Mostly you are fighting with physics.

In arrangements where you are much closer to one speaker than the other speaker, the near speaker will dominate. On your sofa you’ll need to at least adjust the balance as you move your listening position. In an optimal stereo imaging arrangement you should be approximately as far from the speakers as they are from each other. 

Your space is very “live”. There are lots of reflections from almost every surface. A simple sound could be bumbling around for a significant fraction of a second. This limits your ability to localize anything and contributes to your fatigue. Speakers that distribute ambient sound are not a good choice for this room. Your Sonus Faber’s tend to beam at you and there will be less stuff whizzing around. ERA 100 or FIVE’s in the vertical position would be a better choice than ERA 300.

There would be a major improvement if you added a rug (with a pad), heavy drapes, or tapestries (with thick pads behind). This will tame the “live” but will not improve on issues caused by sitting too close to a speaker.

Hey there! Thank you buzz!! 

Unfortunately, Sonos removed the Left/Right balance for Era 300s, so no joy there.

As for distance, I completely get what you are saying which works if I move speakers back in front of the sofa, but still have unbalanced proximity to one speaker over the other. Still great points you are making.

And, I won’t put up drapes or anything though that makes sense acoustically.

This room is about 19 feet long, 13 feet deep (speaker wall to back of sofa) and ceiling is split between 8 feet to 18 feet high); your point about Era 300s help tremendously!! 

”ERA 100 or FIVE’s in the vertical position would be a better choice than ERA 300.”

Based on your recommendation, and knowledge of this room size, would you recommend a pair of Era 100s (and likely a sub-mini) or a pair of 5s (would need to be vertical)? And would either become an issue if the distance between them was 6 feet or less (I sit approx 12 feet away).

FYI, I could do an NAD, but (like using the 5s) I don’t get voice assistant. And I don’t get Apple Music. I have no experience with Bluesound as an app.

Cheers!

Michael Amir

In your 6x12 arrangement any speakers would narrow the stereo image a bit.

Voice control can be added to many arrangements. Even though FIVE’s are not directly voice controlled, adding a small Google device can fix that.

AppleMusic is available for SONOS. (I’m not a user).

Thank you so so very much!!

im guessing that if I place any speakers directly in front of the sofa, I’m always going to face left / right speaker bias, considering I’m always on one side of the sofa.  Hence having them at the angle (either side of the fireplace) seems to help ensure center stage a bit.
Note, I have a large rug in the middle of the hardwood floor but that’s it. 
 

If I do/should place speakers there (fireplace) vs opposite wall of sofa, that limits me to exclusively Wi-Fi speakers like KEF or Sonos. 
 

is that your recommendation on speaker placement?  If yes would you recommend Era 100 pair with sub mini or pair of Sonos 5s?

here’s hoping Era 5s are coming!

cheers!
 

Hi, just a quick note about the Fives. You can place them either vertical or horizontal as a stereo pair. Which ever you prefer. I have mine horizontal which I know isn't the norm. I prefer them that way though

Thanks SarahN

do you have them directly in front of you or at an angle?  Any balance or imaging issues for you like I’m having with the Era 300?

and did you find you needed a sub or no with the 5s?

cheers. 

I have them facing forwards on a large sideboard with a turntable inbetween them. I do have them paired with a Sub gen 3 but they're also excellent without it. No balance issues as you can alter the balance unlike the Era 300s. I do also have a single 300 that I use just for Dolby Atmos music. I'm a bit of a Sonos junkke lol

I know they're a bit too close together but nothing I can do about that. They sound fab anyway

Thanks for sharing!!!  Today is last day I can use the 300 before returning them so this along with buzz feedback truly helps. I wish the fives had a mic but oh well. 
 

fyi the 300 sound amazing based on the song selection. Go to a less ideal song mix and the spatial audio and multi directional speakers sadly gives me headaches.  Wild ride indeed. 

You need to get the fives but also some Sonos speakers with mics. Then you can control the Fives via the other speakers

Wow!  I didn’t know you could do that with the fives.  

I’m building out the house with HomeKit over time, so I’m also trying to ensure things work within that ecosystem, which Sonos does….

I really hope they come out with new fives with mics and Wi-Fi 6, etc, bc the 300s are great, at times (song dependent). I spoke with a Sonos L2 tech who basically said, yeah that’s the chance you take with the 300s and song reproduction. I was even going to do a sub-mini to free up the mids, but that won’t help with @buzz great point on sounds bouncing all around.

@SarahN  I see you have “1-2” Sonos products Any reason you did Amazon music vs. say Apple Music?

Cheers!  You all are fantastic!!!

You risk some acoustic feedback with this setup. Try inserting some padding under the FIVES’s.

You can explore the acoustic feedback risk using your knuckles to rap things while playing a stationary or silent record. Be sure to rap on the dust cover. Placing an LP or two on the cover might improve things. Rap again after making changes in order to explore the results.

Another way to explore this is to play a silent or stationary record and increasing the Volume to the point where there is a howl. (This might upset a pet) Make note of the Volume setting, then make a change. Higher settings indicate improvements.

I use an Echo Dot to control my Playbar, I believe you could do the same with a pair of Five/ 5's?.

@buzz - is the risk due to them being a bit close or being on the same unit as the turntable? 

Both. Audio from FIVE’s will be conducted through the countertop and up through the turntable feet. There will also be transmission through the air, especially to the turntable cover and to some extent directly to the record. Each turntable is different in this respect. A few will pass my “rap test” with flying colors, most will not.

@buzz After reading your replies to @SarahN I think your original suggestion to me about rugs I may have misinterpreted; were you suggesting placing some padding directly under the speakers (between the speaker and tables)? If yes, my apologies for misunderstanding. Would Sonos or Sanus stands help instead?? 

And if so, would you still recommend the fives given the room layout? I’m thinking you’re gonna say indeed. LOL

@SarahN actually, I use my fingernails to rap things. This is not a popular technique for females with nail “enhancements”.

@ocean_tied you understood me correctly. You need major room treatment, simple padding under the speakers will not accomplish much for you. It‘s different physics.

@buzz - would a turntable isolation block help? 

@buzz I cannot thank you and Sarah enough for your help and REAL WORLD guidance!! 

As you know, I am new to Sonos and with anything, it’s easy to fail into the trap of “forcing a square peg into a round hole…”. I also don’t want to turn the main living room into a studio engineering room hahaha.

I’m going to try the fives and see if that does the trick. Then I’ll once again experiment with placing them either in the corner by the fireplace or opposite of the sofa. If it does, I found Sanus stands on Amazon specific for the fives. 

Yes, but only for the foot conducted sound. Looking at your photo, this turntable might offer better than average foot isolation, but the average is extremely low. Make sure that the FIVE’s don’t touch the walls or lamps.

The Fives don't touch either of those things and yes, the turntable feet are the cone type which I know are better. I might look to get an isolation block for it to try as I'd rather raise that than the Fives. I do get a small amount of hum from the Fives so guessing that's due to the factors you state. I doesn't affect my enjoyment too much but if I could lessen it more, that would be good. I have no way of placing the fives anywhere else so they will have to stay on the same cabinet as the turntable. Would putting the Fives in the vertical orientation make any difference? 

@SarahN I’m certainly no @buzz but wouldn’t making them vertical also give more separation L/R as well as options to angle (not to mention less surface contact like you stated)?.. 

Hum and acoustic feedback are two different issues.

Hum can be caused by various factors and will be present when there is no contact with the record. Does the hum change while you move the arm across the playing area near, but not touching the record surface.

With respect to horizontal or vertical, only you know which sounds “best” (to you).