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The Sound bar was great for sound with surround. Unfortunately, it failed after five years. I purchased a Beam recently, and to follow up on a previous conversation, the Sound bar is much better for those of us with hearing issues. The beam is just not as dynamic with sound. I just returned the Beam, not so much for the sound, but because I still have an older TV and the Beam (and the Arc) both now utilize the HDMI eport or Arc port. The Sound bar utilized an optic cable and I could control the volume of my TV audio on the Sound Bar with my TV remote.  With the Beam & Arc I will have to purchase a newer TV in order to do this. (Current uses RF remote, would need IF for TV & Remote for Beam or Arc) The Sound Bar had no issue with RF.  I understand Sonos will be refurbishing the Sound Bars that we turn in and reselling. It would be great if Sonos just made a sound bar that can work in either option so that at some point if I bought a newer TV I would not have to change my Sonos product. Sonos does not have any refurbished available at this time so I will purchase a new sound bar online from ………

Again, I think hands down the Sound Bar was way better sounding than the Beam. It has six speakers and three tweeters that sound great. I’m pretty deaf without hearing aids and I would recommend the Sound Bar or Arc (I’ve listened to it in the store) over the Beam. 

The original PlayBar uses infrared for the communication with a TV remote. Both the Beam and Sonos Arc can use infrared too - just setup the TV remote in the ‘room’ settings of either device. It will work the same as for the PlayBar.

Next, whilst the ‘default’ connection to either the Beam, or Arc is HDMI-ARC/eARC - both soundbars do come with the Sonos “Optical to HDMI adapter" which converts the supplied HDMI cable to connect to the Optical-out port of the TV instead.

So if the PlayBar can be used okay with your older TV, then so can the Beam, or the Sonos Arc. 

What is ‘the sound bar’? Was it a PLAYBAR or a PLAYBASE?

Ken, it does not work the same. The tv uses RF for communicating with the remote. In the setup in “the room” for the beam it explicitly says RF will not work that it must us IF. It even walks you through putting your hand over the front of the remote to see if it's RF or IF. Mine is RF and it tells me I would have to purchase an IF remote in order for it to work with the TV remote for volume. Worked fine with the Sound Bar but not the Beam. I spoke with a rep this morning who didn't question what I told him was the issue and he told me I could just go to a few places to purchase a sound bar since they don't have any in stock at the moment. 

What @Ken_Griffiths said is spot on. However sinxce you are convinced his recommendations will not meet your needs I recommend you listen to the Sonos Ray as it uses optical connection as did the Playbar. 

@Txuser,

Maybe this Sonos Support link will help convince you - it shows the old Playbar uses infrared and this link below shows you precisely where the IR sensor/receiver is located on each of the Sonos Home Theatre products.  

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/ir-sensor-location-on-sonos-home-theater-products

If your TV and it’s remote worked with the older Playbar, then it will work with the other Sonos HT products when using the adapter mentioned and you setup the ‘TV remote’ in the HT room settings in the Sonos App. 

If you still have doubts, then by all means, go onto check the information given here with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK 

Hope you eventually get what you are looking for here. 👍

Okay. I'm just telling ya didn't work. They're (beam and Arc) made for smart tv’s. I'm an electronic technician I know something about it. They are not compatible with what I have but the Original bar is. Not hard. 

Anyway no matter I just purchased another Sound Bar. It's way better in sound than the beam so this is a mute point I guess. 

What is ‘the sound bar’? Was it a PLAYBAR or a PLAYBASE?

The Playbar needs ir. the Beam and Arc will get commands from your TV when they are connected via HDMI-ARC. When they are connected through the optical adapter they revert to needing a direct ir connection to your remote. For modern TV’s with bluetooth remotes this is a problem. You won an older TV model, so ir would have worked if you would have taught it the codes.
 

https://support.sonos.com/en/article/control-sonos-home-theater-with-your-tv-remote

Everyone

There’s really no need to continue contributing to this thread. The OP has made thier decision and moved on. Besides, I’ll be forced to terminate any further updates for this thread to stop cluttering up my email and miss your insightful comments. LOL 😂 

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