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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.
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150 replies

melvimbe
July 30, 2018
The way I see it, it's important to separate opinions from fact. Despite what OP wants to claim, Sonos does have a 5.1 system, as it meets the generally accepted definition of 5 speakers plus a subwoofer. There is no requirement to play certain codecs, or have left and right channels separated by a set distance, to be a 5.1 system. The use of the word 'proper' is completely subjective and shouldn't be looked at as an objective fact.

Like many others have said already though, there are certainly 5.1 systems out there that do more than the Sonos system, If DTS and atmos are important to you, then you shouldn't get a Sonos speaker based system. If you want greater separation of left and right front speakers, or more than 5 speakers, don't get a Sonos speaker based system. Where a Sonos system for TV audio makes sense is where you don't care about those codecs, don't want to have to be concerned about wiring, and want the system to be tightly integrated to a home audio system. That's the market. I don't think it makes sense to look at these soundbars as just for TV or just for music as most people tend to use the room for both.

If I had a room dedicated to watching movies in my home, I wouldn't use Sonos for the job. I might get a connect so that it's a part of the system, but not really much of a concern since I don't plan on listening to music there.
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Danny
jgatie
July 30, 2018
Correct, melvimbe. Even the title of this thread "Sonos don’t really do 5.1" is hyperbolic nonsense, because it can most certainly do Dolby Digital 5.1, which is enough for the vast majority of people out there who are happy with their Sonos surround setup.
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Prodigy III
July 30, 2018
I will have to agree with your points about sonos not being the best for home theater 5.1. The is why my sonos is for music only. And my home theater setup is a full all out AVR system with Atmos in my house. And a samsung HW-MS751 sound bar system in my apartment. DTS and more advance Dolby support is required as streaming is moving forward. AppleTV and now Amazon Fire TV will support Atmos. So for Sonos to stay current, ATMOS and DTS-X is the wave of the future for streaming. Which they should add to any future sound bars.
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July 31, 2018
I too don't use Sonos in my dedicated to TV/HT room. But I get the results I look for there with just a stereo amp driving two HiFi class speakers for a 2.0 set up with adequately separated front speakers, where even the absence of the centre channel speaker is made up by a very effective phantom centre effect. If I wanted more there, I would go the AVR + more wired speakers route, and not buy Sonos there. But even with just this simple 2.0 set up, I get very effective sound for movies such as Apollo 13 or The Dark Knight etc. And it works just as well for movies like Casablanca that are dialog heavy.

And when I want to get sound with all the bells and whistles, there is a multiplex close to me that has the latest sound magic kit to fully deliver the entire package the director intended, far better than any wired HT could. A movie like Dunkirk merits that effort. IMO.

But on the audio/music front, Sonos can be an uncompromised set up to match any audiophile one(whatever that means); and for those that want to extend the install to their TV in a living room in a clutter free way, Sonos soundbar based systems are an excellent route. I prefer not to use them because I prefer not to have TV in such spaces in the home, but that's just me.
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djsgrantAuthor
Enthusiast II
July 31, 2018
Correct, melvimbe. Even the title of this thread "Sonos don’t really do 5.1" is hyperbolic nonsense, because it can most certainly do Dolby Digital 5.1, which is enough for the vast majority of people out there who are happy with their Sonos surround setup.

Wow, such vitriol. You know this is just a discussion yes? Over 30 interesting posts and you think the title is the important point? I did warn about pedants but if you want to play that game ok.

Please don’t get distracted by posts like this and continue with what is a really interesting conversation by some intelligent users (and me). Such a disappointment Big Daddy, you had kept the passive aggressive stuff down to a minimum up until now.
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David
July 31, 2018
FWIW, I think the thread title might be seen as provocative, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think it was intended to provoke debate, not to annoy.
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Ken_Griffiths
July 31, 2018
My ideal system ... (just wishful thinking)...

Instead of seeing an 'all in one' Sonos PlayBar (gen2) .. I would like to see a new Sonos 'centre speaker' for the TV with built in voice services, similar in size/appearance to the new Sonos Beam, which has the ability to attach four Sonos speakers as surrounds, plus a sub, producing greater audio separation compared to a single 3.0 unit.

A single HDMI-ARC connection would be fine for my personal circumstance.

To compliment the new 'Sonos Center' device, i would also like to see Sonos produce new style (surround) speakers, similar in appearance to the Sonos One, which also contain upward-firing speakers, built into them, that can carry separate audio channels. The upward facing audio designed to reflect back off a ceiling and all 'finely-tuned' for a room with an updated version of TruePlay, thus creating a 'virtual' Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 setup... no cables and no physical speakers fitted into my ceiling... just simple and easy !

