moment if the source is setup that way,the other option for a UHD DVD to work is to use a DVD player that can transcode the 7.1,Dolby Atmos on the fly, of course you still get only 5.1 from the system,but is proper 5.1 not upscaled,hopefully we’ll get more options in the future but for now if you looking for a dedicated Dolby Atmos/7.1DTS-X system Sonos is not the one for you.Can do great audio with music,multiroom but limited to 5.1 for home cinema.(by the way they just testing some sort of satellite speakers now,hopefully will be something we all waiting)

This is quite a funny thread, that props up every few months and it always follows a familiar theme. I will also say it's quite clear from the author's history that the purpose of this thread and it's title is to get a rise out of the more ardent members on this sub-forum.


Yeah, the OP basically admitted this was a work right here:


Kumar my friend, A title has two main purposes: (1) grab the attention of potential readers and (2) serve as a point of reference. There are many arguments against the content of my posts, which was the whole point, but I think the level of responses and the passion of some of the replies would suggest if nothing else, I nailed the title.

Before you buy any SONOS equipment to achieve a 5.1 setup please consider this: a Denon AVRX2400 AV Amp, Elac CINEMA 5.1 speaker system, all cables professionally installed behind the walls gives you true home cinema with all the surround sound codecs you could ever want with no cables showing for way less than £1000 (see Richer Sound web site for prices). Or spend £1700 on a SONOS setup and get stereo or Dolby Digital only plus you may have to buy a new DVD player to play your UHD DVD’s, a HDMI Switch then deal with lip sync issues etc, etc.

SONOS do speakers, great speakers, but only for music. They are stealing money from people wanting 5.1 for their TV. The system I suggest costs at least £700 less, hides all the wires (what we all want) and sounds much, much better. Go mad, stick a couple of speakers in the ceiling and get real Dolby Atmos for £150 more and still save yourself £550. I have begged SONOS to tell me if they are developing a surround sound product with HDMI and more choice of listening eg DTS, Dolby X etc but they point blank refuse to discuss future products stating they are catering for the “modern listener”. That put me in my place. SONOS remind me of great companies who made world class products like Blackberry, Blockbuster, Compaq and SAAB, just a minute, they all went out of business because they didn’t produce what their customers wanted at a competitive price (no pedants please, I know there were other factors which meant these companies went bust, I am just illustrating a point). Are SONOS going down the same route? Think about it while you are watching your new laser disc.

I would be interested to hear any arguments against my proposed SONOS alternative system.

Found this out the hard way. I went nuts and bought everything Sonos, even a new TV. I bought Sonos strictly because of the 5.1 claim, but found myself scratching my head for weeks trying to get it to work, only to find out that I can't get it. Doesn't even work seamlessly with my PC.

Great sound, but I want my 5.1.

Great sound, but I want my 5.1.

Well, you can get your 5.1 but it involves jumping through some hoops.

I have read this thread with some interest and thought that I would give my view to the discussion. Do I wish that Sonos would consider adding some additional codecs ? Sure I do. Is it stopping me using my current sonos beam and play:1s for home cinema ? No it isn't - as long as you have the right equipment.

I have had numerous wired set ups in the past and they have been great. Those were in the days when I didn't care about miles of speaker cables etc. When we moved house I had the choice of channelling 40m of speaker cables into walls and pay a small fortune, or go the Sonos way and make my life easy. I think the person who mentioned that he can get speaker cables channels into walls for £200 either lives in a fantasy world or has a very small room. The cost of the wallpaper alone is more than that, never mind the cost of the labour, speaker cables etc. If you want this done properly you have already paid for two thirds of your Sonos system.

Yes, you do have to get creative and use equipment that can convert DTS to DD, and you do not get amazing stereo separation at the front, but it actually isn't that bad all things considering. A lot of it obviously depends on the size and shape of your living room. Although my living room is about 10m long, it is only 3.7m wide. This means that we are only sitting about 2.7 m from the TV and I found that the beam and the play:1s fills this distance with great sound. I will eventually get Playbar 2.0 but for now the beam is great.

I see where Sonos are coming from by targeting the streaming market and not the videophile market. Personally I do use Netflix a lot but I prefer to watch my films on UHD as video quality is so much better. Unfortunately this has restricted me to Samsung UHD players only as they are the only player (except the xbox) that can convert to 5.1DD on the fly. I could point the finger at Sonos here at only supporting limited codecs, but equally at Sony and Panasonic for not offering a down conversion facility in their machines.

Maybe one day Sonos will offer a separate centre speaker and speakers with Atmos support, but until then the current Sonos home theatre offerings do deliver 5.1 sound for my needs (with a bit tinkering and without the cables).

