Avid Contributor I

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I'm looking for expert help with the "reflections" on the side walls of my Sonos system (I also have a glass door).

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 26, 2025
32 replies
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Hello everyone and welcome back! Greetings from Rome, Italy :-)

I have a question for the experts, because surfing the internet I've always found conflicting answers.

On the right wall, I have a door with a glass panel in the center, so I'd like to eliminate the problem...

As you all know, our Sonos systems "reflect" the side channels of audio and the Atmos effects onto the walls.

For this reason, I've always thought that curtains weren't a good idea, because they would absorb these reflections, ruining the audio experience.

But obviously, a surface like glass isn't a good one either...

On the internet, I've found confirmation that glass isn't good, and they recommend "closing the curtains." But that seems contradictory to me! Or am I wrong? Absorbent curtains shouldn't be good for Sonos audio, since they could then affect the side reflections...

Can any experts clarify this for me?

And then, more importantly, how do I solve the door glass problem? I'm renting a house, so I can't make any major changes...

Thank you all so much!

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Best answer by Gaham

@Ignazio it is worth keeping in mind that there are a couple of reasons that Sonos don’t publish too much detail on what an ideal environment is.

The first is that it would kill sales as no one would have the right room 🤣

The second, and more important, is that as a consumer product it is designed to sound as good as possible in as many situations as possible. Trueplay will probably improve things a little because it seems to have access to more tweaking options than the UI of the App exposes. But generally, Sonos speakers sound good out of the box wherever you put them as long as you follow the basic rules.

The Arc has some clever things going on under the covers and sound is a weird phenomenon. I often try to focus on the bass in rooms where I have a Sub to convince myself the bass is coming from the Sub and not somewhere else and even the old Play:1s I use for surrounds in our TV Room fool me into thinking someone or something is outside the window behind me.

Take a couple of days, listen to what you are hearing, see what is missing (or not) and post back here with the results. I’m sure that, like me, @Stanley_4 would be happy to help once some more detail is there to work with.

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IgnazioAuthor

Avid Contributor I

No way anyone can recommend an optimal curtain for you, you need to test your exact situation and them pick a curtain that matched the best sounding test material.

Mine are similar to this. Experiment and see what YOU need.

https://www.amazon.com/Skyscape-Darkening-Curtains-Filtering-Foam-Backed/dp/B0FMXRD2N4/ref=sr_1_53

You can pick from several light blocking levels, that would likely impact sound absorbtion too.

"You can choose between different levels of light blockage, which would probably also affect the sound absorption."

So, this sentence really piques my interest, and you've nailed my big question: since I really want to avoid compromising the sound absorption, what's your advice for preventing this from happening? Does it depend on the color, size, material, and thickness of the curtain?
Thank you so much!

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

Sure, sure, I understand...
But look, I was thinking mainly about the technical aspect of how Sonos reflects sound off the walls: I thought that, since the way it works with external channels is precisely to use the "bounce" from the walls (I'm referring especially to the ARC's side channels), I had doubts about the curtains because I thought: "If it has to bounce off the walls, but I put up a curtain that absorbs it anyway... then somehow I'll neutralize the Sonos system..."

OK, the Arc side driver is the problem.

How far is it from the problem door?

What percentage of the reflecting wall is the door? Or better a rough drawing.

My basic issue in making useful suggestions for your particular situation is understanding what you are hearing as the problem, then having a good idea of just how bad it sounds to you.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

? Does it depend on the color, size, material, and thickness of the curtain?
Thank you so much!

Much more than that, although color isn't a factor, distance from the problematic driver, and percentage of the reflecting wall that will be curtain are both quite important.

Material, not just the front fabric that you see but the liner, thermal layer and light blocking layer all are important.

You are not looking at buying a can of beans from the corner store here, there you can just grab a can the size you want with a picture of the kind of beans you want on it. This is a complex problem that demands either many years of experience as a professional sound treatment engineer (not the big box store guy that was selling appliances last week or some forum expert) or taking the time to learn the basics and the experiment to see what works for yourself.

I know the basics and can look up stuff like glass resonance and probably 30 other factors, but I'd never to design a room on paper, build it and be confident I had it close to perfect. I can usually help folks work towards solutions to problems they can hear and describe.

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IgnazioAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Unfortunately, I use Google Translate to help me, so some sentences seem repetitive or unclear. I apologize for that.

Let's do this: I'll try to answer more directly, point by point:
1. Yes, the problem I'm facing is the ARC-side driver, because as you know, it works by "bouncing" sound off the wall.
2. The distance from the glass door is about 168 cm.
3. I need to darken that glass, so I was thinking about a curtain, but I was stumped by the idea that the curtain itself could block/absorb the "reflective" effect of the ARC-side driver.
4. I'm currently working on this room, so I can't say if I'll have any audio issues, but since I'm working, I wanted to figure out how to darken that glass door.
5. My preferred solution was a curtain, but I was considering a wood panel, MDF, plywood, etc., in case I thought the curtain might cause absorption issues rather than allowing the ARC-side driver to reflect properly.

G

GahamAnswer

Headliner I

@Ignazio it is worth keeping in mind that there are a couple of reasons that Sonos don’t publish too much detail on what an ideal environment is.

The first is that it would kill sales as no one would have the right room 🤣

The second, and more important, is that as a consumer product it is designed to sound as good as possible in as many situations as possible. Trueplay will probably improve things a little because it seems to have access to more tweaking options than the UI of the App exposes. But generally, Sonos speakers sound good out of the box wherever you put them as long as you follow the basic rules.

The Arc has some clever things going on under the covers and sound is a weird phenomenon. I often try to focus on the bass in rooms where I have a Sub to convince myself the bass is coming from the Sub and not somewhere else and even the old Play:1s I use for surrounds in our TV Room fool me into thinking someone or something is outside the window behind me.

Take a couple of days, listen to what you are hearing, see what is missing (or not) and post back here with the results. I’m sure that, like me, @Stanley_4 would be happy to help once some more detail is there to work with.

G

Gaham

Headliner I

One final thought for now at least.

Light issues can often be resolved by covering only the top part of the window. We have venetian blinds in some rooms because of this.

Whilst curtains usually operate from left to right they can work top to bottom. So you could have curtains that you lower to cover the top portion of the window to address the offending light but leaves the lower part of the window exposed for the reflections. This might give you the best of both worlds.

Whilst blinds could be an option they do have their own reflective issues and don’t sound like a good fit for the environment that you have described anyway.

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IgnazioAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Would a wood or plywood panel be better for reflections?

...and if I replace the door with a wooden one, would it be better for audio reflections?

G

Gaham

Headliner I

Duplicate content, the board was playing up.

Final though for now.

Curtains can go from top to bottom as well as across and light problems are usually from the top part of the window for most of the day. So you could have drop down curtains and only cover the top part of the window most of the time leaving the lower part to reflect sound.

Venetian blinds could work but I don’t think they are suitable for the environment that you have described and they do have their own reflection challenges.

G

Gaham

Headliner I

Would a wood or plywood panel be better for reflections?

...and if I replace the door with a wooden one, would it be better for audio reflections?

It would be very similar i.e. most people would not hear the difference from just the surface.

As @Stanley_4 said resonant rattles are usually the main issue with doors and windows. I have installed silicone stoppers on a door that was rattling with the Sub.

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IgnazioAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Thank you all so much for now :-)

I'll see about swapping a wooden door I have in one room for the glass one in the home theater room.

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