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I have a basic 5.1 home theater set up now (Yamaha receiver and basic speakers). I’m looking at 5.1 home theater set up from Sonos as my wife does not like wires running around much. What does it in Sonos which made you buy their 5.1 set up from the regular home theater ones. What will i gain and what will i lose. I like having discernible audio but no way close to a audiophile. Looking to know what made people move to sonos 5.1 set up from regular home theater.

Audibly, it’s the same. You have the front three speakers in a ‘bar’, whether it’s the Beam or Arc. This needs to be connected to the TV with an HDMI cable to the TV’s ARC HDMI port. And of course the power cable.

The surrounds connect via radio to the ‘bar’, requiring only power cables, and no speaker cables that run to the front. 


A few things you will gain:

1. A Sonos 5.1 home theater setup consists of a Sonos soundbar, wireless subwoofer, and two wireless surround speakers… so four wireless speakers as opposed to six wired speakers and a receiver which results in less clutter and a happy wife. And if you get the Sonos Arc, you can enjoy Dolby Atmos audio without installing wired ceiling speakers.

2. Sonos gives you the ability to expand to other rooms in the house for a whole-home wireless audio system. A Sonos 5.1 setup can play the same music as what you are playing in the kitchen, master bedroom, dining room, garage, bathroom, backyard, etc. This is great for entertaining.

3. The Sonos app is simple to use. Setting up a Sonos speaker is a breeze in the Sonos app. Streaming music through the app is also very easy. The app allows you to connect to all the major music streaming services and to your personal music library stored on a computer or NAS.

 

A few things you will lose:

1. No DTS audio support.

2. No independent center channel volume control.

3. There are no inputs to connect external media devices directly to a Sonos soundbar. Everything has to be directly connected to your TV which can cause some limitations.

 


A couple points to add,  One other thing you would get with Sonos is voice control and just about any other smart control.

 

The other point that I would add is if you don’t want to give up your separate front left and right speakers, and your wife doesn’t want wires running from the front to the back of the room, then perhaps getting Two Sonos amps is the way to go.  One amp will connect to your TV and power the front 2 speakers (phantom center channel).  You can also use your existing sub or a Sonos sub.  The second amp would wirelessly connect to the first amp and power the two rear speakers.  So you would obviously still have power cords, and some speaker wires, but not long wires across the length of the room.  That may not work for your layout, but it’s a thought.


I have a basic 5.1 home theater set up now (Yamaha receiver and basic speakers). I’m looking at 5.1 home theater set up from Sonos as my wife does not like wires running around much. What does it in Sonos which made you buy their 5.1 set up from the regular home theater ones. What will i gain and what will i lose. I like having discernible audio but no  10.0.0.0.1 way close to a audiophile. Looking to know what made people move to sonos 5.1 set up from regular home theater.

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