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Surround Speakers or Stereo Pair


Userlevel 1

I recently purchase the following:

Arc

Sub Gen 3

2 x One SL speakers

I have set up the system as per instructions BUT I am slightly confused with regard to a stereo pair and/or surround speaker set up. 

Which would be the best listening experience. The App doesn’t seem to show that the 2 x One SL speakers are a stereo pair and I can’t seem to be able to change or set up. Any ideas ?

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Best answer by Mr. T 27 June 2022, 11:42

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10 replies

Hi.  Have you added these speakers as surrounds and Sub to your Arc?  If so, your app will just show one ‘room’ and in the system settings for the Arc it will show Arc (+Sub+LS+RS).

Userlevel 7

For TV audio, the best listening experience is to have the One SLs as surround speakers with the Arc/Sub.

All four Sonos devices should show under one room in the app; Arc room name (+Sub+LS+RS)

To achieve this, go into the Arc’s room settings and select Add Surrounds, if you haven’t already.

For music listening, the best listening experience is subjective. What works for one person may not be the preferred option for another. However, with Sonos it is fairly easy to try the different options and decide yourself what suits you best.

When the One SLs are being used as surround speakers, you would have to go into the Arc’s room settings, select Remove Surrounds then select to move them into a separate room to stereo pair them.

In reality, this isn’t a practical way to use the system each time you wish to listen to music, as you would then have to re-add them as surrounds again for TV audio.

The simplest option, is to keep the One SLs as surround speakers with the Arc/Sub then adjust the Music Level slider under the Arc’s room settings for Surround Audio. Here you can also adjust the Music Playback option between Ambient and Full. When set as Full the One SLs will output the same overall sound as the Arc. The music will also benefit from the Sub in this setup.

For many, they are happy listening to music with the Arc/Sub/Surrounds combined, however, if music listening is important to you, you may want to consider purchasing additional Sonos speakers to be a stereo pair purely for music listening.

Userlevel 7
Badge +21

If they are in the same room as the Arc The only experience that works is surround speaker set up. Otherwise if you group then with the Arc there will be a significant and irritating sound delay and you are not making use of Dolby surround. 

You need to unpair them. Then go into Arc settings and go through the surround set up and add the two play ones. 

Userlevel 1

Hi.  Have you added these speakers as surrounds and Sub to your Arc?  If so, your app will just show one ‘room’ and in the system settings for the Arc it will show Arc (+Sub+LS+RS).

Hi John, I added them as per your above information. Just ‘one room’ …. so when looking at App it reads - TV Room (+Sub+LS+RS) then Arc underneath. I just followed the instructions on the App, straight out of the box. The system does sound good but there isn’t as much sound as I thought from the 2 x One’s at the rear of the room. Then I was reading about stereo pairs and surround sound, so it slightly threw me ! So I think, from reading a couple of the answers to my question, I have probably set up correctly.

Userlevel 1

For TV audio, the best listening experience is to have the One SLs as surround speakers with the Arc/Sub.

All four Sonos devices should show under one room in the app; Arc room name (+Sub+LS+RS)

To achieve this, go into the Arc’s room settings and select Add Surrounds, if you haven’t already.

For music listening, the best listening experience is subjective. What works for one person may not be the preferred option for another. However, with Sonos it is fairly easy to try the different options and decide yourself what suits you best.

When the One SLs are being used as surround speakers, you would have to go into the Arc’s room settings, select Remove Surrounds then select to move them into a separate room to stereo pair them.

In reality, this isn’t a practical way to use the system each time you wish to listen to music, as you would then have to re-add them as surrounds again for TV audio.

The simplest option, is to keep the One SLs as surround speakers with the Arc/Sub then adjust the Music Level slider under the Arc’s room settings for Surround Audio. Here you can also adjust the Music Playback option between Ambient and Full. When set as Full the One SLs will output the same overall sound as the Arc. The music will also benefit from the Sub in this setup.

For many, they are happy listening to music with the Arc/Sub/Surrounds combined, however, if music listening is important to you, you may want to consider purchasing additional Sonos speakers to be a stereo pair purely for music listening.

Thanks Mr T - From your answer, it seems I have probably set up correctly. Room name (+Sub+LS+RS) and the word Arc underneath. I just expected more sound to be coming from the rear. Regards, Studav.

You have indeed set up correctly.  Please note @Mr. T ‘s suggestion that you change the surround setting for music from AMBIENT to FULL to see if you prefer that.

Userlevel 1

Thanks Mr T - From your answer, it seems I have probably set up correctly. Room name (+Sub+LS+RS) and the word Arc underneath. I just expected more sound to be coming from the rear. Regards, Studav.

Userlevel 1

Thankyou …. may have a listen to system set as Ambient and Full,

Userlevel 7
Badge +21

Thanks Mr T - From your answer, it seems I have probably set up correctly. Room name (+Sub+LS+RS) and the word Arc underneath. I just expected more sound to be coming from the rear. Regards, Studav.

You can play around with the rear volume settings and the sound will depend on the content you are playing.  For Music you can change form Ambiet to Full, although I find Ambient to be a better experience.

Also be sure to perform Trueplay tuning, that will help.

Userlevel 7

Thankyou …. may have a listen to system set as Ambient and Full,

Ambient or Full only works for music listening.

For TV, the TV Level slider in the app can increase the volume of the surrounds. However the surrounds are limited to the surround channels so don’t expect them to replicate the sound from the Arc. When you watch a movie in Dolby Atmos or DD 5.1 then you’ll understand the purpose of the surrounds.