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Best Configuration for TV Watching & Music?

  • 22 April 2023
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M
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Having researched easy to use setups for my technology challenged parents, I think the Sonos “Immersive Set with Beam” (includes Beam Gen2, Sub Mini, Era 100 x2) might be the best solution for both watching TV & listening to music.  However, I don’t have personal experience with Sonos components, so appreciate any help or insights you might share.

I’m assuming setting up / configuring the audio for TV watching will be very simple using the Sonos app (I’ll do this for them).  But I’m unsure about whether the configuration should (or can) change for listening to music (ie disabling the sound bar).  Again, given that my parents are not tech savvy, any configuration / mode change (TV <-> Music) would need to be extremely simple…preferably using universal remote instead of Sonos app.

CONFIGURATION (planned, haven’t purchased yet):

  • Television HDMI Arc or eArc to power on/off and volume control the speakers.
  • Prefer to avoid using A/V receiver, instead using TV’s HDMI Arc functionality.
  • Components connected to TV via HDMI include Sonos sound bar, cable TV box, AppleTV, Blu-Ray / CD (music) player.
  • VHS tape player possibly connected via RCA cables (weird, I know…but parents are old school).
  • Wi-Fi connection for all components (TV, speakers, Cable Box, AppleTV).
  • Music to be played from phones (3.5mm aux or Bluetooth) and Blu-Ray/CD player (HDMI).
  • Aside from initial setup, unlikely to use Sonos app.

QUESTIONS:

  1. Would this speaker setup be good for both listening to music AND watching TV without having to reconfigure anything nor switching modes (TV ↔ Music)?
  2. If switching modes (TV ↔ Music) is possible and recommended, then can this be done with just a universal remote (without Sonos app)?
  3. When connecting phones (iOS & Android) through the Sonos Line-in Adapter (3.5 mm aux cable) into one of the Era 100 speakers, will music be played on all of the other speakers or just the one it’s physically plugged into?
  4. While watching TV, I’m assuming the Beam sound bar will be the master and the other speakers will be slaves for sound from all of the components connected to the TV (Cable Box, AppleTV, Blu-Ray, etc).  Is this correct?
  5. While listening to Music from their phones (iOS & Android), I’m assuming that the TV can be off, and that control of the speakers (power & volume) will be limited to the Sonos app or the physical controls on the sound bar.  Is this correct?
  6. Using an iPhone’s mic and Sonos’ app Trueplay feature to tune / EQ the speakers, is it possible to create multiple “tuned” profiles (ex one for music, another for TV)?
  7. Are there any streaming services (music or video) that are incompatible with this HDMI Arc configuration? 

A long read, and a lot of questions…so thanks in advance!

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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths 23 April 2023, 01:46

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3 replies

Ken_Griffiths

QUESTIONS:

  1. Would this speaker setup be good for both listening to music AND watching TV without having to reconfigure anything nor switching modes (TV ↔ Music)?

Yes the proposed setup is fine for both TV and Music Audio.

  1. If switching modes (TV ↔ Music) is possible and recommended, then can this be done with just a universal remote (without Sonos app)?

No they may sometimes need to use the Sonos App, or a voice assistant to switch but you may find a way to do it with a universal remote (if it’s a Logitech Harmony universal remote, for example)… but switching is easy in the App - but it depends if your parents can deal with these things, I guess.

  1. When connecting phones (iOS & Android) through the Sonos Line-in Adapter (3.5 mm aux cable) into one of the Era 100 speakers, will music be played on all of the other speakers or just the one it’s physically plugged into?

The Era line-in port is disabled when used as part of a Sonos HT setup, the same applies to Bluetooth too. If your Parents use iOS devices, then simply use Apple Airplay instead.

  1. While watching TV, I’m assuming the Beam sound bar will be the master and the other speakers will be slaves for sound from all of the components connected to the TV (Cable Box, AppleTV, Blu-Ray, etc).  Is this correct?

Yes that’s correct - anything connected to the TV HDMI ports will output to the Soundbar, Sub and speakers and audio volume is controlled using the HDMI CEC protocol with the TV remote or Universal remote. There is an option to control the sound of the Sonos device using the remotes infrared transmitter too.

  1. While listening to Music from their phones (iOS & Android), I’m assuming that the TV can be off, and that control of the speakers (power & volume) will be limited to the Sonos app or the physical controls on the sound bar.  Is this correct?

If you programme the infrared connection/receiver on the Soundbar, using the TV or universal remote, it can still control the music volume output even when the TV is off/in standby.

  1. Using an iPhone’s mic and Sonos’ app Trueplay feature to tune / EQ the speakers, is it possible to create multiple “tuned” profiles (ex one for music, another for TV)?

No, the Trueplay profile is set for all types of audio output - so just the one profile. The EQ settings can be changed in the Sonos App and there are settings for TV night mode and speech enhancement - these too can be activated/deactivated using voice instructions, but Bass/Treble adjustment is via the App and there are separate volume settings for the Sub too - so your parents may find need to find settings to suit all their listening needs.

  1. Are there any streaming services (music or video) that are incompatible with this HDMI Arc configuration? 

It’s perhaps helpful here just to let you know which services are compatible/available … see this link:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/services

The only video audio output I can think of that’s not compatible with Sonos is DTS HD Master Audio or DTS:X, but DTS 5.1 will work fine alongside any Dolby Audio output which covers most streaming video services these days. Music/Video Audio formats are mentioned here in these links;

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/supported-home-theater-audio-formats

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/supported-audio-formats-for-sonos-music-library

A long read, and a lot of questions…so thanks in advance!

Hope the above assists.

 

M
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Very very helpful, thank you so much!  One more question, if you don’t mind…

With regard to question #3, my mother uses an iPhone so AirPlay will work for her.   But my father uses an Android phone.  Will he be able to play music from his phone (Wi-Fi or Sonos app or something else)?

Again, TYIA!

Ken_Griffiths

Very very helpful, thank you so much!  One more question, if you don’t mind…

With regard to question #3, my mother uses an iPhone so AirPlay will work for her.   But my father uses an Android phone.  Will he be able to play music from his phone (Wi-Fi or Sonos app or something else)?

Again, TYIA!

If using the Sonos App - a user can stream any of the music services mentioned in the link given earlier. There is also a feature called ‘on this device’ that allows the streaming of music stored on the phone. The Amazon Music App and Spotify on android also allow the sending of music from their Apps to Sonos (from within the App-select a Sonos speaker as the target for playback)… also don’t forget that they can use both Alexa and Sonos Voice control too.. eg: ‘Hey Sonos, play The White Album by the Beatles’ will start that album playing.. see the voice commands available here:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/list-of-voice-requests-for-sonos-voice-control

 

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