SONOS Era 300 stands and stereo placement advice

This is not a knock on anyone in this post. JMHO.

I think the term “immersive” is somewhat overused or in some cases out of context.

If I’m using a single Era 300 the music is going to be more “in my face” when seated dead center to the speaker say 6 - 8 feet away. If I add a second Era 300 and position them 6 feet apart and my listening position is dead center between them at 6 -8 feet away the sound is less impactful to my face. However, the sound stage is wider which may give the impression that I’m getting less than with a single speaker.

Immersion is going to be impacted by the quality of the recording as well as stereo vs Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) not to mention the room and its furnishings. In some cases TruePlay can be an improvement regarding a single speaker vs a stereo pair or the opposite.

Finally, immersive may not be the proper descriptive term 🤔

Yes I was listening to ATMOS tracks via Sonos app.. the single speaker was positioned lower than the current setup. and center. stereo pairs are closer to the side walls now since they are spread apart 8ft. There’s about 8” on either side as recommended. They are each angled slightly to the middle. 

roughly equilateral triangle this is next to my bed as was the earlier single speaker. They are angled inward. I did run the advanced true play tuning. content is Atmos I have them playing on app. I felt like the artist was singing at me when I played on the single speaker. Now somewhat. Not as intense as before. 

That 8 inches is not recommended, that is the minimum that will function.

I tried 3 feet in on one Pair, decided 4 feet gave a better Atmos image even though my seating positions is now technically too close. Other Pair is space constrained but still 2 feet in from the side walls.

Angled in is controversial for stereo, maybe for speakers that lack horizontal dispersion, somthing that Sonos doesn't suffer from. For Atmos angling the 300s disrupts the side channels imaging, I'd avoid doing that.

Depending on the track you shouldn't get the in your face feeling, the artists should appear to be coming from specific locations. This is an old argument, one I remember (I'm old) when the audiophile bunch were telling us stereo was awful and only mono was acceptable.

The ERA 300 pair will not focus a singer as well as the Sonos 5 pair will.  The side & up-firing drivers in the 300 tend to affect laser focused imaging. A normal pair of correctly set up speakers, particularly two way stand mounts, can laser focus a singer to the point where you think he or she is in the room.
 

What the ERA 300 pair does really well is give you a larger stage.  Particularly with Dolby Atmos music the stage can be enormous.  I listen to a lot of modern orchestral music in Dolby Atmos.  The size of the orchestra when using Dolby Atmos compatible speakers is more realistically large.

I did some adjusting, had them facing forward instead of angled. And after checking with Sonos on Instagram. I decided to pull it closer than far apart. Since my room is not huge like a living room. The Sonos era 300 manual says 8-10ft but the placement tips on the app said 5-10ft so then I asked them which is correct. They said both are and that it depends. Now it sounds very good. Definitely better than one era 300. 

I bought an an ANKER usb-c to 3.5 cable. However it doesn’t work with the era 300. Do I need the Sonos one specifically?

Which way does the Anker go? Is it 3.5mm to USB-C, or is it USB-C to 3.5 mm? They don’t usually go both ways. 

That’s the issue. Valid point thanks. Gotta see if I can find one.

Not that I’ve looked around at all, but all I’ve ever seen is the Sonos that ‘goes’ the right way. Can’t be true, of course, but it does seem like 99% of what’s common out there is the ‘wrong way’. Glad it pointed you in the correct direction ;)

Once you find one going the right way make sure that the internal chips are supported by the Sonos firmware.

Seriously, skip the pain and just get the Sonos device.

It will work and you won't  hear "we don't support that" if you ever have to call support.

Got the stands. They are super tall. But did improve the sound overall. Does anyone know if when in stereo pair the era 300s disable any parts of the speaker? 

Sonos only seems to do that when you bond Era 300's to an Arc (Ultra) or Beam (Gen 2).

  I believe the front drivers are disabled when the ERA 300 pair are bonded as surround speakers.  That makes sense as you really don’t want to hear any sounds coming directly from a surround speaker.  
  I can’t say for sure if any driver is affected by the bonding of two ERA 300 speakers in stereo mode.  I would think nothing is changed when used as a stereo pair.

Hi guys 

so I moved my two era 300s to the living room for better listening angle. What do you think of this setup? It’s sitting about 4-6” away from blinds from

the back of the speakers.  About 6.5ftz apart. Wondering if to micro turn angle the speakers for better immersion. Trueplay has been run.

the room extends beyond the listening position as it extends to dining space (apartment)

any tips appreciated 

Assuming those are not surrounds and dedicated to music I think they are perfect for your space. Era 300’s don’t need to be angled for Spatial Audio. The drivers will use all available surfaces to reflect the sound.

Some may suggest moving them away from the windows. I’m not too concerned about that aspect as your space is what it is. Trueplay has accounted for the room surfaces.

In the end if it sounds good to you that’s all that matters 😊.

Tips for trueplay if it’s a large room? Stay more in listening area? Or whole room more evenly?

And height audio is preference?

Don’t over think your setup. Honestly, in some situations TruePlay is better left off. Again that depends upon what you hear. Trueplay is not a silver bullet “cure all”. 

As to your setup the only other option I see would be to place the speakers on either side of the cabinet below the TV… either on stands or resting on the cabinet itself. If on the cabinet itself you might want to invest in risers such as those used to elevate a computer monitor.

Once again you can experiment with positioning for days on end. At the end of the day you have to decide what’s practical as well as what sounds good to your ear.

EDIT:

Sorry I didn’t answer your question about TruePlay tuning as you stated it. Short answer…limit your movement to the main listening area. If the room is 20 feet in length but the seating area only covers 10 feet then stay within the 10 feet (maybe only 1 or 2 feet beyond maximum).

The height channels can be frustrating to set, finding music that has enough content there is difficult. Playing the Dolby Labs test tones is a good starting place, some music services host them making it easy to do.

Thanks guys!