A soundbar is different for a center speaker. You request would also need for Sonos to start making center speakers.

I am all for using Era 300s as front left and right, but don’t want the Arc required as a center channel speaker.  Very much overkill.  I also don’t get your comparison.  Yes, the Arc alone doesn’t sound as god as a pair of Era 300s for spatial audio, but Arc + surround speakers (any surround speakers) sounds better than a pair of Era 300s alone.  The question really is, does Era 300s up front and in the back sound significantly better  than Arc in the front and Era 300s in the back?  I believe it will, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if the improvement is marginal for spatial audio.

I think it would be awesome to add the ERA 300's as front speakers to expand the soundstage. I already have the ARC, Fives as rears and Dual subs. I'm not ready to get rid of my Fives just for the 300's. Being able to add them to the set up would be an instant purchase. 

@melvimbe 

The Arc as a center channel may not be overkill. Let me explain…

The Arc recognizes when surround speakers and sub are present and redirects that material accordingly. Imagine ...

• If via a firmware update maybe the Arc could be made to recognize when out-board speakers are being used for front left/right and adjust its acoustics accordingly (i.e. it’s internal left/right channels are deactivated).

OR

• If via a firmware update maybe the Arc could be made to recognize when out-board speakers are being used for front left/right and it’s internal speakers (L/C/R) are all redirected to act as center channel with appropriate damping so as not to overpower the outboards.

The upside if possible would be:

• Current owners of the Arc and/or Beam would not have to invest in a new speaker
• Sonos can forego adding another SKU and still make updates/improvements to the next generation of Arc and Beam.
• Sonos lives up to it’s unspoken promise/commitment not to leave current customers behind or cause unwanted additional financial investment.

Of course all the above depends upon such an update being possible given the Arc/Beam have enough memory. Then again it may be impossible on any level...memory or not?

I think that a three channel AMP would be an interesting bridge production that would bring in traditional stereo types who have traditional HT systems with discrete speakers. Anyone who is currently using a two channel AMP could simply move it to the surrounds. At some point another AMP could be added for spatial audio.

Soundbars are convenient and satisfy a lot of consumers because the bars are easy to deploy, but a full surround system sounds much better (in my opinion). Other than adding the three channel ARC to the lineup (“ARC+”?), this full surround would mostly be a software project.

These are all positive comments. I hope a Sonos representative is viewing this thread and taking note of the discussion. I would love either to use the Era 300’s as a left, centre and right or to see what the Arc would sound like as a centre with a firmware addition. However, I would be more in favour of the Era 300s x 3 and 2 for rears set up. 

Just as a note, a similar request was made with PLAY:5/3/1s when the original PLAYBAR was released, with no action taken. You’ll need to draw your own conclusions as to why. 

Yes Bruce, not getting my hopes up

It would be a lovely thing, though I’m 100% behind the idea, just need to be realistic about the chances of it happening. 

Well, we did get dual subs. you never know.

Is this the setup you were aiming for - potentially?

Yes, but integrated. However, I would love to hear the 300 as a Centre for replacing the Arc. 

There are so many problems with the setup in this video...

Yes, they are massive problems because it’s not an integrated setup by Sonos, so what do you expect? If Sonos released firmware to accommodate, maybe it would sound great? Take for example the Era 300’s centre drivers are disabled for the use as rear surrounds, which IMO is a a good move as these channels would clash. Maybe they could do something similar with the ARC’s channels?

By overkill, I mean that there are many redundant audio channels in the setup, and the consumer is paying quite a bit for features they won’t be using.

As far as audio channels go, the Arc alone handles front left, front right, front center, left  side, right side, left/front upfiring, right/front upfiring.  Essentially 7 channels, or atmos locators, of audio.  If you had Era 300s up front, they would cover all the same channels except front center.  Yes, you can dedicate more speakers in the Arc towards front center, but certainly not all of them, or come close to utilizing the Arc’s potential.

As far as features go, you’re asking the customer to spend an extra $900 for this. No aux input, no bluetooth, no tuning, probably no voice control, no wifi 6...in addition to the $900 they already spent for Era 300s in the rear.  A single room setup with Arc, Sub, and 4 Era 300s, would run you $3500.  Just seems like a very hard sell to ask for that much while disabling features (for legit reasons) when adding them all to one room.  I would much rather see a center channel only speaker that has all the Era features instead of Arc...even if cost $600 or so.

As you well know, you can easily repurpose the Arc to another room or sell on the secondary market.  Selling would probably cover the cost of the new hypothetical center speaker.

I don’t think creating a new center speaker causes the Arc to become outdated and no longer useful. I think there is room in the market for those who prefer soundbar setups for simplicity and those who prefer more separate speakers up front with a wider stage.  For one thing, an Arc only front end will be cheaper and likely better aesthetically then 2 Era 300s + center speaker.

