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Sindreg
Contributor I
March 11, 2017

Stereo or surround mode

Hei
I have just bought a Playbar and 2 Play:5 speakers.
I have the playbar on the wall under my TV and the Play:5's as back speakers, works like hell!?
When i play from the sonos app, it plays in "stereo" mode and when i turn on the TV it plays in surround mode.
My question is how do i get "stereo" mode when im watching something on the TV like MTV and want the Play:5 back speakers to play like the bar and not as surround?

Thank you in advance for your reply
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      10 replies

      jgatie
      jgatie
      March 11, 2017
      At this time, only music sources play in Full mode. Anything via the TV plays in surround. There have been requests to allow a toggle for TV, but no response yet from Sonos.
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        Keithmac
        Virtuoso
        September 12, 2017
        Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).
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        RO53BEN
        RO53BEN
        Enthusiast II
        September 12, 2017
        Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).

        It really wouldn't. Who wants the voices from the TV to come from behind?
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        I am no longer active on these forums, DM me if you have a question, I'd be happy to help.
        jec6613
        Collaborator II
        September 12, 2017
        Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).
        In the US, most TV is 5.1 encoded, and is at least 3.0 channels - and even my local news is in 5.0, because they use a DPL encoder at the studio. Even ST:TNG in syndication is now in 5.1 upmixed from the original 2.0 capture. ATSC requires AC3, so unless the source material is old enough that it's only in stereo, you almost always get more channels.
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        SindregAuthor
        Contributor I
        September 13, 2017
        Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).

        It really wouldn't. Who wants the voices from the TV to come from behind?

        How come? What if your watching a music program and want the play5's to play more than just the cheering in the crowd?
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          Keithmac
          Virtuoso
          September 13, 2017
          Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).
          In the US, most TV is 5.1 encoded, and is at least 3.0 channels - and even my local news is in 5.0, because they use a DPL encoder at the studio. Even ST:TNG in syndication is now in 5.1 upmixed from the original 2.0 capture. ATSC requires AC3, so unless the source material is old enough that it's only in stereo, you almost always get more channels.

          I'm on Virgin Media Tivo in the UK and apart from the Movie channels the majority of the channels (200+?) are stereo unfortunately..
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          RO53BEN
          RO53BEN
          Enthusiast II
          September 13, 2017
          Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).

          It really wouldn't. Who wants the voices from the TV to come from behind?

          How come? What if your watching a music program and want the play5's to play more than just the cheering in the crowd?

          Why not feed the left and right speakers with the same sound too, so they can all play the same? :8
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          I am no longer active on these forums, DM me if you have a question, I'd be happy to help.
          jec6613
          Collaborator II
          September 13, 2017
          Would be nice to have the rear surrounds fill in or even mirror the Playbar right and left channels when it sees a Stereo input (most TV is stereo only..).

          It really wouldn't. Who wants the voices from the TV to come from behind?

          How come? What if your watching a music program and want the play5's to play more than just the cheering in the crowd?
          Because when you do that, it makes the band playing sound massive. The reason ambient sounds are fed to the back is so that it sounds like you're watching the band live - changing that soundstage makes it disorienting to many listeners. One of the many lessons of the research for Fantasound.

          It's not the only sonic sin, of course. I heard someone who had three stacked speakers, so it sounded like the guitar was 10 feet tall - very weird.
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            sbrahmer
            Lyricist I
            June 7, 2019
            Not quite sure why there isn't a response from Sonos on this. It is really frustrating. When I don't want to stream from the app, I use music service straight from the spotify app and it's annoying when it won't play in stereo mode. I have these sweet Play 5's that sound weak. Please sonos, create the option of stereo from TV, or at least give us an answer.
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            Stanley_4
            Stanley_4
            Grand Maestro
            June 7, 2019
            Expecting a response from Sonos to a post to the user to user forums isn't a good idea. If you want a response you should contact Sonos directly using one of the many options on the Sonos Contact page.
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