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Contributor I
January 1, 2019
Answered

What rear speakers can be used for beam?

I just got a new tv and thinking about getting the beam. I already have a play 1, play 3 and play 5 (the original ones). Can any of these speakers be used as a stereo pair? I don’t want to have to buy anything other than the beam when I already have these speakers!
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    Chris
    ChrisAnswer
    Lead Maestro
    January 1, 2019
    The original Play:5s can not but the rest can.
    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)

    15 replies

    Chris
    ChrisAnswer
    Lead Maestro
    January 1, 2019
    The original Play:5s can not but the rest can.
    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)
    lou1979Author
    Contributor I
    January 1, 2019
    That’s great thanks, do the rear speakers have to match? Will I be able to use my play 1 and play 3?
    January 1, 2019
    That’s great thanks, do the rear speakers have to match? Will I be able to use my play 1 and play 3?They absolutely do need to match, and for good acoustic reasons.
    lou1979Author
    Contributor I
    January 1, 2019
    Ah ok thanks for your help!
    HvLee
    Collaborator I
    January 1, 2019
    For surround; if you can get a Play 3, get that one for surround, otherwise a 1, Play 5 for surround would be overkill ... just saying 🙂 Saving you a few bucks 😉
    lou1979Author
    Contributor I
    January 1, 2019
    Great thanks!
    Collaborator II
    January 4, 2019
    For surround; if you can get a Play 3, get that one for surround, otherwise a 1, Play 5 for surround would be overkill ... just saying 🙂 Saving you a few bucks ;)

    Are you saying a single Play 5 could be both rear channels? That would solve a short-term issue for me. (Sorry to hijack the thread!)
    Ken_Griffiths
    January 4, 2019
    For surround; if you can get a Play 3, get that one for surround, otherwise a 1, Play 5 for surround would be overkill ... just saying 🙂 Saving you a few bucks ;)

    Are you saying a single Play 5 could be both rear channels? That would solve a short-term issue for me. (Sorry to hijack the thread!)

    You need these for the rear surrounds to go with a PlayBar/PlayBase/Beam/New Sonos Amp... either ...

    2 x Play:1
    2 x Sonos One
    2 x Play:3
    2 x Play:5 (Gen2 only)
    Connect:Amp and two passive speakers (wired only setup)**
    New Sonos Amp and two passive speakers

    ** All devices above can be connected to the main Sonos unit wirelessly, except the Connect:Amp, which needs to be a wired connection. The reason being is the Sonos Home Theatre Surround System runs on 5ghz WiFi and the older Connect:Amp has only a 2.4ghz wireless card built in.

    Notes:
    The Alexa part of a 'Sonos One' is disabled when used as surrounds with the Sonos Beam
    A Sonos One cannot currently be used for playing an AirPlay audio stream when it is used as a HT Surround Speaker

    Note a Sonos Sub can be added to a Dolby Digital 5.0 Sonos HT system to make it full 5.1 surround sound.

    The Sonos Home Theatre systems will not play DTS audio.
    Chris
    Lead Maestro
    January 4, 2019
    Nice summary Ken... you may want to put (gen2) after play:5
    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)
    Collaborator II
    January 4, 2019
    But it would have to be 2-quantity Play 5's? Overkill as already stated. You couldn't just have one acting in stereo to play rear left AND rear right from a single Play 5?