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Sub placement with home theatre/stereo audio

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Hi -

I want to set up a pair of Era 300s or Fives at one end of a long room, set up as a stereo pair, specifically for music, while retaining a Beam 2, two Ones and a Sub (Gen 3) at the opposite end of the same room, for home theatre.

I'd like to use the home theatre Sub with the audio setup, to augment the bottom end, especially if I opt for the Era 300s.

Will the physical position of the Sub (around 20 feet away from the proposed music area) work effectively from an audio perspective? I'd buy another Sub in an ideal world but that's currently a non-starter!

Finally, will I be able to easily switch the Sub between the two systems, or will it involve having to bond the Sub to the the individual systems, every time I use them? Not ideal.

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Ken_GriffithsAnswer

You would have to unbond/rebond the Sub to the relevant room each time you switched it. It’s not worth the trouble, not least if you use Trueplay, as the settings would be lost each time you switched rooms. It would be easier to ‘group’ the two rooms instead when playing music audio. Personally speaking you need another Sub. Maybe look to the Sonos refurbished, or used market, if that perhaps suits your pocket better, or simply live without the Sub at one end of the room.

Ken_GriffithsAnswer

You would have to unbond/rebond the Sub to the relevant room each time you switched it. It’s not worth the trouble, not least if you use Trueplay, as the settings would be lost each time you switched rooms. It would be easier to ‘group’ the two rooms instead when playing music audio. Personally speaking you need another Sub. Maybe look to the Sonos refurbished, or used market, if that perhaps suits your pocket better, or simply live without the Sub at one end of the room.

C

Chris GlynnAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

You would have to unbond/rebond the Sub to the relevant room each time you switched it. It’s not worth the trouble, not least if you use Trueplay, as the settings would be lost each time you switched rooms. It would be easier to ‘group’ the two rooms instead when playing music audio. Personally speaking you need another Sub. Maybe look to the Sonos refurbished, or used market, if that perhaps suits your pocket better, or simply live without the Sub at one end of the room.

@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the response Ken - still 50/50 on a pair of Fives v Era 300s - at least I do know that the paired Fives will happily give me the depth of sound I'm looking for in my music, even if the functionality and connectivity might be reduced.

Ken_Griffiths

I would describe the Era-300s as being ‘brighter’ with slightly less bass - they do have real clarity across all frequencies - the Fives are excellent too, more bass, but not as ‘bright’ IMHO, but as you say, there is no Bluetooth or Atmos audio, but the Fives do not need a dongle to use their line-in port. Also there’s no voice assistant capability built into the Fives.

The Era-300’s are newer and if it was my decision I would go for those and then replace them later with the next generation of the Five (Era-500?) assuming that will happen at some point in the future …and then move the Era-300’s to other rooms around the home. However the decision is whatever you feel will be best for you in the short, medium and long term.

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the response Ken - still 50/50 on a pair of Fives v Era 300s - at least I do know that the paired Fives will happily give me the depth of sound I'm looking for in my music, even if the functionality and connectivity might be reduced.

In many regions Sonos offer home trial time. Buy both; return the less favoured pair.

106rallye

Edit: Superfluous.

C

Chris GlynnAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

I would describe the Era-300s as being ‘brighter’ with slightly less bass - they do have real clarity across all frequencies - the Fives are excellent too, more bass, but not as ‘bright’ IMHO, but as you say, there is no Bluetooth or Atmos audio, but the Fives do not need a dongle to use their line-in port. Also there’s no voice assistant capability built into the Fives.

The Era-300’s are newer and if it was my decision I would go for those and then replace them later with the next generation of the Five (Era-500?) assuming that will happen at some point in the future …and then move the Era-300’s to other rooms around the home. However the decision is whatever you feel will be best for you in the short, medium and long term.

Thanks again Ken. I will indeed be adding a turntable to that particular set in the next six months or so (hopefully - I've got a lovely old Garrard 301 going in for a major overhaul) so those connectivity options will be important.

When I added the Sub to a Beam 2/Ones as rears setup, the music separation was significantly improved. That said, the end of the room I'm looking to be specifically music might prove better suited for Era 300s alone, without the extra support of the Sub…

I may go and try and listen to both, and see what my ears make of it. The choice has become a bit more pressing, courtesy of a 40% discount email that I need to use by the end of next month.

C

Chris GlynnAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Edit: Superfluous.

?

Airgetlam

Unnecessary…bonus, repetitive information, that likely has been covered before in a post that wasn’t there when they started typing originally.

Or, a new super hero….

Bruce

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Chris GlynnAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Unnecessary…bonus, repetitive information, that likely has been covered before in a post that wasn’t there when they started typing originally.

Or, a new super hero….

I'll go for the Superhero option.

Not the most in-depth, or useful response on a community forum otherwise.

Airgetlam

I suspect, much like I often do, they wrote an in depth response, posted it, then found that someone else had done so before they hit post, so they edited so as not to cause you to reread something that had already been said.

Understandable, from my perspective, and appreciated.

Bruce

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