I don’t think it’s a matter of memory so much as a matter of whether the wireless network (local 5Ghz that Arc creates) can handle two additional speakers with multiple audio channels each in a stable reliable fashion in home setting.  But I have no idea.  I also think Sonos really wants to be careful about giving the impression that the Arc does not sound good covering the front end of audio all by itself, for TV or music.

One thing to ponder is what Sonos product roadmap may look like. We know that they have bought tech that allows them to create woofers in a smaller physical size...rumored to get the audio output of a Five in the physical size of a One.  If they come out with an Era 500 in the future, it may make sense to use the new tech, and add the ability to them as front home theatre speakers, with that product, rather than now.  It would provide encentive for people to upgrade when the time comes.  Also, given that the Amp has a simulated center channel, and the Era speakers have more advanced audio tech in them, there may not be a real need for a center channel, at least from an audio standpoint.  The main need would be a wired connection to Sonos in an aesthetically pleasing way.  So maybe Sonos just has an input only device, or maybe Sonos has users wire just the left or right speaker...which might not look bad given the size of TVs today and placing  a speaker a foot left/right of the screen may be ideal.

@AjTrek1 The thing about the Sonos system as it draws you in with the ability to add speakers over time, but once you've invested into their ecosystem, you hit the wall, it leaves more to be desired or that curiosity of what it could be. Not every one would dive into 4 ERA 300's, or in my case add the ERA 300's to my Fives, but having the option would definitely entice me to spend the money. 

@melvimbe

Yes, you are definitely back from vacation .

The main premise for my post was all hypothetical ergo my use of the word “iF” throughout. Therefore my closing statement “Of course all the above depends upon such an update being possible given the Arc/Beam have enough memory. Then again it may be impossible on any level...memory or not?”

However, I did want to respond to your post and that of @06Dame .

@melvimbe wrote:

• As far as features go, you’re asking the customer to spend an extra $900 for this. No aux input, no bluetooth, no tuning, probably no voice control, no wifi 6...in addition to the $900 they already spent for Era 300s in the rear.  A single room setup with Arc, Sub, and 4 Era 300s, would run you $3500.  Just seems like a very hard sell to ask for that much while disabling features (for legit reasons) when adding them all to one room.  I would much rather see a center channel only speaker that has all the Era features instead of Arc...even if cost $600 or so.

Cost is always a factor. Hypothetically, three (3) across the front using Era 300 price point is $1347. Add Sub-G3 and Era 300’s as surrounds the total cost is $3044 vs $2596 for Arc/Sub-G3/Era 300 x 2. Quite frankly I’d be surprised if the cost for three (3) across the front scenario came in at less than $3500.  Especially given that all 3 front speakers (or at least the center) would have to do some heavy lifting to equal the Arc. IMO, there would be a price hike expended somewhere just by virtue of the fact that the three (3) across the front setup is supposedly an improvement over the Arc setup. 

@melvimbe wrote:

• I don’t think creating a new center speaker causes the Arc to become outdated and no longer useful. I think there is room in the market for those who prefer soundbar setups for simplicity and those who prefer more separate speakers up front with a wider stage.  For one thing, an Arc only front end will be cheaper and likely better aesthetically then 2 Era 300s + center speaker.

If the Arc would remain in the Sonos line-up the only improvements I see coming to it are Line-in, BT and HDMI Passthrough. The tagline in Sonos marketing “Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc” would have to be downgraded. In fact all current superlatives reference Sonos Home theater would have to be adjusted if three (3) across the front became a reality.

@melvimbe wrote:

• I don’t think it’s a matter of memory so much as a matter of whether the wireless network (local 5Ghz that Arc creates) can handle two additional speakers with multiple audio channels each in a stable reliable fashion in home setting.  But I have no idea.  

Good point regarding the 5Ghz channel. 

@melvimbe wrote:

• I also think Sonos really wants to be careful about giving the impression that the Arc does not sound good covering the front end of audio all by itself, for TV or music.

Whether or not Sonos wants to give the aforementioned impression; IMO is a moot point. By the fact that three (3) across the front has been mentioned numerous times in the community (even by some well-known members) the “cat is already out of the bag”.

Whether or not there would be an improvement is anyone’s guess even though logic says separates are better.  Sonos (IMO) has to reject the idea or move forward. Both possibilities are a “no comment” by Sonos.