Well, you can get your 5.1 but it involves jumping through some hoops.

MY PC TO SONOS BEAM 5.1 IS WORKING NOW VIA
SOUND BLASTER PRO USB (DOLBY DIGITAL)

After much pain and weeks of trial and error I was was abe to get my 5.0 working (no woofer yet) . I should probably start a thread on what I did to help others. And it was really confusing to see if it worked because there is no proprietary Sonos 5.1 sound test. Since there's no test you can't troubleshoot effectively where the problem is.

I'm getting 5.0 from my PC to my Sonos Beam and surrounds. It wasn't working because of 3 things. *You may be able to get it working if you understand these.

1) Sonos can only translate Dolby Digital 5.1 .... but
2) Your Windows 10 may not output 5.1 out the box. Even if it says 5.1 it may only be doing DTS, not Dolby DIgital
3) Your video card outputs sound through the HDMI. In my case it's Nvidia 1050TI, and Nvidia it doesn't do 5.1. So when I was splitting my HDMI signal to accept the optical chord via Fosom splitter, it didn't matter, even though 5.1 was no lnger greyed out on my PC, I was still getting stereo. There is where I started to go mad.
4) BONUS: The main video tests you try from youtube or somewhere else aren't really Dolby Digital (even if they say they are), they're DTS that's why they don't translate. I also went mad here.

I was only able to tell my 5.0 was working by playing a movie and NOT hearing voices in both the surrounds and front speakers.

This is why it's important for Sonos to create a sound test on the Beam so you can see if it's your Sonos transmitting right, or if it's something else.

HOW I GOT IT TO WORK:
I bought a usb Dolby Digital - Sound Blaster Pro (Pro Studio) and bypassed my videocard's audio. The Beam is hooked to the SB Pro via the optical chord it came with.

*After you install the soundcard you still have to switch your default audio to SPDIF -Out (SB Pro), by default it won't be this.

I did all the annoying trial and error, I think I'll copy this and start a new thread for solutions. But I REALLY do Wish Sonos was PC friendly.

In my setup I only have the Sonos Beam, and perhaps my Blu-Ray Player or perhaps my TV I bought almost 4 years ago converts 7.1 DTS to 5.1 Dolby Digital, at least when I tested one Blu-Ray that only shows 7.1 DTS in the menu. When I look at my about Sonos it shows Audio in 5.1 Dolby. Perhaps I just got lucky and it seems to just work, though I haven't looked at movies I have bought in the recent past.

This is quite a funny thread, that props up every few months and it always follows a familiar theme. I will also say it's quite clear from the author's history that the purpose of this thread and it's title is to get a rise out of the more ardent members on this sub-forum.


Yes there is always someone who decides none of us know about receivers or had them in the past and chose Sonos despite it's limitations with full knowledge of what we are and aren't getting. Thanks Captain Obvious.

That is correct, Sonos provides virtual Front L/R speaker channels. Just like some traditional system provide a phantom center speaker. Many users are ok with the 5.1 data from the source being turned into virtual front L/R sounds.

From my experience, when a Sub is added the virtual front L/R channels are not able to match the Sub's output. The Sub is a great product that fill the low frequency sound needs of a 5.1 setup. The only way to make the system work in a balanced way is to lower the Sub output - so why pay to add the sub in the first place? In my view, unless Sonos provides a way to include dedicated L/R front speakers, their 5.1 solution is entry level and should only be used in a small room. Don't waste your money on a Sub. Just go with virtual front L/R and virtual Sub and you'll save a lot of money and have a more balanced system.

That is correct, Sonos provides virtual Front L/R speaker channels. Just like some traditional system provide a phantom center speaker. Many users are ok with the 5.1 data from the source being turned into virtual front L/R sounds.

From my experience, when a Sub is added the virtual front L/R channels are not able to match the Sub's output. The Sub is a great product that fill the low frequency sound needs of a 5.1 setup. The only way to make the system work in a balanced way is to lower the Sub output - so why pay to add the sub in the first place? In my view, unless Sonos provides a way to include dedicated L/R front speakers, their 5.1 solution is entry level and should only be used in a small room. Don't waste your money on a Sub. Just go with virtual front L/R and virtual Sub and you'll save a lot of money and have a more balanced system.

They are most certainly not "virtual". There are physical speakers that correspond to the left and right in the Playbar/Playbase/Beam. As with the case with every soundbar sold, they are contained within the same enclosure, but there are actual L/R speakers. More research would help you to stop posting inaccurate nonsense like this and other posts.