What are people's view of the Era 300s as surrounds

Looking at other brands you see a lot of flash, but go back and look at their hardware from 2005 and see if it is still supported today. With Sonos the support is there and you won't be replacing speakers that go unsupported and soon become unusable. Look for their support policies, see how long is promised, but also look at what is actually happening.

Since Sonos ruined these speakers as surrounds by removing channel separation, I find these speakers to be a slap in the face and a complete failure of what they are truly capable of and how the sound is distributed. In my setup, there is no longer a sound bubble, but just an un-decimated rumble behind me.

You resurrected a 2 month old thread to post this?  Also, how exactly did Sonos remove “channel separation” in an Atmos system that isn’t based on individual channels?  Atmos is a positional codec, not a discrete channel codec, so individual channels mean nothing. What speaker/channel plays at any one time is dependent on the room and a speaker’s placement in the room, not what channel it is designated as.  

I think you don't fully understand what a Home Theater setup is, and how sound channels are distributed within it. You are apparently also one of the people who confuses Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio... they come from the same codec but produce a totally different outcome and experience. The Sonos ERA 300 was released on day one with clear Dolby channel separation, distributed across the outward, inward, and top tweeters, respectively Dolby (side channel) on the outside, Dolby back channel on the inward drivers, and top channel on the upward tweeter. All of this is directed towards the listener (whether or not via reflection off the wall or ceiling), which, together with the soundbar, creates the sound bubble. In my room, that worked fantastically, until they suddenly changed this, without any notification or warning, to a mix where those channels are no longer distributed separately, meaning that the sound bubble is no longer present in my setup. I hope this gives you a bit more understanding now...

Nope, I understood it just fine before, and I stand by my post.

In my experience the ERA 300 speakers as surrounds do exactly what they are supposed to do & exactly what I want them to do.  Of course the room configuration and the speaker placement is important as it would be with any surround system.  Once placed properly and room corrected using TruePlay they reproduce Dolby Atmos with a convincing ambiance.

like I said several times in this community I never want to hear sounds coming directly from any speaker in a surround or stereo system.  It’s ok if a sound is in the general location of one of the speakers, but there is a difference between that and a sound obviously coming from the speaker.  Imaging is everything to me.

So the ERA 300 pair as surrounds image rather well.  They sound like the dipole surround speakers I used years ago in a system.  They had two angled drivers purposely wired out of phase so you wound not easily be able to hear exact where they were located.

Do I know what a true discrete Dolby Atmos system sounds like.  YES.  Can I afford it.  NO!!!

​@kendyman kenneth   So when did Sonos change something that ruined the ERA 300 speakers??

Let me start by saying that I am flabbergasted that you don't like direct audio, not even stereo. To which I may add is that that is the intention of the mix as intended (I am not trying to impose my opinion on you); you are more of a spatial person and that is fine. If you read what I wrote in my previous post about how the speakers were set up at launch, the inward drivers are now off or heavily muffled. The Dolby back channel comes from the top tweeter together with the Dolby hi channel; the Dolby (side) channel is virtually inaudible. I find the utilization as these speakers came out much, much better than what it is now. In my setup, objects are no longer placed where they are intended with movies, and certainly not with audio tracks.

Strange mine work well.

Have you considered it may be a source issue, not Sonos?

Have you used the Dolby Labs test tracks to confirm your setup is performing properly?

As to direct sound that has a place in some stereo listening situations but far from all.

I usually prefer a wider, more dispersed sound as I'm rarely positioned to where a very directional set of speakers would perform well. I also find 300s used as a Pair do an amazing job of providing room filling and even sound for stereo program material, far better than my Ones, 100s or Play 5 pairs. Felt the same way long before I switched to Sonos and always went for the wide dispersion, if not omnidirectional speakers.

To understand what I'm talking about, you need to read my previous posts. I bought the speakers on pre-order, so I've had them since day 1 they were shipped. Back then, I was super happy with them. The configuration of these speakers has changed in the meantime, and yes, I am drowning in test files. People who bought these speakers after Sonos changed them (as surround speakers) can't possibly know how they might sound.

I’m not sure what you mean by “direct audio”.  I’ve had some very high end stereo systems in the past.  What they all did very well was image.  So let’s say I’m listening to a jazz quartet with a female singer recorded in a real space.  After fine tuning speaker toe in I have the female singer in the room with me.  She is the correct height and size and I can hear her breath.  The rest of the instruments are in their proper location both vertically and horizontally, but nothing is coming obviously from either speaker.  If that’s what you mean by “direct audio” then I’m on board.

My preferred genre is modern orchestral.  Imaging is less important when listening to an orchestra, but size is very important.  This is where Dolby Atmos shines.  Sonos does this pretty well.  Again I do not want to hear any sounds obviously coming from a speaker, particularly the surround speakers.  After all I’m not playing in the orchestra.

I still have a very good stereo system, but when I’m listening to orchestral music I’ll do that on the Sonos surround Room.  Particularly if it’s Dolby Atmos.