The penny dropped


Hi,

I have had the playbar and recently added the sub, now due to various circumstances beyond my control haven't had the chance to fully have these up and running but I have had a chance to test them out, and I was really pleased.

Naturally I was looking to add some play 1s to the mix and enjoy a proper 5.1. The penny dropped. Not in my case because I decided against purchasing them. See I was not aware that sonos does not offer true 5.1 at the time of purchasing. It was only when I decided to buy the 1s that I found out. Yes I can buy this TV, couple it with that bluray and use this switch and then I can make it work somehow. But isn't the whole point of having a sonos system, simplicity?

Having to have to change my whole media centre to accommodate sonos sounds anything but!! Having read on this topic I realised that sonos have a different idea to most people on home theatre and look quite set in their ways.

So it saddens me that I will have to give up wireless and the perceived simplicity of sonos for a traditional receiver and 5.1, or another Soundbar that decoders the codecs I need.

I don't mean to come on here and bash sonos especially on my first post. But I want my voice to be heard. If you guys just accept this, nothing will happen(I know it's been discussed for years) . Openly speak out and hopefully one day it will fall on ears that have been treated for ear wax.

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15 replies

sonos does not offer true 5.1
To be clear: It certainly does, if fed a Dolby 5.1 signal.

That said, many a TV won't pass through 5.1 from HDMI. And of course Sonos have decided not to support DTS.
sonos does not offer true 5.1
To be clear: It certainly does, if fed a Dolby 5.1 signal.

That said, many a TV won't pass through 5.1 from HDMI. And of course Sonos have decided not to support DTS.


Yeah sorry that's what I meant, it's a very fussy system that requires the right TV, the right bluray play etc.
It's hardly 'fussy' to ask for a 5.1 signal if what you want to reproduce is 5.1. On that basis every AV receiver on the planet is 'fussy'.
Userlevel 6
Badge +3
I have 5.1 all the time and do not find it "fussy" at all. But that being said my TV (Vizio) pass 5.1 to my PlayBar.
I don't think you guys understand my point. It's fussy in the sense that if you don't have a vizio or a Sony then you need to resort to methods that go against the companies ethos of simplicity.

Ofcourse it's fussy if in order to get true 5.1 dd you need to have a TV that can do dd through optical port and hdmi. Which as far as I know only vizio and Sony do out of the box. I don't know about you but that is a big deal. Why can't it be that the playbar decodes this?? Then I won't be forced to get a Samsung bluray and a Sony TV to get dd 5.1 natively. A sound bar that forces me into two brands, in order to work as advertised is fussy. Especially since the problems with 5.1 are not advertised.

Moat bluray I have are dts, my bluray doesn't down sample dts to dd so now I have to go and find movies that are dd, it's fussy to the point that only certain movies work.

What I really don't understand from some people in this forum having read a few threads. Is that despite these obvious flaws, you still defend sonos and with that attitude nothing will change.
I personally do not defend Sonos' decision on the Playbar/Playbase. I think they are a miss due to all the reasons you state.

I also don't expect my "attitude", or anyone else's, to change anything. Sonos knows its target market, and the Playbar is running at 4.5 stars on Amazon with almost 1000 reviews, so they must be doing something right. It's just not for me, which is why I have a traditional A/V receiver and a Connect for my Home Theater. But as they say, horses for courses.
I personally do not defend Sonos' decision on the Playbar/Playbase. I think they are a miss due to all the reasons you state.

I also don't expect my "attitude", or anyone else's, to change anything. Sonos knows its target market, and the Playbar is running at 4.5 stars on Amazon with almost 1000 reviews, so they must be doing something right. It's just not for me, which is why I have a traditional A/V receiver and a Connect for my Home Theater. But as they say, horses for courses.


This seems like the route that I will be taking. Dont get me wrong I love the sonos how they sound and the simplicity of it, and the fact that everyone at home can just operate it. But I guess that's what the connect box can do to a conventional 5.1 set up.

A shame really because if they do decide to make it fully compliant with all codecs I will have it in a heart beat.
I think what Sonos needs to do for less compromised HT is: https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/proposed-sonos-51-ht-system-6787043
Userlevel 3
Badge +6
I am actually in agreement with Habdelkadir and jgatie.
Due to the connectivity restrictions imposed by Sonos, it becomes fiddly especially if you were not aware of the 5.1 optical pass through limitations on most TVs.
This has temporarily stopped me from adding a sub and rear pair to my play bar.
I am now considering an alternative solution for my TV viewing (a traditional AV solution is not high on my list).
I'm hopping Samsung can fix via a patch, or will wait until I need a new TV and get a Sonos friendly one.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
I'm also using the CONNECT plus a traditional 5.1 setup for HT. I already had an old but decently performing Yamaha/KEF 5.1 system, and the CONNECT brings it into the SONOS universe quite conveniently.

There are just more boxes, cables and complexity than in a pure SONOS solution. I also suspect a PlayBase + SUB + 2 x PLAY:1s would sound better than my system.
I already had an old but decently performing Yamaha/KEF 5.1 system
There are just more boxes, cables and complexity than in a pure SONOS solution. I also suspect a PlayBase + SUB + 2 x PLAY:1s would sound better than my system.

As long as your old 5.1 system also has .1 from a decent KEF sub, I do not think Sonos would sound better. More boxes and cables - no doubt.
I am also pretty sure that for music, Connect + the Yamaha running in 2.1 stereo driving the relevant KEF speakers would do better than the referred Sonos components.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
As long as your old 5.1 system also has .1 from a decent KEF sub, I do not think Sonos would sound better. More boxes and cables - no doubt.
I am also pretty sure that for music, Connect + the Yamaha running in 2.1 stereo driving the relevant KEF speakers would do better than the referred Sonos components.

KEF KHT 2005.2 Speakers + HTB2SE Sub, so probably not bad, and quite enjoyable to listen to, but it's never really impressed me for music. A stereo pair of PLAY:5s sounds significantly better for that.
A stereo pair of PLAY:5s sounds significantly better for that.
Now that is a very different set up compared to a play base derived one, to which my comment applied - largely because the latter does not provide the stereo image obtained from a physically separated front left/right speaker combination. Which the 5 pair does, so it may well sound better than your HT set up, both being similar in layout.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
A stereo pair of PLAY:5s sounds significantly better for that.
Now that is a very different set up compared to a play base derived one, to which my comment applied - largely because the latter does not provide the stereo image obtained from a physically separated front left/right speaker combination. Which the 5 pair does, so it may well sound better than your HT set up, both being similar in layout.


Good point. I'm going to resist the temptation to buy a PLAYBASE for direct experimentation. SONOS has enough of my money for the time being :8
Based on your signature, I'd have to agree with you!