Thanks so much for your input!

Speakers should be at ear height, just to the behind left and behind right of the listener, turned slightly inwards.

Ok, so if my console table is a little shorter than my couch would you recommend the speakers at the edges of the console table pointed slightly in (when everyone is on the couch) or slightly left and right from the center of the couch (main listening area) which would have the speakers in the middle 1/3 area of the console table. Sorry if I’m over thinking this.

Loudness is to add some punch to the speaker when you’re playing music or TV at low levels. Leave it on. It’s only worth turning off when you crank up the speaker to VERY LOUD.

OK, I often do listen at medium volumes, just not sure how it affects accuracy. I like to try and have sound as flat as possible and have heard that it boosts the bass and treble and lowers mids which has me worried that it’s getting away from the flatter EQ.

The surrounds need to be at the outside left and right edges of the listening area, slightly behind the listener and pointing slightly in. They shouldn’t be next to each other in the centre of the couch pointing out. The surround sound needs to sound like it is coming from the behind left and right, or to the ‘side’ very distinctly - having them near each other behind the centre of the couch pointing out won’t create any decent soundstage.  

Re. Loudness, play TV and music for a minute with it on, and then play it for a minute with it off. Select which sounds better to your ears. There is no right or wrong - the environment is 90% of it. 

Hi

With Sonos; or any sound system for that matter, your room topograhpy is going to affect the sound you hear. Without getting too technical there are two (2) room types at extremes to each other:

• Hard
• Soft

Hard

• Bare floors no carpet (maybe an area rug or two)
• Blinds in stead of drapes
• Leather furniture with metal structure instead of plush sofa
• Smooth walls with few pictures or other trappings
• Ceiling with smooth surface and no texture treatment that might absorb sound

Soft

• Carpet
• Drapes
• Plush fabric furniture
• Smooth walls with lots of pictures etc
• Textured ceiling  with sound absorbing capabilities 

Your room maybe somewhere in between. The point here is that Sonos only offers two (2) EQ settings:

• Treble
• Bass

The Mid-range is not user adjustable (sort of). The human ear hears Mid-Range the best of all. Therefore, adjusting the Bass or Treble will passively affect the Mid-range.

Speech enhancement is now a feature in Home Theater. The Arc series even provides various levels whereas with the Beam it’s either on or off. I mention this as speech is typically in the Mid-Range area; therefore, theoretically turning on Speech Enhancement is boosting the Mid-Range.

TruePlay; theoretically balances all frequencies for best sound in a particular room environment. However, TruePlay is not a “silver bullet” as it can (in rare instances) have the opposite effect to worsen the sound.

The bottom-line is that you may have to experiment with frequency adjustments (treble and bass) to determine what sounds best to your ear. Also, keep in mind that adjusting frequencies manually may dictate making adjustments for different source material; as well as lowering or raising volume levels (including surrounds).

I typically TruePlay my rooms which provides a sweet spot for listening to music and viewing movies. I merely adjust the volume on my Arc Ultra’s or Beam2 appropriately depending upon the source which adjusts for sub and surrounds.

Finally, ​@Rhonny suggestions on surround placement (as well as others) are spot-on.

Wanting a flat presentation from your Sonos would be a good thing if your ears were also flat when hearing the sound. They aren't and what the Loudness option does is try to compensate for your ear's failings at lower volume levels.

You can look up "loudness compensation" for a fuller explanation. As said it is a user choice and isn't always the same, I normally use it but once the spouse is in bed I turn it off so the sound is less intrusive, similar to Night Sound on my souundbars.

Snip: Loudness compensation, or simply loudness, is a setting found on some hi-fi equipment that increases the level of the high and low frequencies. This is intended to be used while listening at low-volume levels, to compensate for the fact that as the loudness of audio decreases, the ear's lower sensitivity to extreme high and low frequencies may cause these signals to fall below the threshold of hearing

Thank you guys! Sounds like Loudness is probably best left on. I just want to make sure I am listening as the Director intended the best that I can with this setup.

Don’t forget though, that they’re your speakers in your home. Treat the guidelines as just that. At the end of the day, the “best” setting is what you like best. 

​@nik9669a is 100% correct. 

Plus Trueplay doesn’t always get it ‘right’ first time. I have a few dynamic and sonically-varied go-to tracks for after I’ve run Trueplay to see whether it’s to my liking, and the last time I did it in the room with my Arc/Sub/Surrounds, it took three attempts to get it to sound right. 

(If anyone cares, the tracks are Apple Music Dolby Atmos tracks:

Seal ‘Kiss from a Rose’

The Weeknd ‘I Feel It Coming’

Owl City ‘Fireflies’

Chaka Khan ‘Ain’t Nobody’

Harry Styles ‘Music for a Sushi Restaurant’)