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Hello

 

 I currently have a 5.0 sonos system consisting of a playbar and 2 play:1 surround sound systems for the home cinema and a denon df107 system for the music.

 

 My plan is to replace all that with the new generation sonos amp associated with two bookshelf speakers that have yet to be defined, connected via HDMI to the TV.

 

 I have several questions about this:

 

 - is it relevant to replace a playbar, for which I am disappointed with the stereo spatialization, by a sonos amp?

 

 - what about the surround effect generated by the 2 play:1 associated with the amp? Are the effects well managed? Is there a degradation at this level compared to the playbar?

The Sonos computes a phantom center channel from information it receives. As such it seems to work well, but a real center channel as in a soundbar would work better. For music the Amp should earn you more stereo separation. The system is however a compromise. Not completely home cinema and not completely hifi stereo. If this is goeed enough for you only you(r ears) can decide.

I do not see any reason why surround speakers bonded to an Amp would work any different than when bonded where bonded to a Playbar.

If the passive speakers are close to the TV and they image well, center channel is redundant. For good stereo imaging the L/R speakers should be approximately as far from you as they are from each other. Depending on your room layout this separation might be a strain on my center channel “redundant” claim. PLAYBAR’s side firing speakers enhance the surround effect somewhat. Finally, a set of L/R speakers, each costing as much as PLAYBAR might perform better on music than PLAYBAR.

These are somewhat conflicting ideas regarding “best” and only you know what is “best” for you.

Soundbars are convenient, relatively easy to set-up, and generally less expensive than a traditional surround setup. This is perfect for a wide variety of listeners, but not so perfect for others.

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