I think that kind of system would sound great with the new Apple TV 4K and it’s implementation of Dolby Atmos later this year.

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-tv-4k-gets-dolby-atmos-sound-three-reasons-it-matters/

That’s the area where I would want to spend my money... I’m not a person who likes to play the same DVD Movies over and over again... I much prefer the streaming video services. I would be prepared wait for such an A/V system.

Admittedly, I’m quite lucky though compared to djsgrant, as I potentially have a good cable broadband connection in the area where I live, which will give an average download speed of 362Mbps, and upload speeds around 20Mbps... not that I currently pay for those type of speeds.
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melvimbe
July 31, 2018

Wow, such vitriol. You know this is just a discussion yes? Over 30 interesting posts and you think the title is the important point? I did warn about pedants but if you want to play that game ok.


As far as vitriol goes, you start off your thread with an inaccurate title that speaks negatively of Sonos. You also accuse them of 'stealing money from people', and that Sonos will be 'just a brick'...but it's not you with the vitriol, it's anyone who points out where your statements are inaccurate. Is that vitriol.


Such a disappointment Big Daddy, you had kept the passive aggressive stuff down to a minimum up until now


And you're the only one doing any name calling in this thread. Did you notice that?

I am on a similar page with Ken's suggestion, although I honestly don't know that I would end up going for that do to the logistics and aesthetics (and cost) of getting those speakers around the room. I don't have a dedicated theatre room, my main room is a combination of kitchen/family room/dining room, so there is limited wall space. In fact the tv is placed above the fireplace due to space limitation. If there was such an option available with Sonos, I probably would go with a true Left -Center-Right, instead of a soundbar, along with my current sub and surrounds, but that's it. Adding a second pair of surrounds would be difficult and probably wouldn't add too much due to the room it's in. Atmos? Hard to say.

I suspect a lot of customers are in similar situations, and those that can make it work are the ones who are willing to wire through the walls most likely. In other words, it makes sense that Sonos doesn't go this direction because there really isn't a big market space for a higher end wireless HT system beyond what they do now.

It may be a better strategy to try and work with the makers of these high end systems, provide the features and such they don't do as well, and have a sort of partnership. Seems to be what the 'works with Sonos' program is for, which Onkyo/Pioneer is on board with. It might make more sense for Sonos to come up with an updated Connect with Alexa built in as way of bringing the higher end HT market into the Sonos network.

I am a little surprised we haven't heard more about the works with Sonos program, but I suppose it's still kind of early yet.
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Danny
Lyricist III
July 31, 2018

But on the audio/music front, Sonos can be an uncompromised set up to match any audiophile one(whatever that means); and for those that want to extend the install to their TV in a living room in a clutter free way, Sonos soundbar based systems are an excellent route. I prefer not to use them because I prefer not to have TV in such spaces in the home, but that's just me.


That is a simply ridiculous statement. My B&W 703 s2's make the Sonos playbar sound like a bathroom bluetooth speaker when listening to music in stereo.

With regards to home theatre: I just switched my Sonos 5.1 set for a complete B&W 700 series HT set plus serious Denon A/V receiver that supports everything. The difference in sound is just enormous. Especially when you have HD audio tracks such as TrueHd and DTS MasterHD. My wife gets tears in her eyes because of the intensity and clarity of the sound tracks of movies now. Go to your local Hifi store and hear the difference.

Calling Sonos uncompromised HT is just BS in my opinion. It is severly compromised. No HD sound. No modern audio codecs. A closed eco system. Optical inputs. You will need transcoding for every 4k source because of Sonos. You might not need speaker cable, but you need power cables none the less.

I gave my Sonos to my parents-in-law. They love it. It's easy, it's convenient and they only had a TV speaker before. They hardly know the difference between Stereo and 5.1.
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Peagle
Enthusiast II
July 31, 2018


As far as vitriol goes, you start off your thread with an inaccurate title that speaks negatively of Sonos. You also accuse them of 'stealing money from people', and that Sonos will be 'just a brick'...but it's not you with the vitriol, it's anyone who points out where your statements are inaccurate. Is that vitriol.



The thread title accuracy is a matter of opinion but seems to have triggered some folks. Sonos defenders should calm down, this thread will die if you stop as it's just a rehash of the thousands of playbar complaint threads already posted. Most of you already agree with most of the points, so you come across as small minded bullies by attacking the original poster over who is more vitriolic. Come on be better.
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