playbar and comittment for DTS playback firmware upgrade

Well, I came here once to make sure I wasn't dreaming when I noticed my 800$ "HiFi" (LOL) Playbar didn't support DTS. I was shocked, pissed and frustrated about Sonos for not supporting DTS but mostly mad at me for assuming things like this at my age!

I was also within my "evaluation" period at Futureshop and this thing went back right away.

Yes you can get a switch box, you can convert DTS to DD different ways, you can matrix 2 channels in 5, but the reality is, if you want real HiFi home theather you need to get the right stuff and it's not a Playbar, Period. If you can't tell the difference between DTS and fake 5.1 the Sonos is good enough and it is useful and simple as hell... It's just not HiFi as Sonos claim it to be, not for theatre anyway.

Stop whining and do something about it. If you want DTS get something else.

Their is a big difference between whining and making constructive comments... 

Case in point 1)  I just went through a selection (old to new) of my blu-ray collection and about half were DTS.  If I don't have a blu-ray player that supports transcoding I cannot use these discs with the Playbar.  Point to note, the newer movies had a much higher percentage of only carrying DTS tracks (Sonos take note - this problem is only going to get worse for you).

Case in point 2) - on the Sonos web site these exact words are stated in the home theatre section "With four versatile performers – PLAYBAR, SUB, and a pair of rear speakers – you’ve got immersive 5.1 sound. And with it? The power to play anything and make it sound amazing."

Actually - you cant play anything.  In many countries including the one I live in, this is called misleading advertising. 

Case in point 3) - on the specific Playbar page it says these words "Plays all sources plugged in to your HD TV: satellite boxes, Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. If it’s connected to your HD TV, PLAYBAR will play it."

Actually, you can't.  Once again totally misleading advertising.

Case in point 4) - a huge proportion of Sonos sales will be done in stores like BestBuy (US), MediaMarkt (mainland Europe), and Currys/PC World (UK) where badly informed sales people who don't know better will sell a Playbar to a customer who at best has quickly read the 'info' on the Sonos website.  Rightly or wrongly, the huge majority of consumers do not do vast amounts of research before buying products - people like that are in the minority. 

This is all constructive feedback.  No whining here.  Nothing but pure and simple facts.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are sufficiently disgruntled with Sonos to raise the misleading advertising with the trading standards organisations in their respective countries.  I personally am not one of them as for 'music in every room', Sonos is hard to beat.  But they have to stop misleading people about their home theatre credentials....

Their is a big difference between whining and making constructive comments... 

Case in point 1)  I just went through a selection (old to new) of my blu-ray collection and about half were DTS.  If I don't have a blu-ray player that supports transcoding I cannot use these discs with the Playbar.  Point to note, the newer movies had a much higher percentage of only carrying DTS tracks (Sonos take note - this problem is only going to get worse for you).

Case in point 2) - on the Sonos web site these exact words are stated in the home theatre section "With four versatile performers – PLAYBAR, SUB, and a pair of rear speakers – you’ve got immersive 5.1 sound. And with it? The power to play anything and make it sound amazing."

Actually - you cant play anything.  In many countries including the one I live in, this is called misleading advertising. 

Case in point 3) - on the specific Playbar page it says these words "Plays all sources plugged in to your HD TV: satellite boxes, Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. If it’s connected to your HD TV, PLAYBAR will play it."

Actually, you can't.  Once again totally misleading advertising.

Case in point 4) - a huge proportion of Sonos sales will be done in stores like BestBuy (US), MediaMarkt (mainland Europe), and Currys/PC World (UK) where badly informed sales people who don't know better will sell a Playbar to a customer who at best has quickly read the 'info' on the Sonos website.  Rightly or wrongly, the huge majority of consumers do not do vast amounts of research before buying products - people like that are in the minority. 

This is all constructive feedback.  No whining here.  Nothing but pure and simple facts.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are sufficiently disgruntled with Sonos to raise the misleading advertising with the trading standards organisations in their respective countries.  I personally am not one of them as for 'music in every room', Sonos is hard to beat.  But they have to stop misleading people about their home theatre credentials....


I'm sorry but this is what whining is.  If you think you have been mislead (like I was) then do something about.  Writing here won't change anything to the fact that this is a Mickey Mouse home theater solution good for my mom and dad... It doesn't support DTS and never will.  This is a fact.

So hire a lawyer and send them a formal notice, that should get their attention.

Good luck

Their is a big difference between whining and making constructive comments... 

Case in point 1)  I just went through a selection (old to new) of my blu-ray collection and about half were DTS.  If I don't have a blu-ray player that supports transcoding I cannot use these discs with the Playbar.  Point to note, the newer movies had a much higher percentage of only carrying DTS tracks (Sonos take note - this problem is only going to get worse for you).

