Skip to main content
Enthusiast II
July 29, 2018

Sonos doesn’t really do “5.1”

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.
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

150 replies

Enthusiast II
February 2, 2019
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.

It depends. Totally agree if you use a beam, player, etc, however, if you use the AMP to power front speakers for '5.1' then you do get a virtual centre as the amp does not support a wired centre speaker.
Translate
jgatie
February 2, 2019

It depends. Totally agree if you use a beam, player, etc, however, if you use the AMP to power front speakers for '5.1' then you do get a virtual centre as the amp does not support a wired centre speaker.


I was not talking about the Amp.
Translate
Lyricist II
February 27, 2019
I heard all I needed to hear when the rant leads to this "Think about it while you are watching your new laser disc" :?:?:?

Anyone with an ounce of modern living hasn't used a laser disc in half a decade or more! :8 Unless maybe you have a dedicated Home Cinema room in which case your not fitting Sonos in it! (unless mad as a hatter)

Also not considered is that the Playbar is actually quite old now (2013!) so will be superseded soon, no doubt with HDMI ARC just like the Beam.

The average hardwired 5.1 setups are junk. A Playbar and sub (great sub!) is usually plenty for the average listener. Add a couple rear One's with voice control and you have a very neat package with no wires and easy control, (beautiful) simplicity. Certainly family friendly, which is 98%+ of the market. Unlike a system with an AVR which then becomes super un-user-friendly and cause arguments (unless a control method introduced).

This post is a bit like test driving a Tesla and saying It's rubbish because it is not as fast as a Formula One car!

Im an AV integrator who's installed 100's of multiroom audio systems (Sonos and not Sonos). Sonos made the market and nailed the market, period
Translate
February 27, 2019
I heard all I needed to hear when the rant leads to this "Think about it while you are watching your new laser disc" :?:?:? )Without wishing to take sides here, I suspect you missed a degree of irony in the 'laser disc' comment
Translate
Lyricist II
February 27, 2019
Ah yes haha obvious when I reread the sentence! Skim read too quickly. Thanks 🙂
Still, the rest is relevant. We don't make much margin selling Sonos but we do it because of the value it provides our clients. One of the largest value components of any system is simplicity. Clients love it
Translate
February 27, 2019
Ah yes haha obvious when I reread the sentence! Skim read too quickly. Thanks 🙂
Still, the rest is relevant. We don't make much margin selling Sonos but we do it because of the value it provides our clients. One of the largest value components of any system is simplicity. Clients love it
Yes you need the context! I used to be a Sonos reseller. Margins were indeed terrible but for me it was a sideline 'hobby' business and I enjoyed the customer satisfaction.
Translate
Lyricist III
February 27, 2019
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.
Translate
Lyricist III
February 27, 2019
I think Your wrong. I have a Playbar which gets the info from the TV thru optical. The BLU Ray and ROKU go into the TV. Any sound that is produced goes into the Playbar. I didnt have to buy a new Blu Ray Player or ROKU and everything sounds great as 5.1..... My old wired 5.1 Yamaha receiver used optical also but I didnt like wires everywhere or want to put holes in my walls. My new Sonos system sounds just as good as the old. So I guess I am not sure what you mean.
Translate
February 27, 2019
I think Your wrong. I have a Playbar which gets the info from the TV thru optical. The BLU Ray and ROKU go into the TV. Any sound that is produced goes into the Playbar. I didnt have to buy a new Blu Ray Player or ROKU and everything sounds great as 5.1..... My old wired 5.1 Yamaha receiver used optical also but I didnt like wires everywhere or want to put holes in my walls. My new Sonos system sounds just as good as the old. So I guess I am not sure what you mean.When you play a BluRay disc, go into About My Sonos System in the app and see if the Playbar is showing DD5.1 or stereo (must be BluRay not a DVD)
Translate
Lyricist III
February 27, 2019
It plays blu ray and i can hear stuff behind me....still confused....my blu ray could have a converter.... my kids played x box and it was in surround too.
Translate