Best speakers for surround sound home theater.

For the price of two Play:5, you can get two Play:1 and a Sub. That will be an outstanding system with lower bass than just the 5s.

But for a home theater experience, don't you want the extra bass? I heard the play:1's are pretty much for background voices. But I want more than that, like the explosions and everything.

That's what the dedicated Sub is for. The Sub will put out more bass than the Play:5s, because it is actually dedicated to the subwoofer channel (the '.1' in '5.1') whereas the surrounds only carry surround info, which is very light on bass.

The most common setup for the Sonos home theater system is Playbar + Sub + 2 Play:1s. You can use Play:3s or Play:5s for surrounds, but since surrounds are mainly for ambient sounds, the benefits of more expensive speakers is very insignificant.

Now, if you want to also use those surround speakers for music, then you might want to consider the added benefits of the larger speakers.

jdag wrote:

The most common setup for the Sonos home theater system is Playbar + Sub + 2 Play:1s.
Now, if you want to also use those surround speakers for music, then you might want to consider the added benefits of the larger speakers.

Even in the above set up, when used for music, is there enough content being piped to the surrounds to justify a weightier speaker than the 1? There is actually no ambient/surround content on 2 channel music files, so what is it that the speakers get to put out?
For the OP, the full theatre experience usually calls for a dedicated set up consisting of an AVR with the required wired speakers/Sub. Unlike music where a Sonos set up can be as good as any other, Sonos set ups for video are a compromise compared to the full AVR solution. Wiring a Connect to that can allow the use of the solution for music as well.

Kumar wrote:

jdag wrote:

The most common setup for the Sonos home theater system is Playbar + Sub + 2 Play:1s.
Now, if you want to also use those surround speakers for music, then you might want to consider the added benefits of the larger speakers.

Even in the above set up, when used for music, is there enough content being piped to the surrounds to justify a weightier speaker than the 1? There is actually no ambient/surround content on 2 channel music files, so what is it that the speakers get to put out?
For the OP, the full theatre experience usually calls for a dedicated set up consisting of an AVR with the required wired speakers/Sub. Unlike music where a Sonos set up can be as good as any other, Sonos set ups for video are a compromise compared to the full AVR solution. Wiring a Connect to that can allow the use of the solution for music as well.

There is absolutely enough sound produced using the surround speakers. In fact, there is an option to set them to "Full" for music playback. Not to mention that they can be ungrouped from the Playbar and made into a stand-alone zone (especially useful if using Play:5s and wanting a more traditional stereo stage).

As for being a compromise compared to a full AVR solution, that is very debatable. Compromise in what way? Sound quality? AVR capability (mainly DTS)? Sure there could be with certain AVR/speaker combos. But the Sonos Playbar+Sub+Play:1 setup sounds very very good for TV and movies, and is a major step up for many AVR/speaker combos.

Further, Sonos is just so much simpler to install, setup, and operate than an AVR solution. So I would definitely consider an AVR as a "compromise" from the standpoint of ease.

jdag wrote:

Not to mention that they can be ungrouped from the Playbar and made into a stand-alone zone (especially useful if using Play:5s and wanting a more traditional stereo stage).

How does that work with the speakers behind you? Will this not also call for moving them such that they fire at you from the front?

Kumar wrote:

jdag wrote:

Not to mention that they can be ungrouped from the Playbar and made into a stand-alone zone (especially useful if using Play:5s and wanting a more traditional stereo stage).

How does that work with the speakers behind you? Will this not also call for moving them such that they fire at you from the front?

Depends on the room layout. In my house, they sound great where they are relative to that particular room. If I am in my kitchen I could turn them toward that room, but generally don't. Either way, Sonos does a great job, and this is coming from someone that had a comparably priced AVR/speaker setup in that exact location in the past.

Thank you guys for the input. Do any of you guys know why Sonos doesn't list what the wattage output is for speakers? Someone told me that it doesn't really matter with the Sonos. I don't see why it wouldn't, every speaker has a wattage limit.

Since Sonos supplies amps of what it thinks are the necessary watts to properly drive the speakers it provides in the same box, this data point isn't necessary. It becomes necessary where one has to match the power of an amp made by company A to the power needs of a speaker made by B, to select these two bits of kit. The Connect Amp does get used in this manner, and Sonos provides the wattage information for it.

The only data point that could be provided for integrated play units is about how loud the speakers can go but that isn't one that is easy to interpret. The way therefore to pick a Sonos speaker is to see if you like the way it sounds, and can it go as loud as you need, without distorting sound such that you don't like it anymore. The only reliable way to make this assessment is by playing the speaker at home, with the music you like. The best way to do this is to buy the kit on a returnable basis.

The other reason why Sonos does not provide this information is because it does not address the market of buyers who like to have this information to fuel their "mine is bigger/better than yours" games.

