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Does the product line used for the rear speakers determine whether it is 5.1/7.1?

  • March 15, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 97 views
A
  • Anonymous

It has been confirmed that when using two Sonos Ones as rear speakers with Sonos Arc, they operate as 5.1. When playing the following 7.1.4 test tone, the sound of Ls and Lrs is simulated exactly the same, which proves that the Sonos Arc + Sonos One surround pair operates as 5.1.

https://music.apple.com/kr/album/sequence-pink-noise-7-1-4/1748110988?i=1748110990&ls

But I found one article : https://www.sonos.com/en-us/blog/5-1-vs-7-1-surround-sound

This article says that if you pair a Sonos Arc with a pair of Sonos Era 100s, it will work as 7.1.

So my question is... if you pair Sonos Era 100 with your Sonos Arc, in a 7.1.4 test tone, can you feel the difference between Ls and Lrs?

https://music.apple.com/kr/album/sequence-pink-noise-7-1-4/1748110988?i=1748110990&ls

Best answer by Schlumpf

​@Blue Windy 

As the blog article says, Era100 just plays a virtual side rear signal. So the result depends on audio track mixing and individual room situation. I use an 7.1.4 Setup with Beam2, Sub Mini and 2x Era100. And to be honest I‘m very satisfied with the whole Atmos audio experience in general, but recognizing dedicated side rear channels and also hight channels is more some sort of imagination. 
I noticed a positive difference after replacing OneSLs with Era100 as surrounds, but it’s not wall breaking and not remarkable for decent channels. 

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2 replies

Schlumpf
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  • Schlumpf
  • Virtuoso
  • Answer
  • March 15, 2025

​@Blue Windy 

As the blog article says, Era100 just plays a virtual side rear signal. So the result depends on audio track mixing and individual room situation. I use an 7.1.4 Setup with Beam2, Sub Mini and 2x Era100. And to be honest I‘m very satisfied with the whole Atmos audio experience in general, but recognizing dedicated side rear channels and also hight channels is more some sort of imagination. 
I noticed a positive difference after replacing OneSLs with Era100 as surrounds, but it’s not wall breaking and not remarkable for decent channels. 

Ralf
    jgatie
    • jgatie
    • March 15, 2025

    Atmos is a positional codec, not a channel based, so what sounds play through which speaker depends wholly on your particular room layout. 

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