Home theater

When i set my TCL TV audio output to auto it plays youtube content in dolby multi channel pcm 2.0. when i set it to passthrough it plays content in stereo pcm. Auto sounds a lot louder/dynamic at the same volume level and to my ears sounds better? Passthrough sounds quieter but perhaps technically better quality? (I’m not sure). I thought the best setting for a soundbar was to set it to passthrough so it receives uncoded audio and the soundbar outputs the raw source? It seems like I prefer the opposite! Which format is better? I have a beam gen 2 FYI. It’s the same on Netflix also. I can’t remember the formats displayed on the Sonos now playing screen but auto sounds better to me also. Would love to hear some audio enthusiasts advice! 

Our previous LG soundbar has broken, and with already having lots of Sonos speakers around the ground floor, I want to get a Sonos soundbar to replace it.The budget isn’t high at all, as we’re not looking for anything crazy - it’s my parents house - and they just want a replacement for their previous mid-tier LG soundbar (LG LAS455H). All I want is the Sonos quality.I’ve found some good deals online, particularly looking at CEX - as they offer a 5 year warranty for free which would give a bit of peace of mind. A playbar and gen2 sub would come to £380 total which is a crazy good deal in my opinion. I’ve heard this system and I know its great, but I want your opinions - is this system still worth it and reliable to buy refurbished in 2026? Bear in mind we are replacing a mid-tier system (would have cost abut £350 when the playbar/sub setup in question would have cost £1200) so any better sound is an upgrade.

Just read a very helpful thread on ERA300’s ceiling mount Vs In ceiling ….. I have the same issue. Probably easier than the OP on that thread. We have a rectangular room. But with a large triangular corner in glass. Long story, looks nice etc but not ideal for placing speakers.The front viewing wall is perfectly symetrical and has just been rewired so TV, sound bar and other components are perfectly centered as is the viewing settee. The viewing settee has a left hand and right hand 2 seater settee perpendicular to the main viewing settee.So everything is front is peachy. But the rear means the ERA 300 RHS would be over the arm if wall mounted. Not ideal. The LHS one not a problem. Can use floor stands but I’m thinking ceiling mounted on a Flexson and use SW in app to invert the sound? The flexson appears have a long reach such that it could be in a proper position in line with the Arc Ultra.This is the Flexson ceiling mount in question. not the prettiest but maybe works.Install is no

My current home theater setup bought in December 2020 is as followsArc Sound bar Set with 1 x Arc, 1 x Sub 3 and 2 x Era 100 SL.Which one of the component, a Sub 4 or 2 x Era 300 will make the biggest difference. I dont wish change the current soundbar or Sub 3, as that will hurt my budget. I use it for watching TV and playing music from streaming services.  

We have a Sonos Ray connected to a Sony Bravia TV via optical cable, and we use streaming services from the TV’s apps, or watch VirginMedia for digital live TV.  With our previous Samsung soundbar, and with the TV’s built in volume we get a consistent volume across Virgin and the streaming apps, and have never had issues.With the Sonos Ray connected and with the TV remote set up to control the Ray’s volume, we now have inconsistent volumes across Virgin and the streaming services - we can watch Netflix and have the TV volume on, say, 10 and then when we switch to Virgin the volume is significantly higher and we have to turn the volume way down.Another symptom of this is that when the volume is too loud we have to turn down all the way to zero, but can still hear the sound from the Ray, and have to keep pressing volume down for a while to get to “real” zero sound from the soundbar, and then come back up again.Is this normal/expected behaviour?  It’s driving us crazy!

Play 1 has no surround sound. App saying it’s not registered. When done as instructed, same message appearing

I have a recurring error trying to pair my Sonos bean (gen 2). It also is not producing sound out connected to the tv. The beam is connected to WiFi by Ethernet and to the TV by hdmi arc

I have an LG OLED TV, Google Streaming 4k, HDHomerun 4k, Sonos Beam 2 with 2 play 1 speakers in surround sound. I had the strangest experience.  I was watch a movie on Disney when a commerical came on (I’m cheap) so I used my LG remote (instead of the Google Streamng remote) to mute the commercial.  (I like the feel of the LG remote and thought I didn’t matter which remote I used.)The TV went blank for a second and when it came back I had no sound.  When I tried to go to TV speakers sound would play for a second the go silent.I tried a number of approaches to bring back sound - thinking it was an LG issue or an HDHome run issue.  Finally just unplugged Sonos beam and plugged it back in.  That fixed it. Strange.  I have retired the LG remote.