Cool. Thank you very much. Been a great help. Can't wait to start buying my Sonos system and watching some movies.

Fallenangel wrote:

Cool. Thank you very much. Been a great help. Can't wait to start buying my Sonos system and watching some movies.

I'm with Kumar, if you're that serious about home cinema, get a full avr setup, for jagd, the compromises are, no dts, no HD audio codec support, no Dolby Atmos support going forward, no hdmi switching, no additional channels beyond 5.1, requirement for the TV to provide 5.1 from external inputs, etc.

Anybody who's been here a while will know how big a fan I am of Sonos but it'll never replace my home cinema.

Well this is why i'm still doing research about a really good system. I was going to get Klipsch speakers to make a nice surround sound system, but I was hearing Klipsch was kind of not top of the line anymore and other bramds were coming in. But a guy at best buy pointed me in the direction of Sonos because it's supposed to be a really nice system and you can keep adding to it all you want. I know Sonos is mostly geared toward music, but I mostly want a nice system for an in home theater experience. But i'll just keep looking around and doing research.

I am not trying to push you in either direction. But be sure to consider:

1) What content you will play (i.e. - Netflix? Broadcast TV? Blurays?). If you are not using BR, then DTS is likely irrelevant (unless you have personal media with DTS encoding only).

2) The current equipment you have and your desired connections (do you have many sources such as multiple steaming players, cable box, blurary, etc.)?

3) What model TV do you have (could play a role in whether the Playbar is a good choice to begin with)?

4a) AVR: Can you easily run wires to surround speakers? And, do you want to run wires to surround speakers?
4b) Sonos: Do you have electrical outlets accessible from where your surround speakers will be placed?

5) Do you need to consider "WAF" or other users (it is unavoidable, but AVRs are more complex by nature, and you WILL have cases where "nothing works" because someone simple changed an input)?

6) Do you plan to expand Sonos to other parts of your home? If so, having a Playbar, Sub, and a couple if Play:1s to "seed" your home is a nice start.

Anyhow, you likely will be thrilled with any of your choices, because moving from base TV sound to 5.1 is really an amazing jump. And I know I can't go back!

You can keep adding room after room after room to Sonos, that's the joy of it but as far as the Playbar is concerned 5.1 is the limit. The advantage is no speaker wires trailing around the room but of course you still need power cables.

I can't comment on Klipsch, my advice would be to find a dealer and listen to various systems. That's the only way you can really choose.

The LHC wrote:

You can keep adding room after room after room to Sonos, that's the joy of it but as far as the Playbar is concerned 5.1 is the limit. The advantage is no speaker wires trailing around the room but of course you still need power cables.

I can't comment on Klipsch, May advice would be to find a dealer and listen to various systems. That's the only way you can really choose.

LHC - We were writing at the same time...I agree that you really have to listen to various systems.

In fact, with Sonos in particular, I think it is important to listen in your home environment if at all possible. Most retailers, and Sonos itself, have very generous return policies. I found that positioning of Sonos speakers makes a huge difference (albeit, when it comes to 5.1 you don't have much positioning choice other than the Sub).

As mentioned above, I have both a Sonos 5.1 system (family room) as well as a traditional AVR setup (basement HT). Does the basement theater sound better? Yup, no question at all. But it is also a confined space, not open to the kitchen, 100" screen, etc., so it is a better experience all around than my family room ever could be. But the ease of use and ability to have that Sonos zone in my family room for music is huge to me.

Anyhow, again, can't go wrong!

My main use for a surround system is for movies. I don't use spotify or any other music streaming thing. Just music off my phone that I put on with itunes. But I keep hearing all this stuff about the sonos being a pain because it doesn't work well or at all with tv's or movies that have dts or dolby digital sound. I really want it to sound like a movie theater when I watch movies. So maybe I can go the klipsch route with a receiver is best.

Fallenangel wrote:

I really want it to sound like a movie theater when I watch movies. So maybe I can go the klipsch route with a receiver is best.

Couple of things - even given the above, you still need to decide which movie theatre/technology is your benchmark because that is still a moving target. And Klipsch may be the speakers to get you there, or there may be many others. Almost every HiFi speaker maker has a HT package these days, many of which are excellent.

I said this before, so pardon the repetition: In audio, one can go the Sonos route and obtain all its conveniences without making any compromise on sound quality. If any psychological needs are to be met, there is the route using the digital output of the Connect. The only such need Sonos cannot meet is the hi res one and that for the purists that aren't willing to downsample hi res files.

But with video, obtaining the Sonos conveniences involves making compromises on the quality of the experience in ways that are not just subjective. It therefore isn't as easy to recommend Sonos for TV as it is on the music side.

Thank you very much for all the input. Good to talk and hear from people who actually have some of the products so I can hear first had about things.

It is worth acquiring such a system. - https://geeklah.com/best-wireless-surround-sound-system.html