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Question

balanced sound

  • March 5, 2026
  • 6 replies
  • 15 views

I have a suggestion for great balanced sound when listening to music and it would be helpful when listening to TV as well. I normally sit on a sofa along the back wall facing the Arc Ultra on the front wall, with two Era 300’s just behind the sofa along the left and right walls, and two subwoofers behind each sofa arranged in an L pattern. I prefer to sit on either end of the sofa with the armrest which is closest to one of the surround speakers.

The surround audio tv and music levels are set to -15 to try to get sound away from the surrounds and towards the Arc. All I cannot hear is music from either the left or right Era 300, which overpowers the Arc Ultra. I hear nothing from the Arc Ultra unless I get up and walk towards the front of the room.

 

The solution would be to put a graphic joystick in the Sonos app, which would allow you to balance the sound anywhere in the room relative to where you are sitting. If you want to see what that looks like, test drive a Tesla and go to audio settings under balance.

6 replies

Stanley_4
  • Grand Maestro
  • March 5, 2026

Are your surrounds in full or ambient mode, the latter might moderate the volume.


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • March 5, 2026

I was in full, ambient is slightly better. Good call. I like the idea of moving the sound to my body rather than moving my body to the sound.

 


Stanley_4
  • Grand Maestro
  • March 5, 2026

If you have a compatible Apple device doing the whole-Room Trueplay might go a bit beyond the surround volume control.


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • March 5, 2026

Thanks, I did that. I made the suggestion directly to Sonos.


Stanley_4
  • Grand Maestro
  • March 5, 2026

Did support have any other suggestions when you contacted them?

A fair number of folks have similar Room setups to yours so sharing anything you got from support cou.d be helpful. 


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • March 5, 2026

I pasted my post in Sonos chat and the AI Bot passed it on to engineering. I don’t expect anything to come from the suggestion, but it’s a no brainer to be able to balance the sound to your sitting location as some vehicles allow.