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beardontwalk123
Avid Contributor I
May 29, 2025

Calibrating with an SPL Meter

Hello everyone!

I am still newer to Sonos and have a Beam Gen 2, Era 100’s, along with a Sub Mini. I am curious if using an SPL Meter is still recommended for my rear speakers or do I just let TruePlay do its thing and keep it where it at.

I have heard that we need to use our ears more with these setups as it’s more room filling pseudo effects rather than direct. I tend to be a slave to the SPL Meter and making sure all the channels are level. Maybe I just need to change my thinking.

Thanks for any input!

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15 replies

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Rhonny
Prodigy III
May 30, 2025

​@beardontwalk123 

...and personally, I run Trueplay and whilst it gets me 95% of the way there, in the majority of my speakers I need to slightly adjust the bass and treble to my liking. And I never play my speakers loud enough to justify turning Loudness off.

And yes, when you go through the Trueplay process, it takes into account where you’re sitting between the speakers before you undertake the walk around the room. But it can never be 100% sure where you’re going to be sitting so if you need to increase or decrease the surround level for TV and also separately for music, then go right ahead. 

Rtings is a starting point. As you already appreciate, sound beauty is in the ear of the beholder. I’ve set my TV to Rtings settings before and it helped me get a close approximation but every panel is different and every room is different. 10 degrees of TV placement angle can make a difference to the colour or brightness settings needed, so the precise placement of a Sonos speaker (even after running Trueplay) can make a difference to the EQ settings needed (if any). 

A barber can give you a good haircut, but sometimes only you can determine if you need to ask for a bit more off the front.

 

    craigski
    Local Superstar
    May 30, 2025

    A barber can give you a good haircut, but sometimes only you can determine if you need to ask for a bit more off the front.

    Only if you are fortunate enough to have anything left on the front.

      craigski
      Local Superstar
      May 30, 2025

      So, do you guys just TruePlay and leave it, or do you tweak things after? I think I have seen consensus that Loudness should be left on which was another question I asked last week.

      I run Trueplay, but only wave the phone around where my ears would be whilst listening in room, I don’t see point in doing a whole room floor to ceiling wave like the video, unless you listen whilst laying on floor, or are very tall. Just move it where your ears are in a quiet environment.

      Loudness may be useful when listening at low volume, otherwise off.

      Rhonny
      Prodigy III
      May 30, 2025

      A barber can give you a good haircut, but sometimes only you can determine if you need to ask for a bit more off the front.

      Only if you are fortunate enough to have anything left on the front.

      Believe me, the very use of that metaphor made me weep at the memory of having hair…

      Stanley_4
      Stanley_4
      Grand Maestro
      May 31, 2025

      It never ceases to amaze me when someone wants to use someone else's settings.

      Why would you do that? Would you use someone else's dentures, glasses or hearing aids?

      I can understand audiophile types that care little for the sound and just want to have the most impressive looking (not sounding) system, it is common in many areas where obsession overrides reality. Same for folks who must follow authority, no matter the result.

      I'm firmly in the "sounds good to me" group and while I will spend to get quality equipment I won't spend for nonsense or actually counterproductive stuff.

      Your room, and speaker placement is not similar to mine, making my settings useless to others.

      My ears are not similar to yours so using my settings will likely sound bad for your ears.

       

      Comes down to a simple choice in the end, play mind games or play music that sounds good.

      Your ears and taste define good, not someone else who has minimal knowledge of your situation. 

       

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