Beam setting up with Receiver

Similar issues, was told to call in for help with the set up.

The Beam is not meant to use with a receiver. It is meant to be used with an HDMI-ARC or optical out on your TV. It effectively eliminates the receiver, with all sources going HDMI into the TV, and the audio going HDMI-ARC out to the Beam. If you are not getting any audio from the optical out on the TV, you may need to activate the audio out in the settings for the TV.

For more info, see this link:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/2659?language=en_US

So, I did not find anything that says I cannot use my receiver (it has HDMI ARC out) with the beam, but I was able to get rid of the receiver and get the optical out from the TV to play. I tried a lot of different things and at the end of the day just unplugged my beam and went to sleep. Next morning I was desperate to get it to work and plugged it back in and worked! I was also working with Sonos support on twitter, and when I said it worked they said "I must not have initialized at first". Whatever it was, it worked and I was also able to add my surrounds to it and I like the sound i have in the room now! So I would add, if its not working, just try powering it down and powering up after some time. Might just work! Good luck!

Glad it worked. Out of my own curiously, how do you currently have everything setup? Do you have your video sources (blue ray, cable, streamer) connected to the receiver, the receiver connected to the tv, and the tv connected to the Beam?
Is it video sources connected to receiver, receiver connected to tv, and receiver connected to Beam? Or is it some other setup.

Also, do you have separate speakers connected to your receiver through speaker wires?

All my HDMI are going to the TV. Couple of years back I cut the cable so now all my entertainment is online streamed and cast. The number of HDMI's on my TV are sufficient now. And I have a second TV in the basement for my gaming.....

So you aren't using the receiver at all then?

I'll be setting up a Beam for my 'gaming tv' this afternoon. Really looking forward to how it turns out.

HI Ashish/Melvimbe,

How did it go for you guys?

Looks like i stumbled on to your post at the right time.

My set up BEAM + SUB + 2 PLAY 1's in 5.1 surround.

I was planning to do what Ashish did initially, nearly bought a Yamaha AVR too today. But then sense prevailed and decided to hold off till I do a bit more research.

My current set up is that Beam is connected through the TV HDMI ARC downstream from the TV. All my sources connect with HDMI directly to the TV.

My problem and frustration is that my Laptop display card that connects to the TV sends only 2 channel stereo audio and the TV in turn sends this stereo sound to the Beam. I can see this in the app.

So for this purpose, I was thinking of adding an AVR in between the Laptop and TV just to to get 5.1 sent to the TV. Could'nt find much literature on this so was at the YAMAHA studio today testing with my Alienware.

I hooked up the Laptop to a Yamaha HTR-4072 HDMI input, connected the AVR HDMI ARC output to the demo TV. Result Video was good, I got audio from the TV speakers. In my laptop playback properties I could see the playback device under the TV's name and voila TV playback device properties was now showing me 8 channels and multiple audio formats.

What I am now unsure is about the beam working downstream from the TV after the above test case through HDMI ARC/OPTICAL as obviously I couldnt lug the beam with me and that too to Yamaha.

Any thoughts on this or advice on how to solve my conundrum would be much appreciated.

PS - wanted to do the test with a Yamaha soundbar similar to my test scenario but the boys there were dead against hooking up an AVR and soundbar to the TV simultaneously, I didnt get the logic but didnt push it. Because in my head the AVR out would have gone to a normal HMDI in to the TV and Beam through the HDMI ARC or if that failed AVR HDMI ARC out to TV HDMI ARC input and beam through the TV optical port.

The Beam is an amplified speaker. It is designed to replace an AVR not work alongside one. I cannot quite get past that to fathom what you are trying to do, I'm afraid.

Maybe you just need an external sound card for the laptop?

So you aren't using the receiver at all then?

I'll be setting up a Beam for my 'gaming tv' this afternoon. Really looking forward to how it turns out.
Melvimbe looking forward to your input on my earlier comment!

The Beam is an amplified speaker. It is designed to replace an AVR not work alongside one. I cannot quite get past that to fathom what you are trying to do, I'm afraid.

Maybe you just need an external sound card for the laptop?
HI John,

I understand but the beam also reproduces sound as is its input. For stereo sound that goes as input to the beam it emulates what it does for stereo music. Not true 5.1 surround as I understand correct me if I'm wrong.

A Laptop/PC uses its display card for sound when connected with HDMI. Now when it is connected in this fashion it sends only 2 channel stereo sound as input to the TV. From days of pouring over very little literature on the internet I believe this has something to with the response signal that the TV sends back through this HDMI connection.


For me I decided to use my Laptop as my Media Hub as:
1) It is pretty powerful for everything.
2) I get to sync my Phillips hue lights to the movie on the Laptop screen.

What I want to do or am trying to do is send 5.1 surround sound from my laptop as the source to the TV through the HDMI connection.

I have stumbled onto posts where SONOS owners (especially PLAYBAR) with older TV's used small HDMI audio extractors with ARC support to pass through HDMI Video and Connected the SONOS to the optical out of the HDMI extractor box!

So wondering if my IDEA will work though an expensive solution I don't mind if I get what I paid for.

But it needs to work if I have to buy in. They don't do returns in my part of the world.