[crazybones]

The photographer Chase Jarvis once said “the best camera is the one that's with you" and I believe the sentiment also applies to Sonos. Having come from separates, whilst the Sonos quality is not quite as good IMO, I use the Sonos system constantly due to the convenience factor whereas my separates would be unused sometimes for weeks.

The sub is worth the investment in my opinion. We have 2 x Play 1, 2 x Play 1 + Sub, 2 x Play 5. On their own, the 2 x Play 1 sound good, but base is lacking and will sound flat when boosted. By contrast, the 2 x Play 1 + Sub sound superb and rival the 2 x Play 5's.

Unfortunately, Sonos is rather addictive and whilst we dont yet have the Arc, it is on the shopping list! Do put the Sub on the list and start the man maths - it changes the sound and certainly adds depth.

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by crazybones

The photographer Chase Jarvis once said "the best camera is the one that's with you" and I believe the sentiment also applies to Sonos. Having come from separates, whilst the Sonos quality is not quite as good IMO, I use the Sonos system constantly due to the convenience factor whereas my separates would be unused sometimes for weeks.

The sub is worth the investment in my opinion. We have 2 x Play 1, 2 x Play 1 + Sub, 2 x Play 5. On their own, the 2 x Play 1 sound good, but base is lacking and will sound flat when boosted. By contrast, the 2 x Play 1 + Sub sound superb and rival the 2 x Play 5's.

Unfortunately, Sonos is rather addictive and whilst we dont yet have the Arc, it is on the shopping list! Do put the Sub on the list and start the man maths - it changes the sound and certainly adds depth.

Really impressed with the Arc. Coming from a dedicated setup it is the low frequency stuff I miss most, the surround effect is pretty immersive, so the Sub is definitely on the list. Don't get me wrong, it's still very good on its own but does lack the show stopping low end of a dedicated sub.

[mcscoobs]

Sorry if this is slightly off topic... those with the Sonos Sub - where is your sub placed? I have mine next to my sofa, next to where I sit... but unless I'm watching something at pretty high volume, and its vibrating through, I don't really notice it. I just wonder if i need to retune it or change something in the settings

[crazybones]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

Sorry if this is slightly off topic... those with the Sonos Sub - where is your sub placed? I have mine next to my sofa, next to where I sit... but unless I'm watching something at pretty high volume, and its vibrating through, I don't really notice it. I just wonder if i need to retune it or change something in the settings

You can vary the sub output level from the settings. Also, have you used Truplay on an Iphone to tune the set up?

[crazybones]

Originally Posted by KCH1984

Really impressed with the Arc. Coming from a dedicated setup it is the low frequency stuff I miss most, the surround effect is pretty immersive, so the Sub is definitely on the list. Don't get me wrong, it's still very good on its own but does lack the show stopping low end of a dedicated sub.

I found the sub just added depth but that was of course with the Play 1's rather than the Arc. When I have time, I plan to hook up the sub with the Play 5's just to see what impact it has. The Play 5's produce relatively good low range anyway, so not sure how much difference the sub would make.

The Arc is very interesting and may well be my next investment!

[mcscoobs]

Originally Posted by crazybones

You can vary the sub output level from the settings. Also, have you used Truplay on an Iphone to tune the set up?

I just used the Sonos app to tune everything upon setup? I do have an iPhone though

[crazybones]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

I just used the Sonos app to tune everything upon setup? I do have an iPhone though

Yes, the Truplay function in the Sonos app. You can re-run Truplay at any time.

I also run my sub on "+2" as that suits the location in my case, as the sub is hidden.

[mcscoobs]

Originally Posted by crazybones

Yes, the Truplay function in the Sonos app. You can re-run Truplay at any time.

I also run my sub on "+2" as that suits the location in my case, as the sub is hidden.

Ah yes, I'd already done it. Might run it through again and add a notch to the Sub level

[M2Andy]

I think you can turn the sub off in the app iirc.
This really shows the difference quickly and you’ll be turning it back on immediately as you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.... oooh deep!

[SkyJawa]

Subs aren’t directional so doesn’t matter where it is, ours is on the floor next to the arc and tv purely coz it’s a good space out of the way for it....

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Subs aren't directional so doesn't matter where it is, ours is on the floor next to the arc and tv purely coz it's a good space out of the way for it....

This is true in the sense that you shouldn't be able to tell where the sound is coming from below a certain frequency, but placing it in a corner will normally increase the subs output if that's what you're after. Even with careful calibration in my previous system there were always spots in the room where the effect of the sub was greater, so listening position was important. Be interesting to know whether the true play function counters all that and it genuinely doesn't matter where you chuck the Sonos sub.

[EvilDrPorkChop]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Well I’ve finally got all the bits I needed. 1xSonos Arc, 1xSonos Sub and 2xOne SL for surrounds.

Music etc sounds great and it’s nicely configurable about whether you want the rears on full or just ambient for sound, and I’ve had to knock the sub down a couple of notches as it’s really powerful next to the rest.

It’s freed a a load of room in the loung too and it all looks so much smarter now without all the 7.1 surrounds and 2 Atmos speakers, but due to amp the 2 rear we’re redundant as those inputs were used for Atmos.

The sound from the TV is excellent and also from the built in apps like Netflix, Amazon and Disney+.

