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Contributor I
Oct 14, 2026 2:07 PM UTC
Answered

Apple tv vs Google 4k streamer

I currently have an Apple TV 3rd gen tv streamer hooked up to a Beam 2 with Era 100s surrounds and a Sub mini in a very small living room.

Happy with everything but for reasons I won’t go into here I may have to swap out the Apple for a Google 4k streamer.

For those who use the Google 4k streamer are you getting good audio from your streamed movies/shows or should I avoid the swap?

jgatie
jgatieAnswer
Oct 15, 2026 12:53 PM UTC

I’ve used the Arc and Arc Ultra with various streamers; Apple TV, Roku, Invidia (Google/Android based), and Amazon Fire TV.  The only one that had problems was the 2nd Gen Amazon Fire TV Cube (say that 10 times fast) which would pass all the tests for Atmos sound, but wouldn’t play anything Atmos.  After several interactions with Amazon engineering, they admitted it was a flaw in the Cube device and a particular Samsung TV, but never fixed it.  It disappeared when I bought a new tv (another Samsung, BTW).

Other than that, everything plays just fine once you get the settings correct.

4 replies

Sotiris C.
Sonos Staff
Oct 15, 2026 11:47 AM UTC

Hello ​@ajh2, welcome to the Sonos Community!

I do not own or use Google TV Streamer 4K so I am unable to help in that regard.

With my response though, your thread moved to the top of the latest activity list, maybe another member can share their thoughts and advice for you.

I hope this helps.

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ajh2Author
Contributor I
Oct 15, 2026 12:47 PM UTC

Thank you.

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jgatie
jgatieAnswer
Oct 15, 2026 12:53 PM UTC

I’ve used the Arc and Arc Ultra with various streamers; Apple TV, Roku, Invidia (Google/Android based), and Amazon Fire TV.  The only one that had problems was the 2nd Gen Amazon Fire TV Cube (say that 10 times fast) which would pass all the tests for Atmos sound, but wouldn’t play anything Atmos.  After several interactions with Amazon engineering, they admitted it was a flaw in the Cube device and a particular Samsung TV, but never fixed it.  It disappeared when I bought a new tv (another Samsung, BTW).

Other than that, everything plays just fine once you get the settings correct.

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ajh2Author
Contributor I
Oct 15, 2026 12:56 PM UTC

That’s reassuring. Thanks.

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