Contributor I

Era 300 Surround placement

17 replies
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Hello Everyone,

I just ordered a pair of Sonos Era 300’s to run as rear speakers for my surround sound.

Please excuse the condition of the house, we just had a flood and I’ve been tearing everything out.

Right now we have a Sonos arc, Sub Gen 3 for the front and I have recently acquired a Sub Gen 2 for behind the couch. Up to this point I have been using two Sonos Play 1’s as rears which will move to a different room.

The couch will be placed in the blue rectangle, and is 43” tall. We are building a half wall between the rooms outlined in red which will be 40” tall.

The rear sub will be placed behind the couch as outlined in green.

As for the era 300’s the placement is a little bit more tough, as you can see on the left side is a light switch and the mantle to our fireplace, so realistically I’d have to place it above this, and I can match it in the opposing corner however it would be about 6” further back.

At this point because of the placement it will obviously be above our heads as well as behind, but Im thinking of installing them upside down in the green circles.

What are the general thoughts about doing this? I’ve been reading that inverted mounting is now supported with trueplay is that correct?

Thanks everyone!

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C

craigski

Local Superstar

I would use stands (ear level) for the Era-300 in a surround setup for best experience and easier to move if room layout changes:

Era-300 placement

Home theater placement
Connect two rear Era 300s to a compatible Sonos soundbar for immersive for surround sound.
Both speakers' height should be around ear level and behind your seated position.

Leave at least 8" (20.32cm) clearance around the sides of each speaker.

A

Andy.MacAuthor

Contributor I

I would use stands (ear level) for the Era-300 in a surround setup for best experience and easier to move if room layout changes:

Era-300 placement

Home theater placement

Connect two rear Era 300s to a compatible Sonos soundbar for immersive for surround sound.

Both speakers' height should be around ear level and behind your seated position.

Leave at least 8" (20.32cm) clearance around the sides of each speaker.

I did look into the stands however based on my couch which is 43” tall it would block some of the audio as it looks like the speakers get mounted around 38”.

I also posted this on Reddit since posting here and it seems some people have setup their era 300’s inverted similar to this and had said it sounds great!

A

Andy.MacAuthor

Contributor I

Here’s actually a follow up question.

I had planned both to be in green to be equal heights, but I realized I may be able to shift things.

What do we think of this option?

When facing the couch here:

Right Era 300 in the purple circle, slightly above ear height to clear the couch height at 43”, behind listening space, facing upwards.

Left Era 300 in upper left green circle, above listener and slightly behind, facing inverted.

Would this allow for a better sound stage? They don’t have to be uniform in height or orientation correct? Trueplay handles all of that?

Thanks everyone! Super excited to get these going here!

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

I don't remember what it is but there is a recommend distance in from a side wall, you might want to confirm that. If you are too close, inverted on the dropped ceiling side might be your best compromise. I haven't fooled with 300s enough to make a good recommendation.

A

Andy.MacAuthor

Contributor I

I don't remember what it is but there is a recommend distance in from a side wall, you might want to confirm that. If you are too close, inverted on the dropped ceiling side might be your best compromise. I haven't fooled with 300s enough to make a good recommendation.

I believe it’s 8” from a side wall, the purple one would stick out a little bit into the opening if that’s the case but that’s not the end of the world to me!

buzz

Grand Maestro

I don’t recommend placing SUB behind the listener. Remember, SUB needs power.

A

Andy.MacAuthor

Contributor I

I don’t recommend placing SUB behind the listener. Remember, SUB needs power.

This would be a second sub! First one is in front of listener by the TV, second one behind the couch. As this new wall is being installed I’m adding power outlets for the new reclining couch and the sub/speakers!

C

craigski

Local Superstar

Right Era 300 in the purple circle, slightly above ear height to clear the couch height at 43”, behind listening space, facing upwards.

Left Era 300 in upper left green circle, above listener and slightly behind, facing inverted.

You want both speakers at same height, with same orientation for optimum sound. Placing with different orientation and different height will not give you a better sound stage, and atheistically will look wrong. You can get height adjustable stands for Era-300 to put behind your sofa.

buzz

Grand Maestro

This would be a second sub! First one is in front of listener

Sound is pokey and travels at about one foot per millisecond. There will be a time skew between the two subwoofers.

A

Andy.MacAuthor

Contributor I

Right Era 300 in the purple circle, slightly above ear height to clear the couch height at 43”, behind listening space, facing upwards.

Left Era 300 in upper left green circle, above listener and slightly behind, facing inverted.

You want both speakers at same height, with same orientation for optimum sound. Placing with different orientation and different height will not give you a better sound stage, and atheistically will look wrong. You can get height adjustable stands for Era-300 to put behind your sofa.

So this has come up a couple of times!

I looked into the Sonos stands, by what I can find online it looks like it brings the speakers to “ear height” and from the floor to the top of the speaker is 44”. With my recliner couch in its upright position the top of the couch is 43” (obviously lower when reclined).

In rear confirmation the Sonos 300 shuts off the front firing speakers and only engages the upward and side firing ones, so it being technically “behind” the couch would be a moot point correct? It’s firing up and around anyways?

of should I look for a stand that can bring the base of the speakers to 43”? So that the entire speaker is above the couch height? Would it make any difference?

the Sanus adjustable stands can max out to 42” from floor to bottom of speaker for example..

thank you!

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Home theater placement

Home theater placement

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