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era 300 front driver clarification

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I have an arc and 2 300s on order. Am I correct that if I add the 300s as surrounds, there is no way to enable the front drivers when I want to play non spatial music like Spotify?

I just can't believe that would be the case, so hopefully I'm mistaken. I totally understand disabling them for atmos and spatial , but it's like you are locking them into that and then can't use them properly for regular music?

Thanks for any advice or workarounds !

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Corry PAnswer

Sonos Staff

Hi @Optimeist

I brought up your query in a meeting today and I am told that allowing the front-facing driver of a Era 300 in a surround configuration to activate for stereo music sources would be feasible, so I have tagged this thread as a feature request in order for it to be flagged to the product team for consideration.

Thanks for your feedback!

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

Show previous replies

ratty

I’d counter that argument by pointing at the ‘Wi-Fi off’ feature in the Sonos controller, and the seemingly unending number of users who think that because their soundbar is wired to their LAN, they need to turn it off. Which causes trouble for the soundbar in its attempt to communicate with both the Surrounds and Sub, as they do, across a 5Ghz radio signal. An option that really shouldn’t ever be used, except by the supposed ‘experts’, yet is commonly mistaken as something that should be done.

‘Experts’ used to be able to disable the radio easily via http://<sonos_ip>:1400/wifictrl. It was simpler and less capricious than the controller option.

Dogdad

Headliner III

Hi @Optimeist

I brought up your query in a meeting today and I am told that allowing the front-facing driver of a Era 300 in a surround configuration to activate for stereo music sources would be feasible, so I have tagged this thread as a feature request in order for it to be flagged to the product team for consideration.

Thanks for your feedback!

For the amount of $$$$ SONOS wants for the Era 300’s, we should be able to have this feature.

K

Kamarinchev

Contributor II

Perhaps if our product were just an app, this would indeed be relatively easy.

I agree the UI Design of the APP is the easiest part.
I provide you with two quick design options :)

buzz

Grand Maestro

The UI team hates text. Even though it is more cryptic, the second version is more likely to be adopted. Or maybe control of the front facing speaker might be it’s own main item rather than being included as part of the surround adjustment.

P

Psy472

Lyricist I

After listening to the era 300 stereo pair vs combined with the arc and sub surround system, I realized why the engineers had to disable the front drivers in the era 300. My ears fatigued when listening to them for a long time. It’s much less fatiguing when in surround when the front drivers are off. You can adjust the settings in Sonos app to find your sweet spot.

S

Sunil mathew

Lyricist II

In that case Sonos should have sold an Era 300 variant for people who buy it only for surround purposes and without the front facing speaker . thay would have reduced the cost too

Airgetlam

Perhaps. Although setting up a second production line and packaging, not to mention the CS support for people who purchased the wrong ‘version’ may have been an issue. Not to mention the potential backlash from those who want both functionalities at different times.

Bruce

J

Jroddy732

Lyricist I

Only reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on the 300s…

L

LofiDevGuy

Lyricist I

And this is why I will likely. never buy a pair of Era 300s. I listen to digital music in stereo (2.0) and multichannel (5.1). Some of my TV watching is in stereo, some in multichannel, and some with Atmos -- with the realization that I cannot get full Atmos without the 300s.

I am uninterested in giving up the stereo and the multichannel I get from the Ones in favor of an Atmos based system that chokes 2/3 of what I listen to. The Arc system can automatically switch from stereo to multichannel to Atmos, depending on what signal I am sending to it. A simple software switch for the Era 300s could do the same thing, allowing me and others here to utilize the full potential of the Arc system.

Too bad that Sonos won’t/can’t offer us that option. As I said, unless this is changed, I will likely never buy the 300s.

Wish I came to the community to learn this before I buy. The sales team buttered me up FULL FLEDGED LIED to me that they would do what they clearly can’t. As a developer, this is FULL *! I didn’t notice right away so I am outside of the return window. Robbed. Lied to. They literally only put the era 300 as a full entertainment option for $$$$$! #FREETHECENTERDRIVER

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

Airgetlam

What kind of developer are you?

Bruce

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