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Enthusiast II
October 10, 2016
Question

To sub or not to sub...

I realise at the outset that views shared here will be entirely subjective, but...

I've finally taken the leap to Sonos (from a Heos Home Cinema) and I couldn't be happier at the moment. Everything has been flawless so far... simple setup, perfect integration, amazing sound quality.

I initially went with a Playbar, two Play 1's as surround, and a Play 3 in the master. I opted NOT to go for the sub initially given the relative cost.

With both the Heos and it's predecessor (a Pioneer system) I had a separate sub. Although the bass is clearly present when playing music on the Playbar, I'm not so aware of it on TV/films. So I'm looking for views from others both with the same config (playbar/play 1's) both with and without the sub. Did it hugely impact your experience adding the sub? Or maybe you're on the other side and don't feel the sub is necessary?

For reference the listening room is a 'large' lounge (by UK standards), but the listening position is fairly close to the TV/Playbar - within a few meters.

Thanks in advance for any views. :)

Tom
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18 replies

ratty
October 10, 2016
Did it hugely impact your experience adding the sub?
You could say so. At times I have feared for the structural integrity of the house...
twukAuthor
Enthusiast II
October 10, 2016
Did it hugely impact your experience adding the sub?
You could say so. At times I have feared for the structural integrity of the house...


Lol... thanks. That does of course point out another consideration... I live in a block of flats with neighbors above and below me. Am I going to get us evicted?
Peter Mc
October 10, 2016
And yet you can leave a cuppa on the sub and not see waves...

Yes, the sub is great when added to a Playbar and two Play 1s. It fills in the bottom end in a way the Playbar just can't do.
It works well for movies, and also for music.

If you can trial the sub with an option to return it, just do it! It's unlikely you'll be making that return trip.
"The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to those who think they've found it" - Terry Pratchett
twukAuthor
Enthusiast II
October 10, 2016
Thanks Peter... I had a feeling the replies might lean toward positive! Maybe I'm just looking for decision support here. 😉
Stuart_W
World-Class Superstar
October 10, 2016
Agree. As long as you feed the Playbar Dolby 5.1. I added a sub to my Playbar with Play1 surrounds and it is fantastic - But it does depend on the audio track - Not all 5.1 tracks are mixed as well as others - Eg the stuff I hear on BBC dramas is way better than that on Channel 5 HD
Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2
Paulw123
Virtuoso
October 10, 2016
Some non sonos sub owners, stand them on granite chopping boards, supposed to dampen it from going through hard floors to downstairs flats.
The sub will get it's own .1 soundtrack, as film maker intended.
Tell us more about your experience with Heos, why did you change etc etc.
You seem to be the first Heos owner to venture in here.
Prodigy I
October 10, 2016
I ran 5.0 for a month before the argument in my head persuaded my to buy the Sub. So glad I did, even though I thought the bass from the Playbar alone was great, the addition of the Sub was amazing. Buy it, you won't regret it.
Chris
Lead Maestro
October 10, 2016
The sub is a great addition. And it can be paired with different speakers when you want to give music etc. that addional bass.

I'm a big fan of the sound (in such small size) of the sub.
Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
twukAuthor
Enthusiast II
October 10, 2016
Some non sonos sub owners, stand them on granite chopping boards, supposed to dampen it from going through hard floors to downstairs flats.
The sub will get it's own .1 soundtrack, as film maker intended.
Tell us more about your experience with Heos, why did you change etc etc.
You seem to be the first Heos owner to venture in here.


Thanks :)

To be fair to the Heos, I didn't *dislike* the sound quality, but I found it quite flaky. I also had it set up multi room with a Heos 1 in the master, the Home Cinema and sub in the lounge. My initial experience with it was fairly good, with the various services all being added through the app etc., but ultimately it's nowhere near as mature as the Sonos (of course I didn't know that until I bought the Sonos!). Among the various issues, the main ones:

- Frequently lost the grouping of rooms, then refused to group them
- Sometimes randomly sent TV audio to another room (first time scared the h*ll out of me as thought someone was in the other room when I was home alone!)
- Sync was not seamless when rooms were grouped
- (and the biggest) no support for Apple Music, despite repeat promises and the capability clearly being there
- Had a tendency to self-update in the middle of the night, at which point we'd be awoken by a huge flashing yellow light

Also in fairness to them, they do have a completely wireless solution in the form of the Heos1 with Go pack, but I didn't get the chance to try this. I suspect it still would have been limiting though as I believe the Heos 1 only then works by bluetooth (so no multi-room).
twukAuthor
Enthusiast II
October 10, 2016
Forgot to add, the one other thing the HEOS has in its favor is connectivity for the Home Cinema. As opposed to the Sonos, it also offers hdmi, aux, etc. unfortunately either due to the TV or the Sonos, I gave up on hdmi anyway. I kept losing audio, having devices behave randomly, TV switching inputs when it shouldn't have. For what it's worth, it's a very new tv so I doubt it was the problem.