Hi, I have a first generation Arc a gen 3 sub and two Era 300s in my living room. The Era 300s are set up as surrounds but I regularly unbond them for music and don't think they sound great as surrounds.They seem just too quiet and I find I have to push all the levels up to max to get any real impact.For music they are way better just as a stereo pair.I don't think there is anything wrong with the speakers I just don't find the implementation to be great. It bothers me no end that Sonos won't let me enable the centre channel. in my room it would be better the centre than the far side channels.I also wish there was a music mode for the Eras so that they can be set to just those for music, unpairing is ok but it plays havoc with my room setup in the app and Alexa.I do love Sonos and have speakers in every room but am just disappointed with this setup. I kind of just lived with it until now but it appears other brands are making some interesting stuff. The LG Soundsuite is looking interes

Hello community,I bought a pair of Era 300 additionally to my Arc Ultra and Sub Gen 4, and I'm looking for how to position them the best in my living room using a pair of Sanus tilt&swivel wall mounts. The room has an L shaped sofa against the wall.I'm having trouble to decide on the height - should it be hang higher to increase the distance from our heads? At ear level? A few inches higher? Near the ceiling rotated upwards down? Also, I'm having trouble with choosing the best location to mount the speakers. The left speaker can be mounted in any height in the backwall, but the problem is with the right speaker due to a window near the right wall. I thought of these options:1. Place on the backwall between the window and the right wall, in any height. Con: there will be just 2 inches between the speaker and the right wall (>8 recommend?) 2. Place on the backwall under the window at >8inch from the wall. Con: it will fit but be just 2 inches from our heads.3. Place on the righ

Even with the launch of the new Amp Multi, there still does not appear to be a way to power my 7.1 surround system without also buying an amp from another company such as Denon.  Am I missing something?  Seems like an obvious gap.  Please ship an Amp with HDMI eARC and Dolby ATMOS surround decoding for 8 channels plus a sub.  The Amp Multi could have been great to target multiple use cases. 

I’ve just replaced the soundbar in our RV with my Beam Gen but am having problems with the sound dropping out intermittently.  The TV that came with the RV isn’t great and too small anyway, so I’m thinking to just replace it rather than try to troubleshoot.What capabilities should I be looking for when researching a new TV so the Beam works properly.  I will not have WiFi so I cannot use the app.

Hi,I currently have a great setup of an original Sonos Arc with a Sub Gen 2 and 2 x Sonos ones at the rear….would I be better upgrading to the Arc ultra or 2 x Era 300’s at the back??? Thanks 

As mentioned pretty much every morning when I am up watching the TV(Samsung recent model) the sound drops out. A power on and off fixes it every time. All connections are stable and firm but it keeps happening. I only upgraded from a similar setup with an old player, connected the same way that never had an issue. The Arc is directly connected to the TV via HDMI, my old set up was optical. I have done some research but no avail so would appreciate any help.

I wonder what is the best placement for 2x era 300 for surround. Tv has to be in the place it it. I wonder if this is the most optimal placement? Any tips 

Hi everyone,I am currently planning a new audio setup for a dedicated living room centered around a Samsung Frame TV. The absolute priority for this project is strict minimalism; I want to preserve the "art piece" aesthetic of the Frame TV completely, which means no soundbars or visible front speakers underneath or around the display.To achieve this, I am planning to use a Sonos Amp to drive a pair of Sonos Architectural In-Ceiling Speakers by Sonance, paired wirelessly with a Sonos Sub.This system will also integrate into an existing first-floor Sonos ecosystem, which already features two Sonos Five (one in the fireplace area, one in the dining area) and a Sonos Move (dedicated to the kitchen area). The main goal is to use the ceiling setup for TV audio, but seamlessly group it with the Five and Move for whole-first-floor music streaming when the television is turned off.I have attached a layout diagram of the room for context. The TV is mounted on the front/left wall (Red circle), an

Hello, delighted with my latest acquistion of the Beam Gen 2 home theatre set.I have connected everything as normal, however when I connect the HDMI to the arc port in the TV (samsung) the app says “arc not detectedf try again.”The sound works fine but shoild I connect to another port/change the HDMI cable?Appreciate any guidance available.