Case in point 2) - on the Sonos web site these exact words are stated in the home theatre section "With four versatile performers – PLAYBAR, SUB, and a pair of rear speakers – you’ve got immersive 5.1 sound. And with it? The power to play anything and make it sound amazing."

Actually - you cant play anything.  In many countries including the one I live in, this is called misleading advertising. 

Case in point 3) - on the specific Playbar page it says these words "Plays all sources plugged in to your HD TV: satellite boxes, Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. If it’s connected to your HD TV, PLAYBAR will play it."

Actually, you can't.  Once again totally misleading advertising.

Case in point 4) - a huge proportion of Sonos sales will be done in stores like BestBuy (US), MediaMarkt (mainland Europe), and Currys/PC World (UK) where badly informed sales people who don't know better will sell a Playbar to a customer who at best has quickly read the 'info' on the Sonos website.  Rightly or wrongly, the huge majority of consumers do not do vast amounts of research before buying products - people like that are in the minority. 

This is all constructive feedback.  No whining here.  Nothing but pure and simple facts.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are sufficiently disgruntled with Sonos to raise the misleading advertising with the trading standards organisations in their respective countries.  I personally am not one of them as for 'music in every room', Sonos is hard to beat.  But they have to stop misleading people about their home theatre credentials....


Bahahahaha Hire a Lawyer!!! I would just put it back In the box and buy something else. I'm a sales person in Australia and have worked for 2 of the major electrical companies. I personally have a large Bluray collection and not one of these has DTS only sound, so to be fair I only bring up no DTS support to people who clearly no what DTS is. In a 10 min sales demonstration I'm going to show what SONOS does, awesome music with increased sound reproduction. Then I show them the surround setup as it would be in their own home. Of the 100 people I showed this to only 1 person asked what audio came out of the tv. I'm not going to spend another 5-15 mins explaining what DTS is and how they probably don't use it.

Their is a big difference between whining and making constructive comments... 

Case in point 1)  I just went through a selection (old to new) of my blu-ray collection and about half were DTS.  If I don't have a blu-ray player that supports transcoding I cannot use these discs with the Playbar.  Point to note, the newer movies had a much higher percentage of only carrying DTS tracks (Sonos take note - this problem is only going to get worse for you).

Case in point 2) - on the Sonos web site these exact words are stated in the home theatre section "With four versatile performers – PLAYBAR, SUB, and a pair of rear speakers – you’ve got immersive 5.1 sound. And with it? The power to play anything and make it sound amazing."

Actually - you cant play anything.  In many countries including the one I live in, this is called misleading advertising. 

Case in point 3) - on the specific Playbar page it says these words "Plays all sources plugged in to your HD TV: satellite boxes, Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. If it’s connected to your HD TV, PLAYBAR will play it."

Actually, you can't.  Once again totally misleading advertising.

Case in point 4) - a huge proportion of Sonos sales will be done in stores like BestBuy (US), MediaMarkt (mainland Europe), and Currys/PC World (UK) where badly informed sales people who don't know better will sell a Playbar to a customer who at best has quickly read the 'info' on the Sonos website.  Rightly or wrongly, the huge majority of consumers do not do vast amounts of research before buying products - people like that are in the minority. 

This is all constructive feedback.  No whining here.  Nothing but pure and simple facts.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are sufficiently disgruntled with Sonos to raise the misleading advertising with the trading standards organisations in their respective countries.  I personally am not one of them as for 'music in every room', Sonos is hard to beat.  But they have to stop misleading people about their home theatre credentials....


Actually that is exactly not what whining is:

Whine: to snivel or complain in a peevish, self-pitying way.

No self pity here.  I have just stated facts.  I didn't buy a Playbar because I do research before I buy.  But others have not and others will not before they make the same mistake.  It sounds as though you have more grounds for a lawyer than I do though. 

I accept that Sonos have said the Playbar will never support DTS and I applaud them for being this brave in an increasingly fierce environment where established competitors (Bose) and new competitors (too many to mention) are flooding the marketplace with competitive products.  They may have 80+% market share now but many a great company (Microsoft & Nokia to name but two) have been arrogant as a result of their market share and found themselves in difficulties because of it when something more innovative comes along (Google, Apple).

Another fact - I would happily of bought a Playbar had it supported DTS and if they added it now I probably still would buy one.  Make of that what you will.

Their is a big difference between whining and making constructive comments... 

Case in point 1)  I just went through a selection (old to new) of my blu-ray collection and about half were DTS.  If I don't have a blu-ray player that supports transcoding I cannot use these discs with the Playbar.  Point to note, the newer movies had a much higher percentage of only carrying DTS tracks (Sonos take note - this problem is only going to get worse for you).

Case in point 2) - on the Sonos web site these exact words are stated in the home theatre section "With four versatile performers – PLAYBAR, SUB, and a pair of rear speakers – you’ve got immersive 5.1 sound. And with it? The power to play anything and make it sound amazing."

Actually - you cant play anything.  In many countries including the one I live in, this is called misleading advertising. 

Case in point 3) - on the specific Playbar page it says these words "Plays all sources plugged in to your HD TV: satellite boxes, Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. If it’s connected to your HD TV, PLAYBAR will play it."

Actually, you can't.  Once again totally misleading advertising.

Case in point 4) - a huge proportion of Sonos sales will be done in stores like BestBuy (US), MediaMarkt (mainland Europe), and Currys/PC World (UK) where badly informed sales people who don't know better will sell a Playbar to a customer who at best has quickly read the 'info' on the Sonos website.  Rightly or wrongly, the huge majority of consumers do not do vast amounts of research before buying products - people like that are in the minority. 

This is all constructive feedback.  No whining here.  Nothing but pure and simple facts.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are sufficiently disgruntled with Sonos to raise the misleading advertising with the trading standards organisations in their respective countries.  I personally am not one of them as for 'music in every room', Sonos is hard to beat.  But they have to stop misleading people about their home theatre credentials....


Was sarcastic about the lawyer... My point was if your not happy about something do something to fix it.  I put it in the box and stop worrying about that.

@Donovan, you just proved my point.  This is not an HiFi home theater system and it is good only for the average Joe (shit that's my name!)

Happy new year!

Their is a big difference between whining and making constructive comments... 

Case in point 1)  I just went through a selection (old to new) of my blu-ray collection and about half were DTS.  If I don't have a blu-ray player that supports transcoding I cannot use these discs with the Playbar.  Point to note, the newer movies had a much higher percentage of only carrying DTS tracks (Sonos take note - this problem is only going to get worse for you).

Case in point 2) - on the Sonos web site these exact words are stated in the home theatre section "With four versatile performers – PLAYBAR, SUB, and a pair of rear speakers – you’ve got immersive 5.1 sound. And with it? The power to play anything and make it sound amazing."

Actually - you cant play anything.  In many countries including the one I live in, this is called misleading advertising. 

Case in point 3) - on the specific Playbar page it says these words "Plays all sources plugged in to your HD TV: satellite boxes, Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. If it’s connected to your HD TV, PLAYBAR will play it."

Actually, you can't.  Once again totally misleading advertising.

Case in point 4) - a huge proportion of Sonos sales will be done in stores like BestBuy (US), MediaMarkt (mainland Europe), and Currys/PC World (UK) where badly informed sales people who don't know better will sell a Playbar to a customer who at best has quickly read the 'info' on the Sonos website.  Rightly or wrongly, the huge majority of consumers do not do vast amounts of research before buying products - people like that are in the minority. 

This is all constructive feedback.  No whining here.  Nothing but pure and simple facts.  I am sure there are plenty of people who are sufficiently disgruntled with Sonos to raise the misleading advertising with the trading standards organisations in their respective countries.  I personally am not one of them as for 'music in every room', Sonos is hard to beat.  But they have to stop misleading people about their home theatre credentials....


@ Joe.  Lol, that's exactly what i did.  Bought a Yamaha system for the TV.  But until Sonos do something about their advertising others are going to go the same way you did and I nearly did :-D

@ Donovan.  A lot of the Dolby Digital tracks are not the main feature audio though.  For instance, the Dolby Digital track on Spiderman 2 is actually descriptive track for the visually impaired - i found that out the funny way :-)

I totally agree with your comments on the music front, Sonos is awesome for that, but your comments about the 1 in 100 just goes to prove that there will be a whole load of people getting a Playbar home and wondering why they are not getting any audio from their blu-rays.

Me? For now I will use Sonos for nothing but music - for which it is great.

Last comment from me 🙂

Every one complaining about Sonos Playbar lack of DTS then sell it to me, I'll offer you £175 a PlayBar boxed with all the leads etc, and if you selling your Play 1, 3, or 5's then I'll have them too

Every one complaining about Sonos Playbar lack of DTS then sell it to me, I'll offer you £175 a PlayBar boxed with all the leads etc, and if you selling your Play 1, 3, or 5's then I'll have them too
I'll sell you mine for £1000 because you find the product so awesome.

Every one complaining about Sonos Playbar lack of DTS then sell it to me, I'll offer you £175 a PlayBar boxed with all the leads etc, and if you selling your Play 1, 3, or 5's then I'll have them too
Clearly your understanding of turning a profit matches your understanding of the sonos PlayBar