Firstly, I totally understand that when the speakers are in surround mode, that they need to operate differently with less room for latency and error when they’re acting as Slave speakers to a soundbar. I totally acknowledge and accept that.
However, I think it would be a great idea in the future to be able to quickly switch between a sort of “Surround” mode and “Standalone” mode. That way, when I want to watch films with the surrounds, I can enable it with the click of the button, just waiting a few moments for it to be configured and my trueplay profile saved. Rather than the need to set it up from new again. Same with connecting it back as a standalone device with my line-in input.
I bought a pair of era 100s with this idea in mind, not doing my research to find out that it wasn’t possible. I am likely still keeping my 100s, but I would love to be able to easily switch between a theatre mode and standalone mode for these speakers.
[SUGGESTION] Line in functionality on Surrounds
“Quickly switching” and “waiting a few moments” seem mutually exclusive. Could Sonos automate the switching, saving off the Trueplay settings for each configuration? Not going to say it is definitively possible without knowing the underlying code, but I imagine it’s possible. Would it be “quick”? No, the reconfiguration of the radios and ensuing handshakes take the time they take, whether it’s done via the current method or is automated. The most you will save is the time for a few taps in the menu.
Would this benefit Sonos? Maybe. But it may also kill sales of dedicated stereo music speakers. I know I probably wouldn’t have spent $1000 on dedicated Fives if I would easily reconfigure my surrounds to play my turntable and/or use a Line-In. Then again, I’d probably get sick of waiting to switch over and/or facing backwards to listen to my turntable on surrounds, and would have eventually got the Fives anyway. So I’m not really the poster boy for this request.
I consider a “few moments” to be quick, compared to the current alternative, which is setting up the surround pair and trueplay tuning all over again lol. I suppose I could have been more clear in that terminology. I assume once the intial setup is complete, switching the preset profiles in the speaker settings shouldn’t take longer than 20 seconds or so.
I’m not sure I agree with your point about this “killing sales of dedicated stereo music speakers” though.
I’ll just add my two cents FWIW…
This may not be a problem/concern for some; but for me and quite a few others I know it is. Surrounds are positioned to the rear of the listener (seating position). In this community and others regarding stereo imaging we talk about creating the “sound stage”.
The sound stage is a very important aspect of the stereo listening experience. Below is an example. Disregard the “X” and “✔” as the picture is meant to show positioning relative to the listener. Click here for the full article.
Surrounds being to the rear are not going to create a very good soundstage. However, if your only objective is to fill a room with sound; then I guess proper placement of a stereo pair is of no concern.
That said if stereo listening as shown above is important (regardless of the excellent points made by
Also, I too believe that incorporating such a feature would cannibalize sales of Sonos speakers to be used as stereo pairs. Thus, damaging a revenue stream.
I’m in a Condo. I have a great room where my couch is in the middle of the room. I have a stereo pair set up at the back of the room, which is nicely positioned for effective surround speakers behind my low-profile couch (since the room is smaller). So for me personally, this works great and movement isn’t needed. They sound great set up as surrounds.
Additionally, the point of this suggestion hinges on the Era 100s having the line-in functionality. I also have a Standalone Sonos One, and my Sonos Arc are not able to accept line in, but the line-in feed that’s gathered from the Era 100s is fed to those too (Soundbar and surrounds create a great soundstage)
Here, I’m intending to use all 3 speakers, easily being able to switch from theatre mode to the record player when I want.
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