I just wanted to share my experience using Sonos products in rather unorthodox setup.
My setup includes LG A2 OLED TV, Chromecast with Google TV 4K and two Sonos Roam.
My goal was to have somewhat surround sound for my TV with as few as possible cables and maximum flexibility in terms of devises’ placement. The TV is located in a small bedroom on the wall, two Sonos Roam on both sides of the bed. I chose to use Chromecast with Google TV because by default LG TV drops the bluetooth connection every time you switch it off. I instead paired via bluetooth Sonos and Chromecast. Chromecast and (already stereo-paired via Wi-Fi) Sonos Roam stay connected if you adjust Roam’s settings:
Bluetooth → Always Auto-Connect: Yes → Idle Auto-Disconnect: No
Battery → Battery Saver: No → WiFi Power Save: Yes
Ability to adjust Balance in Roam’s EQ settings gives you more flexibility in terms of placing your speakers, they don’t have to be positioned at the same distance from the listener and Roam’s exclusive Auto Trueplay tuning will further enhance the sound according to your furniture and space.
There’s absolutely no delay. This setup also removes the necessity of connecting your smart TV to the internet, therefore decluttering devices list suggested for AirPlay or Casting. The best benefit is that you don’t have to turn on/off, pair/unpair multiple devices, it’s always ready to go. You start casting from your phone/computer, TV turns on automatically. If you desire to play music on two Roam speakers, that will be done, as usual, over Wi-Fi, so the bluetooth pairing with the TV stays intact. If you have other Google Nest, Google Home or Chromecast devices, you can group them with the Chromecast with Google TV 4K, attached to the TV and, you guessed it, the sound will come out of the Sonos speakers as well as other devices in the group. (I have not tested latency in this case, but, as far as I remember, there’s always a manual adjustment possible in Google Home app for individual devices).
Sonos devices do incredible job of computing massive amounts of data extremely fast so the wireless stereo-pairing works perfect 99.99% of the time. Not sure about Dolby Atmos level of surround sound, but if the door in the movie opens on the left you hear it from the left speaker. I know that certain apps on Chromecast with Google TV are not able to correctly identify connected audio devices, HBO MAX for example, so my advice would be to switch the Advanced audio settings on Chromecast to “Never use surround sound”.
NB. I have a feeling it would be a similar experience using Apple TV 4K, instead of the Chromecast.
NB. Elmedia Video Player is a good casting app for Mac
NB. LG A2 doesn’t have RCA or 3.5mm
