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FrostyDragon
Contributor I
September 7, 2026
Answered

Home theater settings

  • September 7, 2026
  • 9 replies
  • 107 views

Hey, I've got two Era 100s as surround speakers, a Sonos Beam Gen 2, and a Sub Mini. I was wondering if anyone could suggest good EQ, surround audio, and sub audio settings for a nice cinematic experience with a balanced sound. Appreciate it very much.

Best answer by Stanley_4

The best place to start is with all settings at zero/flat. Set the volume level to a bit below the loudest you anticipate using.

Run Trueplay and listen to both TV and streaming with it on and off, stay with what sounds best.

Two interrelated settings for streaming Full/Ambient and Surround level. Try Full and Surround, for each vary the Surround level. Pick what sounds best.

Similar is the TV Surround level, pick a good 5.1 source and adjust it to where you get the rear sound to a level it sounds good but doesn't overpower the front. Note that level and do the same test with Atmos, if the level that sounds best is different note that too. This may also apply to Atmos streaming with the Beam 2, check and find the sweet spot.

The above again, but adjusting the height levels.

Try adjusting the Sub levels next, you want to try multiple sources and might find you want different levels for each. 

With the basics set you can fiddle with the tone / EQ settings and find the best sound for your ears.

Last look at the loudness, switch it on and off and compare the sound. Cut the volume level by a third and try it again, then Two thirds. You might be happy just leaving it on (I am) or you might want to manually switch it at lower listening levels.

On top of adjusting Sonos for your ears and room you may find your source material is mastered with different levels, frequencies, channel balance

You  now have a page of notes on sources and related settings so you can adjust your Sonos for the optimum sound for each and your ears. If / once you get tired of tweaking look for the best compromise settings and just leave them set there.

I have settled on a good compromise that sounds good for the majority of my listening. I do tweak the trebel EQ setting to account for wearing my hearing aids or not.

 

9 replies

106rallye
106rallye
September 7, 2026

Did you run a Trueplay?

Airgetlam
Airgetlam
September 7, 2026

Feeding that system an appropriate signal would be a good start. At least Dolby Digital across a pan optical output, or Atmos across an ARC/eARC connection. Sonos on its own is pretty good, and additional ‘settings’ , including TruePlay, really are to your own situation and ears. 

Stay away from YouTube (free) as a start. While many videos claim they’re a better signal type, in the process of being uploaded to the system at YouTube, they’re converted to stereo. 

Bruce
    nik9669a
    Senior Virtuoso
    September 7, 2026

    I’m willing to bet that your ears have different responses to mine in (almost?) all frequencies. Our rooms probably have different acoustic characteristics too. 
     

    Which is a complex way of justifying the statement: “what sounds good to you is the best setting to use”.

      FrostyDragonAuthor
      Contributor I
      September 7, 2026

      Did you run a Trueplay?

      Yes I did.

      FrostyDragonAuthor
      Contributor I
      September 7, 2026

      I’m willing to bet that your ears have different responses to mine in (almost?) all frequencies. Our rooms probably have different acoustic characteristics too. 
       

      Which is a complex way of justifying the statement: “what sounds good to you is the best setting to use”.

      Yes definitely, I completely agree. But id like to try out some suggestion from seasoned users and tweak from there. Im fairly new to these. 

      FrostyDragonAuthor
      Contributor I
      September 7, 2026

      Feeding that system an appropriate signal would be a good start. At least Dolby Digital across a pan optical output, or Atmos across an ARC/eARC connection. Sonos on its own is pretty good, and additional ‘settings’ , including TruePlay, really are to your own situation and ears. 

      Stay away from YouTube (free) as a start. While many videos claim they’re a better signal type, in the process of being uploaded to the system at YouTube, they’re converted to stereo. 

      Yup i believe my connections are solid at this point, my trying to adjust the EQ. I just want a balanced sound experience. 

