The Sonos Arc and Beam connect via HDMI-ARC or eARC and use CEC to set themselves up.  It’s usually plug-and-play.  They also come with an optical adapter for older TV’s without ARC.  The Sonos Ray is still optical,

Optical is always more challenging, as it’s a one way transmission, and the Sonos has no way to communicate back to the TV that it exists, or what codecs it can handle. This means that lots of settings need to be checked on the audio settings of the TV, and any device that’s feeding data to the TV. 

ARC is a much more friendly environment. ARC is used by the Sonos Beam and the Sonos Arc, but not the Sonos Ray. 

Thanks, Bruce. I do have like a second generation Playbar… if not the first gen. I appreciate your insight.

Thanks to both of you. Is a Sonos Ray another term for Playbar? A new TV and an upgrade to my Playbar may not sit will with the Mrs. 

No. The PLAYBAR is no longer manufactured. The Ray is a much newer device, with an optical connection, but much newer electronics inside it. It’s the least expensive sound bar that Sonos sells. The PLAYBAR’s successor is actually the Sonos Arc. 

Hi, Bruce… Thanks for the clarification. I’ve been so happy with my original stuff that I haven’t thought about replacing the Playbar and Subwoofer.  The Arc is way beyond my price point. Question: How much sonic clarity and punch would I lose if, say, I “upgraded” to the Beam Gen 2? It has the eARC that you and jgatie mentioned previously.  Again, thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions.

Brad

I don’t know that it’s been measured, and honestly, would depend more on your ears than any measurement. I wouldn’t do it myself, because I like greater separation, and the Beam isn’t as wide as the PLAYBAR. And if you’re listening to Dolby Digital, the signal you get across optical is exactly the same signal that is sent across HDMI anyway. 
 

Great points, Bruce. I figure, at my age, my sonic sensitivity has diminished slightly and, I don't have the patients to experiment. I mean, I got the SONOS equipment to get away from wires and the work that goes along with them. Thanks much.  Brad

Hi @SlamDesi 

Thanks for your post!

Keep your Playbar - you are happy with it, after all!

Just tell your new TV to always output Dolby Digital 5.1 through the optical output and all should be good. Some older TVs would only output 5.1 if an internal, non-HDMI source was in use - your old TV might have been one of these. So, in all likelihood, Samsung have already made the changes to make your new TV work better with your Playbar. Even if this is not the case, you can still use the switch you already have.

I hope this helps.

Thanks very much, Corry.  I really appreciate you taking the time to provide an answer.
Brad

Hi @SlamDesi 

You are most welcome!

So, I bought the new Samsung TV and connected my Playbar to it.  After some wrangling, I set the TV to output Dolby 5.1 if what I was watching was being transmitted in that audio format. Since most of my TV viewing is being routed through my Roku Ultra (2019 model), I’m wondering if that’s converting it to Stereo PCM. It may have been mentioned in here that Amazon and Netflix usually only provide a stereo output anyway.  Is that accurate?  I mean, the stereo sound is still good and, the audio in general sounds more robust coming from the new TV.  I’m not complaining but, I’m also wondering if there’s something I’ve missed during the set-up process.  Should I have plugged the Roku HDMI into the HDMI ARC port?  Any thoughts or advice. My apology for asking remedial questions of such a learned group in this community.  Thanks… Brad

Hi @SlamDesi 

I don’t watch much Amazon, but I believe the majority of content on both Amazon and Netflix would be in some surround sound format or another. That you (only?) get stereo may indeed have something to do with your Roku, and it’s settings, but I am not familiar - hopefully someone can assist.

The HDMI-ARC socket differs from the others in that it provides a connection for sound-bars newer than the Playbar. It may help to try the Roku in different HDMI sockets - there’s no harm in trying, anyway - but I’d look to more concrete solutions first (settings).

I hope this helps.

Thanks again, Corry.  I might try moving the Roku to a different port and, see if I use the native Prime and Netflix apps directly from the new TV instead of using the Roku as an intermediary. Regardless, not a big deal as the sound is still pretty darn good whether in stereo of Dolby.  Have a great weekend.  Brad.

There are many TVs (my two Vizio’s, for instance) which can pass different codecs from internal apps than can be input via HDMI. It’s wildly frustrating for me, since I refuse to use “built in apps” since I’m not overly confident of how much “tracking” is going on with Vizio, and what they give to their partners. 

Not overly sure that Apple is any better, but if I want to believe, maybe it’s true :)

But yea, I ended up going the external route to get Atmos. Although I may be replacing at least one of those TVs with a newer model soon. 

Airgetlam… I understand your concerns about tracking. Unfortunately, it’s insidious and I often check out videos on what to turn off and what to keep on. One day I had to use a louder than normal voice to tell my wife something from a distance. Siri replied with “I’m sorry, I didn't catch that.”  I replied with “It’s not your business you b-tch”.  I got back “That’s no very nice.”  It wasn’t. I turned her off for good. Try using the web browser Dissenter. That one does a good job of blocking trackers.

I’m thinking if I upgraded from a Playbar to an Arc, I’d be all set but… Sonos is a bit too proud of their product with a price tag of $799.00 for a sound bar.  Yeah, I think their products are great but…. not that great at my income level. Oh well. I guess I should wait for my hearing to naturally deteriorate and then there’ll be not point in upgrading.   Thanks, Airgetlam for your reply.  I do enjoy this community forum.