Contributor I

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Using Sonos Ones/SL as front speakers and Beam behind

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Hi - I would like to use the Sonos Ones/SLs as front speakers (so voice/commentary comes from there) and the Beam is positioned behind me in my setup. Currently, the Ones/SLs seem to have the rear audio coming out instead with the Beam outputting the front sound. Is this possible to reverse this with the app? If not, can this be a feature added to the app?

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rattyAnswer

I’m afraid the chances of Sonos implementing this kind of functionality are infinitesimally small, in keeping with the demand.

106rallye

First: it's not the app that's doing this, it's the system. The app is just a remote to the system.

Second: I'm curious as to why you would want this. The Beam is the right speaker for commentary, because it closest to the TV and in the middle, so it sounds as if the voice are coming from the TV. In your proposed set up the sound stage would be compleley wrong.

ratty

In your proposed set up the sound stage would be compleley wrong.

With the Beam’s left channel coming over one’s right shoulder, and vice versa. Totally wonky.

K

KabirAuthor

Contributor I

First: it's not the app that's doing this, it's the system. The app is just a remote to the system.

Second: I'm curious as to why you would want this. The Beam is the right speaker for commentary, because it closest to the TV and in the middle, so it sounds as if the voice are coming from the TV. In your proposed set up the sound stage would be compleley wrong.

The reason for this setup - my bedroom. I have a projector on the rear wall connected to the Beam. The projector screen is attached to ceiling and the front left and right will be mounted at the left and right of the projector screen. It’s a small room hence the setup - it would be great if we could choose our front speaker channels through the app in our setups.

K

KabirAuthor

Contributor I

In your proposed set up the sound stage would be compleley wrong.

With the Beam’s left channel coming over one’s right shoulder, and vice versa. Totally wonky.

I flipped the Beam upside down for this so channels are inverted - couldn’t do that via the App either

rattyAnswer

I’m afraid the chances of Sonos implementing this kind of functionality are infinitesimally small, in keeping with the demand.

K

KabirAuthor

Contributor I

I’m afraid the chances of Sonos implementing this kind of functionality are infinitesimally small, in keeping with the demand.

We should have an option to at least position speakers in the room via the app in the room - especially for situations with projectors and screens.

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

I’m afraid the chances of Sonos implementing this kind of functionality are infinitesimally small, in keeping with the demand.

We should have an option to at least position speakers in the room via the app in the room - especially for situations with projectors and screens.

Can I have a modification so it makes me a cup of tea in the morning, please? There should at least be an option for this, too.

K

KabirAuthor

Contributor I

I’m afraid the chances of Sonos implementing this kind of functionality are infinitesimally small, in keeping with the demand.

We should have an option to at least position speakers in the room via the app in the room - especially for situations with projectors and screens.

Can I have a modification so it makes me a cup of tea in the morning, please? There should at least be an option for this, too.

There’s Alexa for that. But come on, switching front left and right audio channels on speakers can be done via software surely.

melvimbe

There’s Alexa for that. But come on, switching front left and right audio channels on speakers can be done via software surely.

It’s not a matter of ‘could it be done’ but rather of ‘should it be done’. There just aren’t that many people out there that are going to want that functionality. While development of the feature may or may not be easy, you’re still going to have to test and maintain the feature. You don’t want to make your speakers complex and costly to support just to please a small number of customers.

I will say though that it’s not that uncommon for people to request the ability to configure the rear surround channel speakers to play the front left/right channels respectively. This is requested mostly for those with hearing issues or for when you’re listening to music through the TV and surround sound isn’t present. It could help for those who don’t care about surround sound but want greater stereo separation up front. It would also be useful for your situation, although not 100% ideal. Lastly, it could be used in large rooms with Sonos amps, where your goal is just to cover the space with stereo audio as much as possible.

IMO, I think that’s a feature worth implementing, because it’s useful for many smaller groups of customers.

Danny

K

KabirAuthor

Contributor I

There’s Alexa for that. But come on, switching front left and right audio channels on speakers can be done via software surely.

It’s not a matter of ‘could it be done’ but rather of ‘should it be done’. There just aren’t that many people out there that are going to want that functionality. While development of the feature may or may not be easy, you’re still going to have to test and maintain the feature. You don’t want to make your speakers complex and costly to support just to please a small number of customers.

I will say though that it’s not that uncommon for people to request the ability to configure the rear surround channel speakers to play the front left/right channels respectively. This is requested mostly for those with hearing issues or for when you’re listening to music through the TV and surround sound isn’t present. It could help for those who don’t care about surround sound but want greater stereo separation up front. It would also be useful for your situation, although not 100% ideal. Lastly, it could be used in large rooms with Sonos amps, where your goal is just to cover the space with stereo audio as much as possible.

IMO, I think that’s a feature worth implementing, because it’s useful for many smaller groups of customers.

I would be happy if that feature was made possible - even if the sound was distributed over each channel equally rather than ‘surround sound’, but still maintaining the left/right stereo would be great. I have to say although my setup is in reverse basically, it still sounds very good with Ones in front and Beam above/behind in a small room. You just have to play with settings to increase the sound of the Ones in front. And also, this only applies when watching Dolby content or TV. Regular Spotify distributes sound equally amongst all speakers.

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