Hello Sonos Community.I recently, and finally, moved my Era 300 pair to the behind the sofa position. The point here is, as you can see on the pictures, I don’t have space to move them further back, it’s a passing way, so, they have to be that close to the back of the sofa. My question is, do you think the height and orientation is good like this? If you can see a white pillow in the middle of the sofa, is where my head usually is while watching TV. I guess I should not do a inwards rotation of the Eras, right? Because of the lateral firing speakers.Thank you very much for you time.Cheers 

Hi All,Yesterday my sound stopped working from the Arc.  After following a few suggestions of toggling things off and on, restarting tv and arc (fixed it for about a minute then dropped again), I had to reset it.  Only then it appears to be back on although haven’t had it on for longer than 15 mins today to see if its a fix.  Been working fine for over 2 years.Why would it do this?  Is it likely developing and problem or could it simply be a one off handshake issue?Strangely, when I tried to run the SONOS radio instead of TV, the sound came through the rear surrounds.

I currently have a Sonos Play Bar connected to my 85 inch Samsung TV.  Since I am experiencing audio drop off’s I am looking to replace the Play Bar with the Arc. My Play Bar currently sits on the counter, under my wall hung TV, that sits at a slight forward angle. At present, the Play Bar is actually hung on the wall by screws, just with about 1/8” clearance above the counter top. The top of the Play Bar is about 1 ½ to 2 inches below the bottom of the TV but sits a good 12 inches behind the bottom of the TV. Based on what I have read within the community, I do not believe the 4 inch separation from the bottom of the TV to the top of the Arc is an issue. Before purchasing, I thought I would reach out for expert advice on placement of the Arc. Is it better to place the Arc against the back wall just like I have the Play Bar now? Or should I bring the Arc forward, in front of the TV, since I have 7 ½ inches of counter top in front of the TV? Whether the Arc is against the back wall or i

Hello,I’m hoping someone can help me ensure I get the settings right on my setup. The reason for this is my Sonos Arc keeps cutting out, this causes my TV to switch to TV Speakers then back to the Sonos Arc and its driving me nuts when trying to enjoy TV. Also sometimes I will start watching TV but the Sonos will not engage and so the TV Speakers are used, I have to turn off the Arc at the plug then turn it back on to get the Sonos to take control of the audio output.I have a Sony XR-55A95K Bravia 4K VH21 and a Apple TV 4K (A2843 + 128GB) running TVOS 26.5. All connected via HDMI Cables (Apple TV --> TV & TV ( HDMI® eARC port)--> Sonos Arc).I have replaced the HDMI cables to remove the possibility of a faulty HDMI cable causing the issue, the Arc is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi and my Apple TV is connected via Cat 6 Ethernet cable.I’ve also factory restored my TV but no difference and even re-set the TV and didn’t connected it to the internet or setup and ‘Smart’ featu

I’ve been invested into the Sonos ecosystem for a while now. I’m waiting for delivery of a stereo pair of Fives to go with a turntable. The question is should I upgrade my aging surround set up, namely my rear Play 1’s and Playbar. My mini sub is fairly new and doesn’t need replacing. The build quality of my Play 1’s and Playbar is such that they still sound good to my ear. Does the new stuff blow it out of the water?

i am mounting my sony bravia k-77xr8b tv above fireplace mantel that is 56" high & 9" deep. viewing distance is 11 feet.i want to add my sonos arc ultra soundbar to the confirguration by attaching it to whatever mount I use. Should i use the sanus tilt mount VLT7 and Sanus soundbar mount for arc OR use  the Mantel Mount model MM-MAX1? Viewing distance is approx11 feet from fireplace.  No heat issues as we dont use fireplace.  Secondly, If i use the MM-MAX1 TV Mantel Mount, will the arc utra attach properly to its included soundbar mount?