@melvimbe wrote:

• One thing to ponder is what Sonos product roadmap may look like. We know that they have bought tech that allows them to create woofers in a smaller physical size...rumored to get the audio output of a Five in the physical size of a One.  If they come out with an Era 500 in the future, it may make sense to use the new tech, and add the ability to them as front home theatre speakers, with that product, rather than now.  It would provide encentive for people to upgrade when the time comes.  Also, given that the Amp has a simulated center channel, and the Era speakers have more advanced audio tech in them, there may not be a real need for a center channel, at least from an audio standpoint.  The main need would be a wired connection to Sonos in an aesthetically pleasing way.  So maybe Sonos just has an input only device, or maybe Sonos has users wire just the left or right speaker...which might not look bad given the size of TVs today and placing  a speaker a foot left/right of the screen may be ideal.

That’s a LONG comment.  Suffice it to say that I agree that wiring three (3) across the front may be the proper “roadmap”; if such a concept would come to pass.

@06Dame wrote:

• Not every one would dive into 4 ERA 300's, or in my case add the ERA 300's to my Fives, but having the option would definitely entice me to spend the money. 

Not sure where you were going with this? 

@melvimbe So my current setup is the Arc, Fives as rears and dual subs. To me, the Fives sound great as rears, but I'm feeling the height channels are lacking. My dream set up would be to ass the in-ceiling speakers to that, but as far as the 300's, I would add the 300's wall mounted inverted for the height effects if that was possible or move my Fives to the front and have the 300's as rears. Not ready to dump my Fives just yet. 

I tend to think that a hypothetical center channel will be priced no more than $500 or so.  Yes, it will have the HDMI port, atmos processing, voice control like the Arc and need to have a good radio, but will not have all the physical amps and speakers that the Arc has.  It just needs a single amp and woofer/tweeter.  It might make more sense to compare to the ERA 300...remove the extra speakers and add HDMI port.

And of course, it’s not just about cost, but what sort of price will fit the market. I just don’t think a center channel only speaker will sell well if the price is pretty close to the  price of the Arc.

I was thinking about the current Arc (Gen 1) still being a useful item that people want to buy, rather than a need for a hypothetical Arc Gen 2.  BT will be the only thing they would really add feature wise, as I don’t think Line IN makes sense for a soundbar nor do they want to HDMI passthrough.  The latter two would also require a bit of design change as well.

But Sonos did buy Mahyt tech a while back which promises woofers from smaller sizes.  One of the teases would that you would be able to incorporate a sub into a soundbar.  I don’t think that’s coming anytime soon, but it certainly would have some appeal I think.

I don’t think this audience is a great representative of the general consumer  to be honest.  We think about this stuff way too much, and the typical person will just go with their gut.  If given a choice between a soundbar that boasts to be ‘all you need’ vs one that is really good but even better when you add more speakers up front...I think people who don’t know better will subconsciously prefer the ‘all you need’ solution.

But I could be off on this.  One other reason why I think Sonos has traditionally stuck with soundbars is that having separate fronts tends to put you in the same market as wired audio home theatre, so perhaps more competition and smaller market size?

If you are willing to wire ceiling speakers for height channels, why not go with a wired home theatre solution?  Are you unable to wire rear speakers?  Maybe you’re going with Sonos for brand loyalty, multiroom audio features, or your just invested this far you don’t want to consider wired options?

@melvimbe Imagination is just running wild as far as the in ceiling speakers. I would imagine the ARC and the amp would work together. Dis able the height speakers on the ARC and pass that signal off to the ceiling speakers and let the ARC and Fives handle the ear level channels. I feel pretty invested into the Sonos system right now and would add the 300s if I could without dumping my Fives. I'll probably fold and get the 300's to test them out and just return them if they're not a huge difference. 

I had the fives as rears and another pair to listen to music in Stereo master. The Era 300’s IMO sound better than the fives as rears and obviously will spatial audio. However, the fives are still superior to listening to music in Stereo master. Give them a try, you may like them, but ears are different from person to person.

I’d very much like to see this as well.  Seems you’d get fantastic Atmos positioning with 4 up firing drivers from the 4 era 300s, better sound stage by using discrete speakers for L&R audio, and focused center channel audio.  This would also create more balanced sound in rooms that aren’t perfectly square.  
 

Truly want Sonos to figure this out.  

It’s been requested for a decade, going back to the original Playbar.  I would not count on it coming any time soon.  It seems Sonos, like the rest of the A/V industry, manufactures a soundbar to be a soundbar. 

Still not sure Sonos is about packing your room full of speakers. To me Sonos is about having as few speakers as possible.

I just added two ERA 300s as group/room front Stereo Pair to my Gen2, Sub and Ikea rears.  AppleTV Movies and Apple Music Dolby Atmos sound fantastic with this set up.  No problem with the Beam center channel.  Provides height and wider sound stage to the Beam.  No major synch problem. Easy to adjust volumes in the app. 

I suggest this for all Beam 2 owners rather than buying an Arc and two era 300 rears.