Beam + Sub upgrade

The first thing to do is to give yourself a few weeks to get used to the different sound by which time you may well not miss the old, especially if you are listening to music more than looking for differences. The human brain adapts itself to the new way things sound but it takes some time to do that.

Paolo.

The front left/right surround channels are currently built into the Beam, there’s no method to ‘bond’ further front surrounds to that device for audio, but you can bond two compatible same/similar Sonos speakers as rear surrounds and set those to Full for stereo music audio, but then, whilst giving separation, the speakers are placed behind your listening position whilst adding some width to the sound stage.

In my own case I prefer the speakers for music out in front of my listening ‘sweet-spot’ position, rather than behind, so my own choice has been to add two ‘Fives’ and another Sub as a separate Sonos ‘Room’ but in the same physical room .. but it does then become quite expensive. My thoughts in your case, is to perhaps add a Sonos Amp and use your existing passive speakers, if suitable, instead …and just use that as a separate Sonos Room for music and perhaps group it with your existing Beam and Sub to fill the room and perhaps help cut down on costs.

Thanks everyone.

You’re right. Solid and sensible suggestion. Fact is, it’s three weeks already… My brain is dumb 

Thanks. I new it’s not possible to use a pair of 1s/5s as front speakers, but I thought it applied to TV only.

I was under the impression that, when playing music only, it was possible to have them all sound together. Meaning, the main source (Beam?) would split L, R and bass, manage L and R itself, send L and R signals to the two 5s and bass to the Sub. Something like:

Left 5                Beam           Righ 5                           Sub

Left signal         L + R            Right signal                  Bass

I would lose a bit stereo separation, but I think I would tolerate it.

Problem is, when watching TV I would have:

Left 5                Beam           Righ 5                           Sub

Rear left           L + C + R      Rear right                     Bass

 I get it’s not possible to disable this sorround config, other than removing the 5s from the room, and adding them back every time. At that point, it would be easier to have 2 rooms, and move the Sub - from what I know, it’s kind of annoying.

Is this correct? If I create 2 rooms, first 2x 5s, second Beam + SUB, the 5s won’t exploit the Sub to manage the basses, right? Only the Beam would make use of it. Won’t this affect the general quality and balance?

Given I won’t buy another Sub, and I don’t like the idea of having the 5s in the back.

The Beam & Sub can be bonded with two rear surrounds, so that could be two One’s/One SL’s or even two ‘Fives’ (just as examples) and all can play either ‘Full’ or ‘Ambient’ stereo music audio and TV 5.1 surround sound. 

And/Or you can group the Beam & Sub (with or without the surrounds) to another Sonos Room which again could be a stereo pair or Ones/Fives etc. and when ‘grouped’ all will play music audio in sync however please note that there is a slight audio delay to ‘grouped’ rooms when playing any TV audio - So in that case there would ‘likely’ be an echo in the room as the ‘grouped’ rooms play out of lip-sync with TV, but for music playback it will all work fine.

 If you did not group the second room with the first room, then obviously the HT and Sub would not play when playing music to the stereo pair … and so if you wanted to include the sub, you would have to unbond the sub from the Beam and move it to the other (second) Sonos room to use it with those speakers… it’s reasonably easy to do that via the Sonos App but… it’s rather a nuisance if you trueplay tune your rooms, as the trueplay settings are destroyed when you alter the room-configuration… so you will likely find it best to ‘group’ the rooms and use the HT setup with the Sub too.

Hope that helps the mist to clear a little.

edit: See this link re Full/Ambient settings:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4804 

Thanks Ken, very clear and thorough explaination. I guess options are:

1. Bond Beam+Sub with the 5s and tinker with surround options to avoid the front 5s are used as rear speakers when watching TV
2. Create 2 separate rooms. Group them for music, ungroup for TV, unless delay and lipsync loss are neglegible (again, maybe tinkering with surround options and settings could help)
3. Create 2 separate rooms, and keep them not grouped, switching Sub between them, but losing trueplay every time. Acceptable if Trueplay provides negligible improvement.

I have no qualms in playing with devices and options till I find a good configuration, it would be fun actually, but it should be definitive.

I’m getting the feeling I won’t get a good configuration for both TV and music, and I’ll get myself a clunky system, where I have to set and tap this and that every time I switch from TV to music.

We’re talking about a 2.500 bucks set up. And this would just defy the basic concept of getting a Sonos system: it’s simple.

Would it be the same using Amp and 3rd party speakers?

Edit: maybe I overestimated the hassle of grouping/ungrouping rooms. 

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3391?language=en_US

But I fear tuning (vie trueplay or not) 2 “virtual” rooms playing together in the same physical space will be tricky.

@PaoloDeF,

Just to add you won’t be able to trueplay tune the Amp with 3rd party speakers attached. You would need Sonance speakers attached to do that - but it’s the cheapest option if you have those passive speakers already and can then group that setup for music with your Beam & Sub..

Note: if you use Alexa voice control to start music playback, then you can make the two Sonos rooms group automatically and also ungroup when you switch to TV audio - there are options to ‘ungroup’ rooms on autoplay in the Beams room settings in the App. So that may perhaps simplify matters for you.

In the Sonos app, under the Beam’s Surround Audio option, it is possible to just switch off the surrounds. It’s a toggle, similar to the one available for the Sub. That way, only the Beam and Sub would emit sound when watching TV. You can then toggle the surrounds back On when listening to music.

If you do go down the Fives route, I’d just listen to the Fives as a stereo pair up front, without including the Beam/Sub. The Fives produce pretty good bass on their own, which may be sufficient for you. However, as you have the Beam/Sub, you can try the other options with the Fives to see which you prefer.

Thanks, both of you. 

This sounds promising - easy.

Yes, I know. But using the Sub for TV only would feel like a waste to me, since I already have it, I’d like to exploit it.

Anyway, I’m still not sure about the 5s, I’m still trying to evaluate different routes - whichever they may be...

Depending on just what you want a good quality AVR and speakers with a Sonos Port might be your best solution.

My Beam and now Arc are a big step down in sound quality from my AVR setup, knew they would be going in. I made the choice based on the Sonos convenience factor and didn’t really regret it with the Beam although it was a bit weak for my room. Going to the Arc was a better match for my space but the weak dialog/center channel issue is a major frustration.

Spouse says I can fix it BUT - no wires, no complicated switch settings and no more space. Looks like I’m not fixing it.

I may try her suggestion of putting a towel over either end of the Arc to lower the L/R volume making the center effectively louder.

Hi Stanley, I think I can relate.

My dilemma is: I did not replace my ampli (RIP) because I wanted something lighter, simpler, no wires,  no hassle, and I wasn’t keen on spending 1,000-1,200€/$ to replace it.

I already spent 1,300 for Beam and Sub.

If I add a pair of 5s, I will spend 2,500 or so, and will get a 4 pieces of equipment set, where 5 and Sub aren’t bulky, but not exactly inobtrusive. And I will need to switch between Sorround Yes/No every time I move from TV to music.

Acceptable, but I fear I’ll be looking at it in a year or so, thinking I made a mistake at first, and insisted  out of stubborness, instead of repenting.

Please note  I deem Sub is totally overkill for TV only - my opinion.

So I’m considering investing 1,500 or so to get a decent, just decent hifi (ampli, streamer and shelve speakers), and probably selling Beam and Sub to cut the loss. I’m not interested in sorround, I just want a decent audio for TV.

But I don’t like the idea and feel it would be a shame.

I know, I’m running in circles.