Now, the massive bad news. Lip sync is SHOCKING on anything that passes through the TV, picture before sound the worst way round it could be. So that’s Sky Q, BD, Apple TV, PS4 and Xbox. The latter 2 not such an issue as only used for gaming. It seems to be an issue with our LG But I believe Samsung and others are just as bad. Basically the processing from the TV to pass the audio stream through to the Arc takes longer than sending the picture through to the screen. I believe this also affects Bose high end sound bars too. You can fix it with Sky by setting HDMI audio out to normal but this then only outputs stereo so you lose all the Dolby digital effectively giving the tv very little work to do with the audio. This is a huge deal breaker. If it wasn’t for a great bit of kit coming in September I’d return the lot.

Fortunately HDFury are releasing a UHD/Earc adapter called Arcana that sits between the external devices and the tv and sends sound direct to the Arc bypassing the tv, but the picture is still sent to tv and also arc from the tv also works back through it for TV sound and those apps. Will hopefully work great as instead of plugging all into the TV I decided to get a 4k hdmi switch so they all plug into that then out to the tv. the Arcana can sit on that HDMI and cover all the devices. (I did try plugging sky into tv direct and there was no difference). Pain is Arcana will be another £150 on top of the outlay for the kit but if it fixes it then happy days as for everything else I’m really happy with and how much better the room looks.

https://www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/

The other thing as mentioned earlier is there’s no way I’d be happy without the Sonos Sub, the bass would be too lacking, though it is better than TV on its own. But as I have the sub it’s irrelevant.

Fingers crossed on the Arcana.

Resurrecting an old thread here. I've just upgraded to Sky Q and now have the same issue with our Sonos Beam Gen 1 sound bar Voices being delayed behind the picture due to the DD input to the TV.

My TV is fairly old now and i'm thinking of upgrading to a TV with eARC and the newer Gen 2 beam bar that supports eARC. Just checking that your LG Tv didn't have eARC and that was the main issue.

Don't want to shell out for a new TV and sound bar if I still need an Arcana!

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by EvilDrPorkChop

Resurrecting an old thread here. I've just upgraded to Sky Q and now have the same issue with our Sonos Beam Gen 1 sound bar Voices being delayed behind the picture due to the DD input to the TV.

My TV is fairly old now and i'm thinking of upgrading to a TV with eARC and the newer Gen 2 beam bar that supports eARC. Just checking that your LG Tv didn't have eARC and that was the main issue.

Don't want to shell out for a new TV and sound bar if I still need an Arcana!

I've got an LG CX with the Sonos Arc connected via eARC and, sadly, on Sky Q there is still a slight issue with live broadcasts. On demand / recorded content is fine weirdly

Short of the Arcana, there are 2 workarounds. If you set the Sky box to output in stereo this cures the issue, but then what's the point as you lose surround. Secondly, you can add a bit of picture processing on the TV to close the delay. This is a bit of trial and error but (luckily) for me, turning on Trumotion (which is good for sport anyway) got rid of the lip sync issue.

No problems with the build in apps either, just seems to be a live broadcast issue with Sky Q that seems to particularly affect Sonos soundbars more than others.

[SkyJawa]

Originally Posted by EvilDrPorkChop

Resurrecting an old thread here. I've just upgraded to Sky Q and now have the same issue with our Sonos Beam Gen 1 sound bar Voices being delayed behind the picture due to the DD input to the TV.

My TV is fairly old now and i'm thinking of upgrading to a TV with eARC and the newer Gen 2 beam bar that supports eARC. Just checking that your LG Tv didn't have eARC and that was the main issue.

Don't want to shell out for a new TV and sound bar if I still need an Arcana!

Yes my LG was the year before they switched to eARC, if you get a new TV with eARC you'll be fine without the Arcana.

However as has been mentioned, Sky still suck at certain content even with eARC/Arcana, particularly on the like of American stuff like McGyver, SWAT etc, seem to be a Sky One (sorry Showcase) thing.

As said switching to Stereo on Sky fixes it but thats a crap fix! Plenty of moans around the net on this

TBH its waaaaay better than before the Arcana, only a little out and only on a few things so I've learned to ignore it and live with it!

[EvilDrPorkChop]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Yes my LG was the year before they switched to eARC, if you get a new TV with eARC you'll be fine without the Arcana.

However as has been mentioned, Sky still suck at certain content even with eARC/Arcana, particularly on the like of American stuff like McGyver, SWAT etc, seem to be a Sky One (sorry Showcase) thing.

As said switching to Stereo on Sky fixes it but thats a crap fix! Plenty of moans around the net on this

TBH its waaaaay better than before the Arcana, only a little out and only on a few things so I've learned to ignore it and live with it!

Thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear. I don't actually watch much live TV, and it would explain why on GOLD HD when watching live the other day the issue was much worse On my currently setup it's only a few milliseconds out but enough to annoy me. The OH doesn't notice, and I think i'm doing her head in with it.

Think i'll bite the bullet anyway and upgrade to a newer TV and sound bar. We're having a new extension next year which will have proper 7.1 surround sound so the set in the living room I should probably update before all the money goes.

Looking at the Sony TVs, quite impressed with them recently. Just hope they play nicely with Sky and eARC