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Sonos 5.0 surround system

  • 20 November 2018
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I have an old surround sound system but need to change and was looking at a Sonos system where I could gradually add on speakers
But am not sure how it all works with my TV and iptv system
I was looking at a Sonos Beam with two Sonos one speakers
Can anybody give me advice please
Thank you
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Best answer by melvimbe 20 November 2018, 19:42

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24 replies

When used as surround speakers with the Beam, there really is no advantage of Sonos Ones over Play:1s, unless you just prefer the look of Sonos Ones better. The microphones are automatically turned off on Sonos Ones in this configuration.

As far as how it works with your TV and iptv, it would be more helpful if you can provide brand and/or model numbers, so we can tell you how it will all connect for your specific case. Also, the Beam is designed for small to medium rooms. If you want to use it a large room, you may not be satisfied.
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My iptv box is a MAG322 and my TV is a Panasonic TX-P42ST The Mag is connected v ia HDMI to my existing surround sound system Onkyo surround and the Mag is connected to the Onkyo surround the same way
Based on the user guide for your TV and IP box, this looks like it should be a pretty straight forward. Connect the box to hdmi2 on your TV. Connect the beam to hdmi1 (HDMI-ARC). You'll need to follow the setup steps Sonos provides to get the TV and Beam communicating. skimming the documentation, it looks like everything will work with dolby digital, so I don't think you'll see any issues. Your onkyo won't be needed at all.
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Wow thank you so much for your help I guessed there was a way around it but just could not get my head around it. If I go ahead I can then purchase a sub and more speakers at a later date. I suppose my existing sub and surround Jamo cube speakers will all go along with the Onkyo receiver. The sub is also an active sub with its own power supply but don think its compatible with the Sonos system, so will purchase separately
Thanks again for all your help really appreciated
😃
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I have decided to go full surround with Sonos but am not sure which combo is best
I'm looking at the beam with two ones as I want the facilities of Alexa
But not sure if I need the ones or the play1 as I understand Alexa works on the beam anyway so do not see any reason for using the ones opposed to the play1
As a matter of fact, the Alexa feature on the Ones is disabled when used as surrounds with the Beam. So no reason to get the Ones over the Play:1's at all.
The only reason I'd be considering the Ones, rather than the PLAY:1s in that situation is there may be a point at which I decided not to use them as surround speakers, but put them somewhere else, at which point having the capability to use voice control might be useful.
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Thanks for your replies much appreciated. Looking at the price of the Sonos sub would it be possible to use my existing sub instead?
Thanks again for all your great help
Interested in the same setup but got a question about placement of the beam. Is it ok to place te bean on a cabinet next to left of the tv ? Or does it need placement under or above the screen?
Thank you.
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It shouldn’t make a difference as you will need to TruePlay your beam once in the required location. You will be asked to do the same when adding surrounds.
No, the Sonos system for 5.1 sound doesn't allow for the use of a third party sub.

I wouldn't place the Beam on a cabinet to the left of the TV. Imagine sitting in a movie theater, and having the sound coming from the wall, rather than the screen. It would cause me a headache.
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Thanks for all your very helpful replies.
Would I require a Sonos boost or something else to ensure reliable reception for my 5.0 system?
Would I need any extra cable connections other than HDMI cables?
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Depends where you put the surrounds. I wall mounted mine just below the celling and had to get longer power cables to reach the nearest plug sockets. I got flexton wall mounts and longest cable extension they do is 3m, however the connecting to the original cable (right angled) makes it predrude some what.

I opted to buy some cheaper and longer cables and then modify them buy adding an original right angled connector. The ones on cables purchased were too big and mentioned the ones wouldnt fit the mounts.

One to consider is location of where you plan to have the surrounds and length of power cords to nearest socket.
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Thanks
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Would there be any point in the purchase of a connect box to avoid drop out issues ?
Would there be any point in the purchase of a connect box to avoid drop out issues ?

I think you Boost, not Connect, right? I'd look at this support article for answers

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3235?language=en_US

Essentially, the answer is no. You'd only want to add one of those if the 'wireless' option doesn't work for you and you cannot directly wire the Beam to your router.
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Thought I would give an update My beam arrived today and apart from having an issue with my Amazon music subscription that for some reason keeps informing me that I cannot take out a subscription as my bank is in the wrong country which it is not, I have set up the beam (the two Play1's were not delivered) and I have got Alexa working along with the beam, but I cannot get either the TV remote for sound working nor the MAG322 iptv box sound working so am having to change the volume manually
Does anybody know how to be able to get either remotes to work
Thanks for all your help and advice so far its been really helpful
The Beam (and all Sonos devices that have IR receivers) can only deal with one set of codes. So, you'd be able to use both remotes only if they were both sending the same IR codes, meaning you have to make one of them pretend it's the same as the other. Most remotes these days have the ability to emulate another in some fashion, so check your manuals.

And note that I used the term IR in that paragraph, meaning Infra Red. If you have one of those non-IR remotes, like some TVs now have, you need to figure out how to force it to be sending an IR signal, rather than a bluetooth signal. Take a look in the FAQ area, there's lots of help there for you to peruse.
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Thanks again all your help on here shows the worth of these community areas and have got the remote working at last, one more question if you don't mind I have my Mag322 iptv box connected to my Beam but wondered if I could also have a Sky Sat box connected at the same time, but as there is only one hdmi slot on the beam I do not know how I could connect the Mag box and the Sky box at the same time
Would anybody have any ideas or suggestions please:?
This is why they are made to work off of the HDMI-ARC or optical port on the TV itself. So the TV acts as a switch, so that you can have multiple sources connected to the switch (TV), and whatever is being played comes out through the Beam.
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Just having one issue when I change from using Amazon Alexa to watching TV I get no sound and have to switch all off and reboot
Does anybody know why this is happening
Also
Amazon will not allow me to subscribe to their unlimited service they give me an error message informing me that my bank account details are for the wrong country which they are not and I can still order goods through Amazon using the same bank details I really do not understand that
Anybody please
Just having one issue when I change from using Amazon Alexa to watching TV I get no sound and have to switch all off and reboot
Does anybody know why this is happening
Also
Amazon will not allow me to subscribe to their unlimited service they give me an error message informing me that my bank account details are for the wrong country which they are not and I can still order goods through Amazon using the same bank details I really do not understand that
Anybody please
On the second point I suggest you check where your Sonos account is registered (if you are trying to add that streaming account via Sonos)
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Thanks yes my sonos account was registered in the wrong country so now got the unlimited but again switching from Alexa to TV I have to reboot as I get no sound its really weird
I am not sure exactly what you mean by 'switching from Alexa to TV'. But do you have TV Autoplay enabled? And when you want the TV audio are you tapping the "Browse' button and selecting TV?