Answered

Switching ERA 300 from stereo pair to Surrounds

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I just received a pair of ERA 300’s.Eventually, I intend to use them a surrounds with an ARC and Sub, but first I want to hear what they sound like as a stereo pair. Hopefully, Sonos is working on a solution which will allow us to switch for stereo pair to surrounds, but in the meantime, to switch from stereo pair to surrounds must I revert to initial factory settings? I’m sorry if this question has already been posed.

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G

GuitarSuperstarAnswer

Lead Maestro

To add the Era 300s as surrounds, you have to separate them as a stereo pair first, then select the “Set up Surrounds” option under the Arc settings in the Sonos app.

To use the Era 300s as a stereo pair again, you select the “Remove Surrounds” option under the Arc settings. Then you set the Era 300s up as a stereo pair again.

Each time you switch to surrounds or to a stereo pair, you will lose any saved Trueplay tuning. But you do NOT need to perform a factory reset.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi

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J

Jonescifer

It would be outstanding if Sonos would implement an easy switch between stereo and surround without having to retune. My room setup has chairs that can simply be turned around and face the speakers when I want to listen to music

I also have this setup and being an avid music lover, I would also like Sonos to implement a quick switch between stereo and child-surround mode. I do not believe it is not possible. EVEN keeping the tuning. Every thing is possible. Learnt it through my journey coding.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

Every thing is possible. Learnt it through my journey coding.

Everything is possible if someone is willing to pay for it.

Learned that from my journey through coding project management.

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @jgatie & @Jonescifer

I have removed several of your posts. Please refrain from antagonising each other.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

N

nothing-but-love

Lyricist I

Sonos has chosen to not have the inside speakers of the Era 300 on when non Atmos content is being played. This could be the reason the speakers seem less loud, though they should be within spec for 5.1.

Sonos should update their software to activate the inside speakers on the Era 300 when 5.1 audio is being played and de-active them when Dolby Atmos is being played. That really shouldn’t be that hard for them to implement in their software.

5.1 audio is designed for front firing speakers so to route rear channels to side & up firing speakers on the Era 300 is doing 5.1 audio a disservice. Now for audio formats with more than 5 channels and audio formats that contain height channels... That’s a different story and I completely understand why the Era 300 would use side and up firing speakers.

I personally am holding off buying Era 300’s for surrounds because the majority of the content out there to watch is in 5.1. There are relatively few movies / shows in Dolby Atmos compared to what’s available in 5.1. So, while I’m sure the Era 300 would be awesome for Dolby Atmos content. My Play 1’s are likely better for 5.1 content (Based on opinions from owners of both the Era 300 and Play 1 where both have been used for surrounds in a A/B comparison).

jonmichael

Enthusiast II

I personally am holding off buying Era 300’s for surrounds because the majority of the content out there to watch is in 5.1. There are relatively few movies / shows in Dolby Atmos compared to what’s available in 5.1. So, while I’m sure the Era 300 would be awesome for Dolby Atmos content. My Play 1’s are likely better for 5.1 content (Based on opinions from owners of both the Era 300 and Play 1 where both have been used for surrounds in a A/B comparison).

I could not agree more. Here I sit, with money in my pocket, wanting to buy a better surround/atmos combination set of speakers to replace my SL Ones. But, after months of waiting, we hear nothing from Sonos. I guess I will wait some more, until a “2” or a “4” speaker is introduced with this magic switch.

Old guy with toys.

C

ChrisPBacon

Contributor I

I have a Setup consisting of an Arc, Sub Gen. 3 and two Era 300s. Before using the Era 300s as a Stereo Pair only for Music I had them as Rear Speakers in a Surround Sound Setup. It wasn‘t bad for music at all, it actually sounded gread. BUT when I used the Era 300s as a Stereo Pair for listening to music they were on a whole other level (Dolby Atmos and regular music content on Apple Music). It would be awesome if the Era 300 as Rear Speakers could sound as great as they do as a stereo pair when listening to music. They‘re clearly capable of doing so and as I‘ve read many people in the Sonos community want that. Is there something planned, Sonos?

Thank you for listening to your Customers and putting out great, simple to use products!

melvimbe

I have a Setup consisting of an Arc, Sub Gen. 3 and two Era 300s. Before using the Era 300s as a Stereo Pair only for Music I had them as Rear Speakers in a Surround Sound Setup. It wasn‘t bad for music at all, it actually sounded gread. BUT when I used the Era 300s as a Stereo Pair for listening to music they were on a whole other level (Dolby Atmos and regular music content on Apple Music). It would be awesome if the Era 300 as Rear Speakers could sound as great as they do as a stereo pair when listening to music. They‘re clearly capable of doing so and as I‘ve read many people in the Sonos community want that. Is there something planned, Sonos?

Thank you for listening to your Customers and putting out great, simple to use products!

This is sort of my take on the matter, but I think my reasoning is slightly different. Say you have two rooms you want audio to play in, one of them is home theatre, and these are the speakers you have to work with.

Arc

2 subs

2 Era 300s

2 Sonos Ones

You can set them up with option A

Room 1 - Arc + sub + 2 300s

Room 2 - 2 Ones + sub

or Option B

Room 1 - Arc + sub + 2 Ones

Room 2 - 2 300s + sub

I choose option B, because I want 2 atmos rooms. When the rooms are grouped, I’m not forced down to stereo as they would be in option A. The HT room is not quite as good with option B for atmos, but it’s still really good. For music/stereo sources, room 1 is at least the same for both options, while room 2 is definitely improved for option B.

I honestly didn’t even try option A, because the appeal of option B was too great. As well, it leaves me a bit of room for future upgrades if Sonos comes out with another atmos capable speaker in the future that is better or worse than the Era 300.

Danny

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