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Upgrade/replace a Sonos beam (gen 1) to beam (gen 2):

I had moved from a house with a large living room to an apartment and needed a soundbar to replace my home theater that I couldn’t take with me. In Dec 2022 I bought my first Sonos speaker for the living room TV, a Beam. From an Amazon seller. It was listed as new and Gen 2; true it was new, but the item was not Gen 2 it registered as a Gen 1 when setup. I did get an amazon credit for the slight difference in price. Since the Beam sounded Great, I kept it and got a Sonos sub (Gen 3) two days later. At that time, I did not know the sub-mini was available. Fast forward to March 2024.

I had recently added a Victrola stream turntable for the living room in October an wanted to hear it well in the bedroom too. This time I went directly to Sonos after seeing their pricing was competitive with other retailers. I was looking to add a beam to the bedroom TV. I settled on a bundle called Entertainment set with Beam with a Beam (Gen 2) and a sub-mini. The plan upgrades the Beam in the living room to (Gen 2) pair it with the Sub (Gen 3) and move the Beam (gen 1) to the bedroom and pair it with the sub-mini, creating two zones LR and BR.

I did NOT do research ahead of time and ran into some issues. First don’t just move the speakers without any sort of reset or prep in the App. When you fire up the updated system sound might come from unexpected places.

First, if there are subs in the system remove them from the room/speaker they are joined to. Look for remove sub under the room with the sub, then under the sub in that room. This leaves the sub unassigned but in the system. My system does not have surrounds but see if there is a remove option for them in the room as well.

Then Factory reset the main speakers see the Sonos article here: Factory reset your Sonos product | Sonos from Sonos support.

I also forgot that soundbars work best connected to ARC or e-ARC HDMI ports leading to this step. Then set up the speakers in their new locations using the app. If possible, use HDMI connected to ARC/e-ARC HDMI ports on your TV to connect to a Sonos Soundbar for the best results. This allows the TV to take over the soundbar automatically when turned on; remember that you must also check TV setting to see that the CEC/ARC/e-ARC is fully enabled, and the TV sees the Sonos soundbar. After that go to the app go to your system then the room in your system and look for TV Setup; tap on it and follow the steps.

Your system is up and running enjoy it; but if you have Subs or surrounds reassign or add them using the app then enjoy.

Hi @J Gray 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Just a couple of little notes:

Since the Beam sounded Great, I kept it and got a Sonos sub (Gen 3) two days later. At that time, I did not know the sub-mini was available. Fast forward to March 2024.

When you got your first Beam, the Sub Mini did not yet exist, so you didn’t miss out on anything - Sub would have been your only option at the time

Then Factory reset the main speakers see the Sonos article here: Factory reset your Sonos product | Sonos from Sonos support.

This step is not needed, and we do not recommend that you ever reset a Sonos device unless selling it, without being expressly instructed to by our support team. It rarely fixes anything and often just creates more problems.

As far as I can make out, all you needed to do was update the room’s name in the Sonos app - Settings » System »  room to be renamed] » Room.

Other than that, thanks for sharing your advice!

J Gray, while you were right about resetting the Beam and renaming the room (I found that information too late and well after the post) I did want to join the Sub (Gen 3) to the new Beam (Gen 2) and I was able to remove it from the Beam (Gen 1) and join it to the Beam (Gen 2).

Both the Beam (gen 2) and the Sub (gen 3) live in harmony in the living room; and the Beam (Gen 1) is in the bedroom awaiting its sub-mini due here on or before Mar 28, 2024. They were shipped from NY and CA respectively the Beam (Gen 2) thankfully arrived first. I look forward to adding the sub-mini soon after it arrives and restoring the Bass i am used to. However, I do enjoy multiroom music (party mode) at lower volume.

Thank you.

This is a revised version of the original post. The first respondent Cory P a Sonos staff member confirmed what I had found much later after posting. Thank you, Cory P. Hope this helps clarify how to replace/upgrade a soundbar.

Why the upgrade? I moved from a house with a large living room to an apartment and needed a soundbar to replace my home theater that I couldn’t take with me. In Dec 2022 I bought my first Sonos speaker for the living room TV, a Beam. From an Amazon seller. It was listed as new and Gen 2. True it was new, but the item was not Gen 2; it registered as Gen 1 with Sonos when setup. I did get an amazon credit for the slight difference in price. Since the Beam sounded Great, I kept it and got a Sonos sub (Gen 3) two days later. Fast forward to March 2024.

I had recently added a Victrola stream turntable for the living room in October an wanted to hear it well in the bedroom too. This time I went directly to Sonos after seeing their pricing was competitive with other retailers. I was looking to add a Beam to the Bedroom TV. I settled on a bundle called Entertainment set with Beam with a Beam (Gen 2) and a sub-mini.

The plan upgrades the Beam in the living room to (Gen 2) and then pair it with the Sub (Gen 3) already in the LR. Move the Beam (Gen 1) to the Bedroom and pair it with the sub-mini, creating two zones Living and Bedroom.

In this plan I am only using soundbars (Ray, Beam, Arc) Beam specifically, as main speakers you can add subs/surrounds to; and I will use ‘Soundbar’ as the main Speaker name.

I am going to move the Beam (Gen 1) and add the Beam (Gen 2) so I don’t need to completely factory reset my Beam (Gen 1). However, if you need/want to replace/sell and want to reset after the system is reconfigured. Then here is how to Factory reset speakers you don’t need or want.  See the Sonos article here: Factory reset your Sonos product | Sonos from Sono’s support.

Continuing with the add/upgrade.

First, if there are subs in the system that are not staying with a soundbar being moved; or you are replacing the soundbar, remove subs/surrounds from the room/speaker they are joined to. Goto settings > Look for remove sub under the room with the sub > then tap on it. This leaves the sub unassigned but in the system. My system does not have surrounds but see if there is a remove option for them in the room as well.

Second, change the room where an existing soundbar and its subs/surrounds are in, if any soundbar is being moved. For example, LR to BR. Goto System > tap the room the soundbar is in > tap where you see ROOM and under it the name > select a new name like Bedroom.

Third, place the existing and new speakers in their new locations; using the app to add new speakers and or join subs/surrounds to the soundbar in the room as you go.

Remember when connecting a soundbar to a TV, it is best to use HDMI ARC/e-ARC ports on your TV and the HDMI port on the soundbar. And check the TV setting to be sure CEC/ARC/e-ARC is fully enabled for your TV. This allows the TV to take over the soundbar when the TV is on. Also enable this in the app for the soundbar. Goto system > Room > Beam > look for TV Setup and tap it and follow the on-screen directions.

Hope this helps. Thank you.

 

 

 

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