I know this issue is addressed from various angles. I have the Beam 2 and it was a huge improvement over a Vizio soundbar. Clarity of dialog was the biggest issue watching TV, movies etc. I am talking exclusively TV, not music. I am considering adding 2 ERA 100 speakers to get to the next level. I assume this will create a Surround Sound environment and generally improve clarity and dialog/sound. I keep reading about a short lag between the sound bar, speakers and TV. Is this a big issue or are we splitting hairs? It’s $400 dollars or so and there is no reason for a false start if it’s not going to work right. It’s a big room, 15x15 and opens into a kitchen and front room. No doors.
Answered
Sonos Beam 2 paired with ERA 100s
Best answer by AjTrek1
I think
- Bonding Era 100’s to Beam 2 will create the surround effect; but there is no audio delay as they receive information directly from the Beam2
- Grouping Era 100’s to Beam 2 does not create the surround effect and there will be an audio delay of 75ms to them with the Beam2 when watching movies. There will be no delay when listening to music.
I have the same/similar setup in our Kitchen/Diner - a Beam gen2, Era 100s and more-recently have added a Sub Mini to it - All play in perfect lip-sync with the LG TV we use and no issues seen with centre channel dialogue - there’s always the option to enable Speech Enhancement I guess, but I found that TruePlay tuning the Home Theatre Setup to the room with an iOS device is what provided the best sound output from the setup.
Adding both the Era surrounds and later the Sub Mini each made a significant improvement to both TV and Music audio. So I recommend adding the extra speakers. Obviously it’s a matter for you, but certainly no regrets here.
I think
- Bonding Era 100’s to Beam 2 will create the surround effect; but there is no audio delay as they receive information directly from the Beam2
- Grouping Era 100’s to Beam 2 does not create the surround effect and there will be an audio delay of 75ms to them with the Beam2 when watching movies. There will be no delay when listening to music.
Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
Here’s a quick link aswell, explaining how to ‘bond’ (not group) speakers, like 2 x Era 100s to your Beam gen2…
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/add-surround-speakers-to-a-sonos-home-theater
This is interesting and I'll certainly try it. I had issues with a delay between my Beam and Eras. I spent 4 hrs on the chat with Sonos and they couldn't resolve it. I sent a complaint to the CEO then received a response two weeks later from the factory supervisor confirming that connection from the TV to these devices isn't possible. I was not given any advice that it was achievable via bonding. Thank you for this and I will be trying it asap. On to the next problem.......
+18Well, technically the answer was OK. There is an unavoidable delay if you group speakers. If your goal however was to set up a surround sound environment (never a delay) someone should have picked up on that.
It isn't surround sound exactly, as the speakers are in different rooms around the house, but hopefully bonding will still work 🤞
Bonding them as surround speakers will only supply them the surround channels from the 5.1 mix. If you have them in separate rooms, you’d want to group them, so they receive all channels at once, but they will be subject to the 75Ms delay from the Beam.
Anything greater than stereo. Most movies, many TV shows, some music. Dolby Digital is 5.1. Other formats can be higher than 5.1.
The “5” signifies that the music feed is surround, consisting of front left/center/right and left/right surround channels. The “.1” signifies a bass channel. The bass channel is often routed to a subwoofer. If no subwoofer is available in the playback system, the bass channel is mixed into the left/right speakers.
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