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Are surround speakers required?

  • 30 November 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 2195 views
T

I have the Arc soundbar speaker and am waiting for my Sub (Gen 3) to arrive.  A friend of mine has the Beam soundbar speaker and uses two Sonos 5’s for his rear surround speakers but doesn’t have a sub.  I would like to know if surround speakers are required or recommended with my projected setup; Arc SL and Sub.  I think the Arc soundbar already sounds great but gets distorted during high bass or is “missing” some bass. I think the Sub will provide what I believe is missing in my future setup and the rear surrounds wouldn’t be necessary at all.  I’m looking for anyone’s thoughts on this.  Thanks for you let time and feedback, I appreciate it!

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 1 December 2021, 00:10

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3 replies

jgatie

Two very different factors.  Sub is non-directional, but adds huge impact.  Surrounds are very directional, and add some impact plus ambiance, as well as directional queues.  Personally, I'd go for surrounds before a Sub because I feel they add more for the $$$,  but that's me.

G
Userlevel 7

Surround speakers aren’t “required” but they will produce a MUCH more immersive surround experience especially with 5.1 and Dolby Atmos audio. I have the Arc/Sub/Play:1s setup and it sounds fantastic with multichannel audio especially while watching films and listening to music in 5.1 surround. I would never go back to not having surround speakers.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I have the Arc and a Sub and was quite happy with it. I have several spare Play 1s but never set them up as surrounds as I couldn’t satisfy the spouse’s desire for invisibility. Still sounded pretty good.

We recently added a bookcase in the back corner of the (diamond shaped) TV room, gave me a chance to put the Play 1s on top of it and hide the cords behind. The surround placement is horrible, way too high at 7 feet and they are sitting on top of each other - but rotated 90 degrees so each points along a wall.

Sounds a lot batter than no surrounds. TruePlay made a nice difference!

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