Era 300 vs Five

@BOL74

As your idea seems already to be manifested in your mind, I think you will try this anyway. 😉

Just be aware of the loose of real channel separation, but if it sounds satisfying to your ears in the end, that’s ok. 
Otherwise you have tested it and can open your mind for other alternatives. 😎

#Schlumpl

Yeah,i think you’re right. And if i don’t like it i can use the secound pair of Era300’s in my bedroom either switch out the exsisting Era100(witch is sitting on top of a lamp on my bed-table) or have them as a stereopair in front…for pure music.

HI

@BOL74 

First I’m going to describe my setup in my Main Media Room, next in my Master Bedroom and finally in a Guest Bedroom.

Main Media Room (Video)

• LG 65 inch TV
• Arc plus Sub x 2 and Era 300 surrounds
• ATV 4K
• Panasonic Ultra HD Disc player

Main Media Room (Music)

• Five x 2 with Sub (Music Streaming)
• Project Debut Turntable (Sonos Edition) > Cambridge Pre-amp > Sonos Amp > Definitive D3 Speakers (Vinyl)

Master Bedroom (Video & Music) *

• LG 55 inch TV
• Arc plus Sub and Era 300 surrounds
• ATV 4K
• Sony Ultra HD Disc player

Guest Bedroom (Video & Music) *

• Sony Bravia 46 inch TV (circa 2014)
• Beam 2 plus Sub-Mini and Era 100 surrounds
• ATV 4K

 * Music is listed only because it’s possible when and if desired. At the end of the day video is the primary use.

The reason I provided the above information is to illustrate the versatility of Sonos. As you can see the Main Media room has multiple Sonos sub-rooms located in the same area; each with a specific purpose. The other rooms while primarily for video can also be used for music.

Sonos’ versatility is its Achilles Heel in that it's assumed one can do whatever they want (as a configuration) and still expect Sonos to perform as intended. Not True!! 

Ask yourself...would Sonos not market setting additional speakers upfront left and right of an Arc, Beam2 or Ray (if it were doable) to enhance the listening experience? I believe you are an intelligent person and the answer is therefore obvious. 

The videos espousing non-conventional Sonos setups for Home Theater (HT) are IMO hacks and rubbish. On second thought remove the “IMO” from the previous sentence as I believe others will agree that the videos are hacks and rubbish.

The human ear is a complex listening organ. Sonos HT setups reproduce the soundtrack of a movie as close to what the sound engineer intended using a single box that contains left, center and right channels. Now with the Arc and Beam2 reflected side channels for both and height channels with the Arc. Nothing less and most certainly not more (i.e. adding additional front left and right speakers).

However, if you want to spend your money on a Charlatan’s alchemy video (for Sonos HT) then by all means do so. On the other hand if you’d like keep your hard earned money for more practical use(s); then take mine and the advice of others in this thread. Stick with the intended setup for Sonos HT.

Final notes regarding the shape of your room. 

• If you have (or have access to) an iOS device you can use Trueplay to adjust the sound to your environment. Also know that Trueplay is not a silver bullet.  In some rare cases it can make the sound worst. 
• Also, having dual subs does not necessarily improve the low-end. Placement of a single sub and/or dual subs is critical. I would start with a single sub in various spots to determine the best location. Trueplay to determine if it helps. When you are satisfied introduce the second sub placing it in different locations to determine if it improves the overall low-end or not. A second sub in some instances can make the room too boomy.

Note: You can Trueplay each sub during the above process

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Once again, there will be zero Atmos effects from Era 300s grouped as Fronts.  None at all.  They will play in stereo and stereo only.  The Atmos upfiring channels will be completely silent.  This was proven by another poster who believed the nonsense in that silly video, until we challenged them to try a video of  Atmos test tones.  To their surprise, every channel, front left/right, center, surrounds and Atmos, all came out of the front drivers of the 300s.  The other drivers, including the upfiring Atmos drivers, were silent.   The youtube video was wrong, the "front" Era 300s "effect" was purely a placebo.

See this thread from this point on: 

…for the moment i’m speachless. But that’s how it is…

If i inderstand you guys right…if i have a set of Era300’s i front of my Arc/Era300/Dual Gen3’s setup i some sort of loose the Atmos effect? 
Sorry bout this topic getting a little side-tracked here….and i’m a part of it,no worries. The real question was: Is the Five’s waaaaay better than the Era300’s for music listening. So now if i choose the Five&Era300 combo i will of course try the Five’s in front of my Home Cinema setup,but then i might be dissapointed and regret i did not went for the Era300’s. Yes,i get it… if Sonos wanted the comsumer to have free opertunety….. 

PS: what does IMO stand for? I might obay? Just as same as i call the Ikea Symfonisk Book Shielf speaker Ikea BS and from the moment someone was confused i ran an explaining in every tread i post…so how bout explain those tree letters please What comes around,Goes around.(Addis Black Widdow)

Imo or imho = in my opinion or in my humble/honest opinion

If you do like the video you watched and add Era 300s grouped with your Arc as front speakers, they will add zero, zilch, nothing, nada to the Atmos effects.  Matter of fact, the only thing they can do to the Atmos effects is ruin them by taking the Atmos channels which are supposed to bounce off the ceiling as height channels and mixing them into the fronts (along with all surround and front channels) which are aimed straight ahead.  That's just not how a surround sound track is meant to be heard no matter what a silly video says.

IMO is In My Opinion.

Hi @BOL74 

Here’s your answer to IMO and another...IMHO

• IMO = In My Opinion
• IMHO = In My Humble/Honest Opinion

Per Sonos marketing (and I agree; as I have a stereo pair of both) the Five’s are still the choice for traditional Hi-Fi Stereo listening  (Click here).

@BOL74

And to answer your last question… YES, you are loosing the strictly channel separation of any (not just Atmos) multichannel setup, because (as explained before) a grouped stereo setup in the front includes ALL channel information of the multichannel signal in a downmix. As a result you would hear rear channel information from the rear speakers but also as part of the stereo downmix in the front. Same with the center channel… from the middle out of the center speaker as part of the soundbar and also as part of the stereo downmix from the left and right. 

@BOL74 

To say that the Five’s are waaaaay better than the Era 300’s for music is a stretch that can only be qualified by the listener. If you want to be convinced (one way or the other) I suggest you visit a retailer that sells both products and listen for yourself. 

I’m done here as I can’t continue this back and forth to try and help/advise someone that appears to want answers bent to their pre-conceived notions/perspective. Good luck and I wish you well in your quest to achieve the Sonos setup that meets your expectations.

Cheers!