As designed, and different for each individual room as put forth in the Atmos specifications.  Atmos is a positional codec, meaning that the room is analyzed and which driver(s) used to position a sound is decided via the analysis.  Given this, sometimes a particular room analysis will have less output in certain drivers than others.  So you either trust the room analysis, or you don’t.  

Can’t prove them wrong from that description but if that was the case, then i Belive the end user should have the possebility to activate the whole speaker. Atm I payed full price but just receiving 50% of the speaker.

You are receiving 100% of the soundtrack as it was mastered by the sound engineer.   No sound system is going to fire off all drivers at all times, ever.  If I listen to Whole Lotta Love in stereo, should I complain that the left and right speakers aren’t playing at the same time during the pans from right to left in the bridge?  After all, I paid for stereo speakers, I should be able to hear both of them, right?

I don’t understand what you’re trying to prove here. The front and rear drivers are completely silent there’s no sound coming from them at all. This isn’t about using all the speakers at once, it’s about the fact that the front and rear drivers never seem to be used when paired as sorround speakers.

What are you even trying to defend here? How can you not support the idea that Sonos should add software so we can actually use all the speakers we paid for? How would that even affect you? If you only want to use 3 out of the 6 speakers in the Era 300, that’s fine you should be able to do that.

But the rest of us who bought the Era 300 based on the pitch that it has multiple drivers obviously want them all to work.

If that’s how you feel, maybe you should take down your Era 300 and sell the front and rear drivers as spare parts, since you clearly have no interest in them. I really don’t get what you’re trying to prove. The speaker simply isn’t good as a surround pair in its current state. As a stereo pair without the Arc and Sub, they sound great but not the way things are now with them as sorrounds.

and you mention it’s diffrent to every room? How can front and rear driver be completly turned off without calibration? 

​@BjorkN 

Read the answer from ​@Jamie A in the post below:

Era 300 rear driver is silent (with Arc Ultra) | Sonos Community

I’ll give up now.  Not worth it. 

​@AjTrek1 

Hi!

I have already read that post and I understand the point you are trying to make. I cannot really prove you wrong regarding how the engineers have tuned the speakers for the most immersive sound experience. Personally, I call it bulls*** but since I cannot prove it, there is no point arguing further.

My main point is that I want the end user to have the option to activate the front and rear tweeters to decide when we want that immersive surround effect or when we want the speakers to use their full potential, especially for music listening. When not playing Dolby Atmos (spatial audio), I want them to function as a stereo pair, just like my Sonos Ones did. With those, I had full stereo playback for music and surround effects in movies.

I really do not get why you are defending Sonos for not allowing that option. They let us adjust the treble to +15 in the EQ even if it sounds bad, so why can we not choose to activate all drivers and use them as a proper stereo pair?

For me, I will probably return these speakers. As surrounds, they are not ideal. But I still want to help Sonos fix this issue.

And just to be clear, if your response is going to be that the speaker is designed this way to give the user the most immersive experience possible when used as surrounds, then please do not bother replying.

What I want to know is why Sonos gets away with not letting the user activate all drivers when more power or fullness is needed, for example when listening to music.

And finally, a little note to the Sonos engineers: having the sound coming from behind you instead of constantly bouncing off the ceiling actually creates a more immersive experience.

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

While I fully understand your argument, I don't know why you have such a harsh tone toward those who disagree with you. We’re users like you, not the brand! 😅

When I thought about completing my Arc with rear speakers, the Era 300s seemed too expensive and advanced for that, but the experience of a good friend and a deal on Amazon convince me at the end.

I still think these speakers are underused as surround speakers, but the result, to me, is spectacular, both in movies and music. The way the music fills the room is perfect, even in immersive mode (full mode seems too much for me, for example).

And what can I say if you play in Atmos? It's a new experience and I love it. Aren't all the drivers used? Well, it's a pity, you’re right. Perhaps they could have released some “Era 300 Lite” speakers for this, but I don't think it's a problem either. I know I have good speakers that I can ungroup and use elsewhere whenever I want…

I'm very critical of Sonos and the bugs in its app, and of the user experience, which isn't at the same level than its price, but I also understand that my frustrations couldn’t be the same to other users. Let's be more positive among ourselves!

Look! I wasn’t trying to convince you of anything. Just giving you an avenue to see that what you are requesting has been broached before. If you don’t want to accept the answer then by all means continue on your tirade and return the speakers if that’s your decision. Have a good day!