Connecting Sonos Arc Soundbar to Projector

No, the Arc does not have a bluetooth connection, nor, to my knowledge, can a bluetooth connection carry a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal. So I’d be very cautious about believing anything that sales person said. 

You’d need one of two things to get audio from that firestick to the Sonos Arc. If you’re just interested in Dolby Digital, and not Atmos, then a normal HDMI switch that has an optical output would work. It could take the audio and split it out to the optical output, and then you’d connect that to the optical to HDMI-ARC connector that came with the Arc, and you’d be fine with Dolby Digital (not DTS, not Dolby Digital plus, etc)

On the other hand, if you’re trying to pass some sort of Atmos signal to the Arc, you’d need something like an HD Fury Arcana (there may be other manufacturers of this type of device, but I don’t know them) that can split the Atmos signal from an HDMI input, and send it out via HDMI-ARC to the Sonos Arc.

Oh, one more thing to note. In general, projectors are not placed very close to where the speakers are, so you’re going to need some (inconvenient) long cables to connect the speakers to your projector. In either use case above. 

No, with the exception of Roam, Sonos products don’t have bluetooth.  (As well, I don’t think your your firetv or project would send surround sound audio over bluetooth)  You need to use an HDMI-ARC connection with the Sonos Arc, and I doubt your projector is capable.  Perhaps the best solution is an HD Fury Arcana

edit:  Dangit Bruce!

Roam and Move, but neither are terribly appropriate for home theater use. And neither will connect with a Sonos Arc in any way other than “grouping” while on Wifi. Certainly not when on Bluetooth. 

Thanks Bruce and Danny for the info.  Very helpful.  So the projector I have does have a eArc HDMI slot.  And since the Sonos Arc does have an eArc input, can I connect the projector via a HDMI 2.1 cable from projector to sound bar?

then - if that works, can the sound bar can connect to Sonos subwoofer via Bluetooth I believe?  
 

last - If I have 2 other Sonos SL speakers, they would just connect via Bluetooth as well?

I guess my main question is can you wire audio with just the sound bar and have the rest of the Sonos equipment connect via Bluetooth?

Thanks!! 

Here is the back of the projector just as a FYI

I was typing while you posted that picture. That’s awesome that it really does have eARC output. 

I should have looked up the manual from your first post, just to look at it .

Got it thanks - my bad I’m a rookie at this and we’re getting our basement finished as we speak.  So wanted to make sure I get the correct hardware and wires, etc.  trying to do this on my own vs paying a ton to have an installation company to do it.  
 

So “WiFi” will help connect to the Sub and SL speakers, NOT Bluetooth!  
 

actually one last question… my modem / router is NOT in this theatre room.  So I read if the WiFi signal isn’t strong you may want to get the Sonos bridge to boost the WiFi signal between the soundbar/ sub / speakers… does that sound right?

Meh. Kind of...

What the BOOST does is, when wired to the router, create its own network signal that the other Sonos devices would connect to, rather than your normal wifi signal.

I’d try it initially without one, it’s unlikely that the Arc won’t be able to connect to your normal wifi (although it will need a 2.4Ghz b/g/n channel)  If it doesn’t connect to your normal wifi, we can go down that road later. 

Just to be clear, the BOOST is not a normal wifi repeater. It can act as a SonosNet repeater, if you have a device wired to the router.

Sonos doesn’t like many wifi repeaters, due to the way that they do things that are not “normal”.  But I’d still recommend not worrying about that until such point as you need to.

Somewhere around in a box, I have a 50 foot ethernet cable for those instances…. :)

Do you guys think a 20-30 ft hdmi 2.1 wire is too long to connect projector eArc to Sonos soundbar?  Or is that distance ok?  I’m reading some places to be careful not to go over 15 ft for some connections.  

Honestly have no idea. I’m sure if you googled it, there would be a page that suggests optimal and maximum lengths for various types of HDMI cables. 

I would get a good quality cable and test it out.  I’ve connected TVs to Sonos Amps with 30-40 ft cables without issue.  That’s HDMI-ARC, not eARC, so perhaps it makes a difference.

If you can’t test it out before you cover up the walls, I would put up a smurf tube (I think that’s what they’re called) with HDMI and CAT6, plus whatever else you think you might need.

Long HDMI cables can be problematic for 4K/8K video transmission, but in this case mostly audio will be transmitted to ARC. Personally, I would use a high quality cable (I can be anal about such things), if only to future proof the system. At some point you may want to turn things around and send video to the projector through this cable.

In addition, I would run a couple CAT-6’s and fiber to the projector -- as a future proof hedge. Actually I’d run CAT-6 and optical everywhere during a remodel. I realize that ‘wireless’ is currently the big thing, but wired is always more reliable. (Fiber is just a glass ‘wire’)

Thanks all - so after doing all this research, the bottom line came down to this 20-25 foot hdmi 2.1 cable I would need.  Costs anywhere from $400-900 for just the cable itself.  
 

we decided to change from projector/screen set up to just get a large screen 86” NanoCell LG tv.  Just a much easier setup than potentially having to buy a lot more equipment like this wire, Cat 6, etc.  we’re gonna give up some size for the screen but much easier to set up now.

Thanks all for your help !

Hi,

I am thinking of the same set up but a high quality cable 20 meters cost less than £100 or im i looking at the wrong HDMI?

This is the one i found.

https://tmfsolutions.co.uk/product/hdfury-fiber-hdmi-cable/

Wondering if this will do it?

Thanks

Or even less: Amazon Basics CL3 Rated HDMI Cable - 7.6 m (25 Feet): Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

I was told by a few different places to be careful about cheap hdmi 2.1 wires on Amazon and other places.  For this set up to work you have to get a strong wire because the concern would be having a lag between the sound system and video from projector.  This is the one I was going to try but then I decided to switch back to tv / sounds system set up.  
 

https://fibercommand.com/products/ultravision-hdmi-fiber-optic-cable
 

Can we dispel this “long hdmi cord and projectors aren’t made for sound bars” nonsense? 
 

Plenty of ultra short throw projectors that can sit 7” from the wall which is a lot closer than some mounted TVs.  
 

For those doing their research on projectors and Sonos Arc/Beam.  Yes.  It can work with a HD Fury Arcana or a projector equipped with eArc.  Make your life easy by buying a UST projector.