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SB16
Contributor I
April 2, 2023

Feature Request: Multi Channel Stereo

  • April 2, 2023
  • 26 replies
  • 1717 views

Hi. I used to have a Denon/B&W setup, and mostly used “Multi Channel Stereo” setting (stereo output in front and back speakers). I have Arc, 2x One and Sub. 


To achieve the same with Sonos, I have to :
1. Setup the two back speakers (One) as stereo pair
2. Start audio output from TV (ARC)
3. Add them to the TV-output

It would have been nice to be able to choose if the setup should be bundled as surround or multi-channel-stereo.

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    26 replies

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    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    September 13, 2023

    My setup: Playbase and 2 Sonos One SL for rear surround.

    More or less, it would be a nice to have if you can disable this “background surround” feature and instead use the rear speakers as stereo pair of course connected with the playbase. If there is a Dolby Digital Signal comming it will switch to Surround Mode.

    If you go to settings there is an option for Music to set the Surrounds to Ambient of Full so you can have faked surround or the surrounds playing the full L/R channels.

    This does not work when you have TV audio playing. It's not full range when playing from TV. You get this benefit of full range only when you play music from your phone. The only issue is that the overall SPL is much lower than the TV SPL.

    Correct, the Full Mode is only for music, not the TV source.

    Any non-TV source works, not just playing from a phone.

    cjkgt97
    Lyricist I
    January 23, 2024

    I can’t believe I found this thread and am boxing the Era 100s back up and sending them back.  Stereo is how they should work by default.  Surround should be the custom setting.  Major disappointment.  

    Schlumpf
    Schlumpf
    Virtuoso
    January 23, 2024

    I can’t believe I found this thread and am boxing the Era 100s back up and sending them back.  Stereo is how they should work by default.  Surround should be the custom setting.  Major disappointment.  

    I don’t think the default setting of Rearspeakers in a configuration you set up as a „surround system“ should be to play stereo. Sonos isn’t designed to offer such a number of different sound modi and options like an AVR. Yes, there may be music content to play via TV sources, but just for myself I can say if I like to listen to music, there are so many sources I can use with Sonos in music mode icluding the „rearspeakers“ to play full stereo. 

    Ralf
    MVSV
    Lyricist III
    March 22, 2024

    Any updates on this feature add?

    Our older cleints who are hard of hearing don’t always want Surround. They would rather have All Ch Stereo so they can hear better.
     

    Thanks

    Corry P
    Corry P
    Sonos Staff
    March 22, 2024

    Hi @MVSV 

    No updates, nor are there likely to be any - if it is ever implemented, you (and I) will not be informed beforehand. I refer you to my previous post:

    Hi @pgunther 

    I have no real idea. If I did know, I wouldn’t be allowed to share it with you - we tend not to comment on future products or features in the works.

    If you were to force me to give my own, personal opinion, I’d have to say that I doubt the feature will come - if a feature will cause problems for more people than which it will solve problems for, it’s unlikely to be implemented. In this case, what is being asked for is a switch that basically disables true surround sound, which is in itself a major selling point for having speakers external to your TV in the first place. There is already a software switch that disables the rear speakers, so having another that also disables surround sound might be too much. In addition, and as mentioned above, it’s been requested before. That’s just my two cents’ worth, though - the feature request has been forwarded regardless.

    I hope this helps.

    "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
      fobataller
      Contributor I
      June 11, 2024

      Here too. I have 2 era 300, arc and sub and the quality of the music played from Spotify and Youtube on my TV (which is in stereo) is very bad. I wish we could have the ability to set to full ambient when the TV source is stereo PCM 2.0. Like the option we have for music playback. My 20 year old AV receiver could do that. It shouldn't be so impossible for Sonos to add that.

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