Contributor I

Answered

Surround setup for my TV

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I told a salesman that I wanted to set up a 5.1 surround sound for my TV. He sold me 4 Era 100's, a Ray and a Sub. What's the best way to set these up? I seem to only be able to get 2 of the Era’s going and the TV remote only affects the volume for the Ray.

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AjTrek1Answer

First of all “fire” the sales person as they oversold you assuming they fully understood you only wanted Sonos for a home theater (HT) setup. The only components required in your case (as of now) are:

Ray
Era 100 x 2 as surrounds

You can return the other two Era 100’s and purchase a Sub-Mini to complete your setup for added low-end for movies and music. The Sub Mini will only cost $29.00 more (USD) after return credit for the two Era 100’s. Your new HT will consist of:

Ray
Era 100 x 2
Sub-mini

Sonos can only use two (2) speakers as surrounds in a HT setup. Also, you can set the Era 100’s to play in full stereo (along with the Ray) for music and auto-switch back to surround mode for movies.

When properly setup the TV remote will control the volume for all speakers simultaneously that are part of the HT. Assuming you have two (2) Era 100’s bonded to the Ray as shown in this link and the remote is properly setup the volume will be adjusted for all speakers. Follow this link to add a sub to your HT.

FYI, the Era 100’s must not be configured as a stereo pair when adding them as surrounds.

EDIT: @Schlumpf types faster than me 😀

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

Schlumpf

Virtuoso

@TeeJaay

That „salesman“ doesn’t seem to know much about Sonos… As you realized a Sonos home theater is complete with Ray, Sub and two rearspeakers. The front speakers and the center already are included in the soundbar.
So there’s no way to use the other two Eras as part of the ht setup.
You can just configure them as a separate stereo pair or each one as a single speaker.

Ralf

AjTrek1Answer

First of all “fire” the sales person as they oversold you assuming they fully understood you only wanted Sonos for a home theater (HT) setup. The only components required in your case (as of now) are:

Ray
Era 100 x 2 as surrounds

You can return the other two Era 100’s and purchase a Sub-Mini to complete your setup for added low-end for movies and music. The Sub Mini will only cost $29.00 more (USD) after return credit for the two Era 100’s. Your new HT will consist of:

Ray
Era 100 x 2
Sub-mini

Sonos can only use two (2) speakers as surrounds in a HT setup. Also, you can set the Era 100’s to play in full stereo (along with the Ray) for music and auto-switch back to surround mode for movies.

When properly setup the TV remote will control the volume for all speakers simultaneously that are part of the HT. Assuming you have two (2) Era 100’s bonded to the Ray as shown in this link and the remote is properly setup the volume will be adjusted for all speakers. Follow this link to add a sub to your HT.

FYI, the Era 100’s must not be configured as a stereo pair when adding them as surrounds.

EDIT: @Schlumpf types faster than me 😀

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

106rallye

Wow. Two extra Era 100’s you cannot use for a surround set up and the least expensive soundbar.

You might want to go back and exchange the extra Era 100’s and the Ray for a Beam.

Explanation. A Sonos surround set up consists of a soundbar, a maximum of two surrounds one or two Subs. The Beam is definitely the better soundbar, and supports HDMI instead of optical only.

You should be able to ad two speakers as surrounds by choosing the option to ad them as surrounds and not set them up as an extra room in the app.

P

Peter_254

Prodigy II

It is indeed sad to be offered the "worst" soundbar SONOS has and 2 speakers too many and no Sub.

It seemed fair that the seller does not know everything about all products, but it is the seller's obligation to say that he does not have enough knowledge in that area and get hold of another seller who has sufficient knowledge.

If you want the best then the Arc Ultra-2XEra300-Sub4.

If you want to keep the price a little lower you can buy a Beam Gen2 or Arc, 2xEra100 and a Sub mini.

Once you have decided which setup you want, I'm sure there are many who will and can help you get it set up quickly and smoothly.

T

TeeJaayAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks everyone! Got it all working correctly now.

AjTrek1

Thanks everyone! Got it all working correctly now.

That’s great. What is your final setup? Please share.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

T

TeeJaayAuthor

Contributor I

The Ray, Sub, and 2 of the Eras are joined together for surround home theater.

The Ray is connected to my TV with an optical cable and all devices are connected to my home Wi-Fi.

The Comcast remote works for the whole system.

Not sure what to do with the other 2 Era’s.

Airgetlam

Set them up in another room. I like them in my bedroom, but they’d could go anywhere you have WiFi.

Bruce

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

The Ray, Sub, and 2 of the Eras are joined together for surround home theater.

The Ray is connected to my TV with an optical cable and all devices are connected to my home Wi-Fi.

The Comcast remote works for the whole system.

Not sure what to do with the other 2 Era’s.

Take them back for a refund and tell the salesman how ignorant he is of Sonos kit. Or deploy them elsewhere in your home.

Schlumpf

Virtuoso

@TeeJaay

My choise would be a refund of two Era100 and also the Ray and instead take a Beam2.
Of course Ray is a good entry level soundbar, but imo Beam2 has better sound and of course Atmos support.
Even your TV and source devices may not support Atmos and HDMI eARC at the moment, that would be a better investment in future technology. In the meantime you can connect Beam2 with the included toslink adapter.

Ralf

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