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Play 1 used as surrounds with Beam will not work

  • 13 April 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 443 views

I am using a Beam and two Sonos Play 1 as surrounds for my TV. They are showing connected as left and right with the Beam. I have even completed the Truetune. All three work great when playing music, but when I watch TV I only get sound from the Beam. I have the volume on the Play 1 turned up on the app but no luck. I have done a factory reset. Not sure what I am missing. Any thoughts.

When you play TV source.  Please open the Sonos App and select the Sonos Room containing the Beam.  Is it displaying Stereo or 5.1 or above?

I am using a Beam and two Sonos Play 1 as surrounds for my TV. They are showing connected as left and right with the Beam. I have even completed the Truetune. All three work great when playing music, but when I watch TV I only get sound from the Beam. I have the volume on the Play 1 turned up on the app but no luck. I have done a factory reset. Not sure what I am missing. Any thoughts.

You will need to be playing a surround sound TV source to likely hear anything from the rear surrounds. Try a Netflix or Amazon Prime Movie - most of those provide surround sound. If it doesn’t work then check the TV sound settings and set the audio output to something like this…

  • CEC & Auto-Power-Sync: ‘ON’
  • Sound Out: ‘HDMI ARC’ (and see below re: eARC)
  • HDMI Input Audio Format: ‘Bitstream’
  • Digital Sound Out: ‘Pass Through’
  • eARC: ‘On’ (if available within your TV sound settings)
  • DTV Audio: ‘Auto’ …or use Dolby Digital Plus (or ‘Dolby Digital 5.1’) - see which one works for your TV. (Note; DD 5.1 is the choice for a Beam (gen1), whilst DD+ is best for Beam (gen2)).

The Beam device in ‘Settings/System’ in the Sonos App should also show as something like this when surrounds are correctly bonded to the speaker;

"Room Name (LS+RS)"

examples:

  • Living Room (LS+RS) - no Sub in use 
  • Lounge (LS+RS+Sub) - if using a single Sub within the HT
  • Dining Room (LS+RS+Subx2) - if using dual Subs within the HT

Hope that assists you to get things working.

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