      AjTrek1
      AjTrek1
      September 7, 2026

      As has been voiced your ears are the final analysis. Saying you want a balanced sound is very subjective. Specifically what is unbalanced to you?

      I know if I move a balance selector too far in either direction the sound is not balanced. On the other hand I know people who prefer a slight tilt of the balance to the left or right. It may sound unbalanced to me but great to them.

      Suggestions have been given to stream a movie from AppleTV, Netflix or Amazon Prime; but definitely not YouTube. Regular cable can be misleading as well as there may be very little surround.

      If dialogue is an issue the Beam has settings to increase the dialogue for better perception. Also make sure night sound is turned off unless you need it for nighttime viewing.

      That’s all I have. I hope you get your Sonos to sound as you like 👍.

       

       

      Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
        Stanley_4
        Stanley_4Answer
        Grand Maestro
        September 7, 2026

        The best place to start is with all settings at zero/flat. Set the volume level to a bit below the loudest you anticipate using.

        Run Trueplay and listen to both TV and streaming with it on and off, stay with what sounds best.

        Two interrelated settings for streaming Full/Ambient and Surround level. Try Full and Surround, for each vary the Surround level. Pick what sounds best.

        Similar is the TV Surround level, pick a good 5.1 source and adjust it to where you get the rear sound to a level it sounds good but doesn't overpower the front. Note that level and do the same test with Atmos, if the level that sounds best is different note that too. This may also apply to Atmos streaming with the Beam 2, check and find the sweet spot.

        The above again, but adjusting the height levels.

        Try adjusting the Sub levels next, you want to try multiple sources and might find you want different levels for each. 

        With the basics set you can fiddle with the tone / EQ settings and find the best sound for your ears.

        Last look at the loudness, switch it on and off and compare the sound. Cut the volume level by a third and try it again, then Two thirds. You might be happy just leaving it on (I am) or you might want to manually switch it at lower listening levels.

        On top of adjusting Sonos for your ears and room you may find your source material is mastered with different levels, frequencies, channel balance

        You  now have a page of notes on sources and related settings so you can adjust your Sonos for the optimum sound for each and your ears. If / once you get tired of tweaking look for the best compromise settings and just leave them set there.

        I have settled on a good compromise that sounds good for the majority of my listening. I do tweak the trebel EQ setting to account for wearing my hearing aids or not.

         

          FrostyDragonAuthor
          Contributor I
          September 7, 2026

          The best place to start is with all settings at zero/flat. Set the volume level to a bit below the loudest you anticipate using.

          Run Trueplay and listen to both TV and streaming with it on and off, stay with what sounds best.

          Two interrelated settings for streaming Full/Ambient and Surround level. Try Full and Surround, for each vary the Surround level. Pick what sounds best.

          Similar is the TV Surround level, pick a good 5.1 source and adjust it to where you get the rear sound to a level it sounds good but doesn't overpower the front. Note that level and do the same test with Atmos, if the level that sounds best is different note that too. This may also apply to Atmos streaming with the Beam 2, check and find the sweet spot.

          The above again, but adjusting the height levels.

          Try adjusting the Sub levels next, you want to try multiple sources and might find you want different levels for each. 

          With the basics set you can fiddle with the tone / EQ settings and find the best sound for your ears.

          Last look at the loudness, switch it on and off and compare the sound. Cut the volume level by a third and try it again, then Two thirds. You might be happy just leaving it on (I am) or you might want to manually switch it at lower listening levels.

          On top of adjusting Sonos for your ears and room you may find your source material is mastered with different levels, frequencies, channel balance

          You  now have a page of notes on sources and related settings so you can adjust your Sonos for the optimum sound for each and your ears. If / once you get tired of tweaking look for the best compromise settings and just leave them set there.

          I have settled on a good compromise that sounds good for the majority of my listening. I do tweak the trebel EQ setting to account for wearing my hearing aids or not.

           

          Thanks for the very elaborate suggestion, I highly appreciate it. Ill start with what you've mentioned. Hopefully id find that sweet spot/setting.

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