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Manual Speaker Test/Level Adjust

  • 1 September 2021
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I received my Amp yesterday.  I have it powering two Polk 80F/X-LS in-ceiling speakers for surrounds.  The rest of my setup is an ARC and Sub.

Does Sonos have a test tone feature yet?  In receiver-based setups, one can always generate a test tone on a channel-by-channel basis and, if desired, set the speaker level using a sound pressure meter.  I use the test tones to make sure everything is connected and then after running room correction software (Truplay for us), I run the test tones again with a SPM to make sure the levels are reasonable.

I think the answer to my question is NO, but SONOS, are you considering this feature for the future?

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 1 September 2021, 15:11

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No, this feature is not available. Your best option would be to perform Trueplay tuning and find a test tones file online to download onto a USB flash drive or, if you have a Blu-ray or DVD player, find a demo disc that can play test tones.

Here’s a link to a 5.1.2 test tones file from Dolby:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/hc21uu/dolby_atmos_512_test_video_file_download_link/

There isn’t any test tone, and although I don’t speak for Sonos, I doubt there ever will be.  For one, I think the need for this sort of calibration is handled with Trueplay, and therefore not necessary.  I don’t think they would want to imply that it is to customers who are expecting a simple easy setup (not audiophiles).  As well, Sonos doesn’t currently have a lot of ways to make manual adjustments.  Part of the setup asks how far back surround speakers are from the seating area, and you also have the ability to adjust the surround volume relative to the front speakers.

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A test tone isn’t a “high-end” feature, IMHO - it simply lets the home owner know that they got everything wired and to hear a specific speaker.  To me, its the “price of admission” especially at this price point - $799 for ARC, $699 for Sub, $649 for Amp and my Polk’s were in the $400 neighborhood so I’m into this thing for over $2,500.  Supposedly Sonos is the Audiophile soundbar - if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t cost what is does, and a lot of audiophiles are like me - picky…

Sorry - not ranking and I did run Truplay after getting an iPhone from my son, but I also had a wire for my left surround come out of the Amp banana plug and it took me a bit to determine that.

 

Lastly, Truplay did not show up right away - not sure why, but I uninstalled both the Sub and Amp, reinstalled them, which I found out is a real PITA, and then it was there.

A test tone isn’t a “high-end” feature, IMHO - it simply lets the home owner know that they got everything wired and to hear a specific speaker. 

 

 

 

The average homeowner uses an SPM?

 

To me, its the “price of admission” especially at this price point - $799 for ARC, $699 for Sub, $649 for Amp and my Polk’s were in the $400 neighborhood so I’m into this thing for over $2,500.  Supposedly Sonos is the Audiophile soundbar - if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t cost what is does, and a lot of audiophiles are like me - picky…

 

 

It’s high end, yes, but more geared towards ease of use and wireless ability that giving audiohiles all the features that they want.  A lot of audiophiles don’t like Sonos for that reason.

I can’t say I’ve setup an amp for sorrounds so don’t know what issues you may have with making sure everything is on.  For Sonos speakers as surrounds, it’s not an issue.  For the amps I’ve used, I’ve never really needed a testtone to know the speaker is properly connected.  I just listen to music 

 

Sorry - not ranking and I did run Truplay after getting an iPhone from my son, but I also had a wire for my left surround come out of the Amp banana plug and it took me a bit to determine that.

 

 

I can see where that would be harder to track down if the audio your playing doesn’t have much surround content.  I would set the room to play full audio for music, then stream to verify everything is connected properly, if you can’t find a test tone track.

 

Lastly, Truplay did not show up right away - not sure why, but I uninstalled both the Sub and Amp, reinstalled them, which I found out is a real PITA, and then it was there.

 

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There are a couple of other typical use cases for manual adjustment.

In my main HTR, I control the sound with a Marantz AV7703.  Marantz uses Audyssey for room correction. Audyssey is great BUT there are many 60+ yo audiophiles like me that subsequently boost the center channel.  Sonos has Speech Enhancement, which which helps mitigate this.

Many enthusiasts also boost the sub post-Audyssey.  AUdyssey is know to set the sub too low for thge likens of most.Sonos does allow for this, so not points taken away here - just trying to point out the reasons people adjust individual channels.

There are a couple of other typical use cases for manual adjustment.

In my main HTR, I control the sound with a .  Marantz uses Audyssey for room correction. Audyssey is great BUT there are many 60+ yo audiophiles like me that subsequently boost the center channel.  Sonos has Speech Enhancement, which which helps mitigate this.

Many enthusiasts also boost the sub post-Audyssey.  AUdyssey is know to set the sub too low for thge likens of most.Sonos does allow for this, so not points taken away here - just trying to point out the reasons people adjust individual channels.

 

Sure, audiophiles need/want test tones and lots of ability to make adjustments on their audiophile equipment.  No argument there. 

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Sure, audiophiles need/want test tones and lots of ability to make adjustments on their audiophile equipment.  No argument there. 

I just want the same with my audiophile soundbar.  What can I say, I’m needy:grinning: