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Martin_118
Contributor I
October 31, 2013

Surround sound and music

I have the Playbar and 2xPlay:1 set up as surround sound, this works great for tv but when playing music I would like the Play:1s to revert to standalone or stereo, but it appears the only way to do this would be to ungroup them. It would be good to see a software driven update to this issue to make switching between modes simpler. Just wondering how many others would like to see this implemented. Thanks
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      8 replies

      JC_9
      Lyricist III
      October 31, 2013
      Completely agree.  Ideally should be able to switch between full 5.1 and just using Play:1s for stereo music. In theory, should be easy just be defining a separate zone - ie one zone being 5.1 (Playbar and sub and 2*P1)and other being stereo comprising the Play1s.  So, same equipment but managed as two different zones (obviously theses zones won't be able to be grouped!)
        liber002
        Lyricist I
        October 31, 2013
        I thought this idea was already planned?
        JC_9
        Lyricist III
        November 5, 2013
        Found it:
        https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/switch_play_3s_between_surround_for_tv_and_stereo_pair_for_music
        Don't know what the timing is likely to be though.
        nevpr
        Trending Lyricist I
        May 14, 2014
        Just downloaded the latest version 5.0 of the controller released yesterday (13th of May 2014) and you can now have your Play:1's or Play:3 surrounds in paired stereo mode for music playback! It works brilliantly! Well done Sonos!!!
        User381674
        Contributor I
        May 14, 2014
        At the risk of sounding like a troll-type-looking-for-trouble sort of forum crasher (I'm not, I'm a genuine Sonos convert!) So now I have to move my furniture to the opposite side of the room (or sit on the floor in front of the tv) if I want to listen to stereo music properly?!!! Maybe a handy 'check' but hardly a realistic solution. I realise that a playbar on its own is never going to match separate HiFi speakers for separation etc etc but it does a pretty good job and the convenience of the system outways the cons for most of us. I'm sure with a sub its a step up again but ...

        Please can we have a way to play straight forward stereo from the playbar - no processing or ambient weirdness - even better, have the option to do this automatically for stereo music. I know this isn't going to match two separate play3s/5s but at least I won't have to move the sofa ;-)

        Keep up the good work Sonos - love it!
          User964461
          Contributor I
          August 11, 2014
          At the risk of sounding like a troll-type-looking-for-trouble sort of forum crasher (I'm not, I'm a genuine Sonos convert!) So now I have to move my furniture to the opposite side of the room (or sit on the floor in front of the tv) if I want to listen to stereo music properly?!!! Maybe a handy 'check' but hardly a realistic solution. I realise that a playbar on its own is never going to match separate HiFi speakers for separation etc etc but it does a pretty good job and the convenience of the system outways the cons for most of us. I'm sure with a sub its a step up again but ...

          Please can we have a way to play straight forward stereo from the playbar - no processing or ambient weirdness - even better, have the option to do this automatically for stereo music. I know this isn't going to match two separate play3s/5s but at least I won't have to move the sofa ;-)

          Keep up the good work Sonos - love it!
          Completely agree. I posted a question about turning off simulated surround processing for 2ch sources on PlayBars. I think the volume page of the controller app could benefit from a few options for different sound stages PLUS plain old unprocessed stereo.
          kilianqw
          Lyricist I
          December 27, 2016
          Is there a reason this still hasn't happened? Seems like such a no-brainer. Personally, I am bummed that my Play:1s disappear when we connect them to the Playbar.
          jgatie
          jgatie
          December 27, 2016
          Is there a reason this still hasn't happened? Seems like such a no-brainer. Personally, I am bummed that my Play:1s disappear when we connect them to the Playbar.

          It has happened (sort of). You can choose between Full and Ambient output from the surround speakers when playing music:

          https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2938/~/setting-up-surround-sound-with-the-sonos-playbar#surround_settings
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