Switching between surround sound and single speaker for music?

  • 12 April 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 1379 views

I just purchased another Sonos One speaker today for the purpose of setting up surround sound in my kitchen/family room (which are connected). Previously, I only had one of the Ones in my kitchen that I use to listen to music while I'm cooking or doing dishes and whatnot. I like to use the Alexa feature for timers and skipping songs when my hands are dirty. Now I have a Beam with 2x Sonos Ones bonded as surround sound speakers in the kitchen, facing the family room and TV.  The problem I have (that everyone else seems to like) is that anytime I want to play music in the kitchen at night while my kids are sleeping, I have to listen to the beam and both Ones in surround sound. I don’t want this. Previously, I would just listen to the one speaker and it was plenty loud and not full of too much bass.

I went through the process of turning off the surrounds and only listening to the beam in to the family room, but its too far away and I have to turn it up too loud to hear it. Then I went through the process of unbonding them from the beam as surrounds. This eliminated the surround sound component and allowed me to control each Sonos One individually again.  Unfortunately I have to set up the surrounds again if I want to enjoy the surround sound. 

Is there an easy way to switch back and forth between listening to the surround sound speakers when watching a movie and then only listening to one of them for music at another time? Like a “Cinema mode” or “music mode”? I want to be able to just select one of the Ones and play music from it. 

PS, Surround sound works perfectly. We watched a movie tonight and it was great. I like how you can adjust the volume of the rear speakers to enhance the sound behind you. It’s for this reason, that I don’t want to just bail on the surround sound completely.  But I don’t want to have to set up a surround sound connection every time I want to watch a movie. 

Any suggestions would be helpful. 

 

 


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.

2 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I don’t think there is any quick and easy way to do what you’re asking. With the One SL on sale you could buy another speaker for the kitchen and just play to it when needed. You’ve already found the sliders to adjust the ratio of volume between Beam and surrounds so if that doesn’t give enough adjustment, it’s either an extra speaker or break up the Home Theatre setup. 
A Move would introduce a new dynamic to include easy relocation and outdoor use (when we’re able to get out again) too 😜

Same issue here. Switching back and forth works fine but is tedious, even when you have to set up the trueplay each time you change the configuration. I wish there was an easier way to do that.