Era 100 as surrounds - ok with music not with tv

Forum|Forum|5 hours ago
October 10, 2026
6 replies
27 views

I’ve just added my Era 100s to my Ray as surrounds. All good, even got the pleasant little jungle to confirm. When music is sent to my TV room, all three play fine but nothing comes from the Eras when using TV, even though I can apparently control the volume on the Ray using the control on the Eras, so clearly connected. Any thought folks?

Airgetlam

What type of signal is your TV passing to the Ray? If it is only stereo, there is no ‘data’ for the surrounds to play.

Bruce

S

SeansdadAuthor

Contributor I

Tried multiple sources including DVD, Apple TV…

jgatie

@Airgetlam means the audio signal. It is listed in the Sonos app on the Now Playing. It will be listed as things like “PCM 2.0”, “Dolby Digital 5.1”, etc. Anything 2.0 or “stereo” is only 2 channels, and either the program being played isn’t in surround, or your source device (TV, DVD player, Apple TV) isn’t configured to send surround.

S

SeansdadAuthor

Contributor I

@Airgetlam means the audio signal. It is listed in the Sonos app on the Now Playing. It will be listed as things like “PCM 2.0”, “Dolby Digital 5.1”, etc. Anything 2.0 or “stereo” is only 2 channels, and either the program being played isn’t in surround, or your source device (TV, DVD player, Apple TV) isn’t configured to send surround.

Yep, figured that out probably as you were typing 🤣. Got the tv audio sorted. Now works a treat!

kdowling

What type of audio does Sonos say is playing on the TV Now Playing screen? It can also be found in Settings → General Settings → About your system. Scroll to your Ray and check “Audio In” while playing.

Airgetlam

Because it is a Sonos Ray, it depends on an optical connection. This means that the TV itself, and devices connected to the TV, have control over the type of signal being sent to the Sonos, and ultimately to the Surrounds.

You’ll want to confirm these devices, starting with the TV, in the audio settings, are passing a Dolby Digital signal (not Dolby Digital plus, or Atmos) to the Ray. The Ray will then pass the surround signal to the surrounds, which seem to be working fine, as you’ve said they work for music, and you got that pleasant ‘jungle’ (sic) when connecting them.

As @jgatie suggests, my suspicion is that your TV is likely restricting the signal being sent to the Ray to stereo, although it’s possible other devices are sending the TV stereo signals, too. Many ‘talking heads’ programs, like news broadcasts, still are in stereo. Always test sound setups with the most recent ‘movie’ you can find, it generally has the best sound to push through the system.

Bruce

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