Skip to main content

Rear Era 300’s close to head and TruePlay has them blaring.

  • January 4, 2026
  • 6 replies
  • 57 views
B
Forum|alt.badge.img+1

Hello, after using TruePlay my rear speakers are really loud and greatly over power the front (Arc Ultra). They are only 6” away if I sit on one side of the couch, around 2’ if I sit center (they are in a console table right behind my couch). I know that “Surround Distance” is grayed out after running TruePlay. Am I really just better off not using TruePlay and just setting surround distance to “Less Than 2ft”?

 

Just bummed that I have to sacrifice the TruePlay EQ because it doesn’t reduce the rear surrounds enough.

6 replies

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • January 4, 2026

You can adjust things after using TruePlay. It sets the baseline, for the ‘average’, but shouldn’t be turning off any adjustments you can then make. 

Bruce
B
Forum|alt.badge.img+1
  • beardontwalk123
  • Author
  • Trending Lyricist I
  • January 4, 2026

You can adjust things after using TruePlay. It sets the baseline, for the ‘average’, but shouldn’t be turning off any adjustments you can then make. 

It does turn off Surround Distance with it being grayed out, although I can lower TV level and Height level but I wouldn’t know what to set those to.

I can deactivate TruePlay and set levels and turn TruePlay back on but I don’t know if it even holds as the speaker distance goes back to a higher distance.

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • January 4, 2026

Why wouldn't you adjust the TV level to where the surrounds aren't too loud?

Asking someone with different ears, a different room and different seating positions about levels is not useful.

Same goes for the height setting, how could anyone not in your room listening to Atmos content guess a number?

    N
    Forum|alt.badge.img+19
    • nik9669a
    • Senior Virtuoso
    • January 4, 2026

    Have you reduced the volume for the surrounds using the app?
    Settings, <roomname>, then scroll down to Surround Audio and use the slider to drop the volume. 
     

    It has been said before: the user interface design is very poor at showing where there are more features to scroll down to - Sonos, please????

    B
    Forum|alt.badge.img+1
    • beardontwalk123
    • Author
    • Trending Lyricist I
    • January 4, 2026

    Why wouldn't you adjust the TV level to where the surrounds aren't too loud?

    Asking someone with different ears, a different room and different seating positions about levels is not useful.

    Same goes for the height setting, how could anyone not in your room listening to Atmos content guess a number?

    Because it feels like I’m guessing. I had surround level all the down to min and still seemed loud. Then I couldn’t tell if it’s because of the heights or not. Also I think heights lower the front also.

    Reducing distance seems the only way that they aren’t overpowering. I guess it’s just best if I have TruePlay off.

    T
    Forum|alt.badge.img+1
    • Train_dude
    • Avid Contributor I
    • January 4, 2026

    When you run Trueplay, does it set the surround distance to more than 10 feet?

     

    I’ve been asking for an option to adjust surround distance after running Trueplay because the surround distance it sets is not accurate for my setup. One of my rear speakers is about 6 feet away, and the other is about 10 feet away in an open layout.

     

    With Trueplay on, I can’t properly adjust the TV surround level because of the difference between the two rears. Trueplay makes the left rear noticeably louder, which makes it feel like it’s being set to more than 10 feet.

     

    When Trueplay is off, I’m able to manually adjust surround distance — setting one rear between 2–10 feet and the other effectively beyond 10 feet — and the balance sounds much more accurate.

    Terms & ConditionsCookie settingsAccessibility statement