Sonos Arc Surround

SkyJawa · 06-24-2020, 06:25 AM

Hi guys

I shouldn't be thinking of junking another 1800 quid on stuff, but I'm getting very tempted by the Arc system, albeit out of stock at the mo!

I currently have an Onkyo AV amp with 5.1.2 setup which I've been happy with for years, but I'm thinking the Sonos would free up some space as no receiver required etc.

I also have 2 Echo Plus and an Echo Sub linked in the lounge to play music through (as well as the amp if needed) and I guess the Sonos would free up the real estate from that too....

I can think of three issues making the switch.

First would be my LG 65C8 is only ARC not eARC not sure this would make a huge difference as very little is eARC at the moment...

Also my amp currently takes inputs from PS4, Xbox One, 4k Blu Ray Player, Sky Q 4k and also a 4k Apple TV, but the LG only has 4 HDMI one of which would be taken by the Sonos.

Finally, when my wife goes to bed I tend to listen to everything using some Sennheiser headphones attached to the Amp, I've heard rumours Sonos are coming out with some headphones but nothing yet and don't think the Arc supports them?

Any advice, thoughts?

AlRex · 06-24-2020, 06:52 AM

I have the Arc and it’s a very good piece of kit. I don’t have eArc however with the correct settings on the tv my Sonos systems tells me it still receives Dolby Atmos and the sound is very good and very clear. Also have a beam 2 play 1s and a sub. I noticed a big improvement with the Arc over the beam.

Know I haven’t really answered your questions... but the Arc is a great piece of kit if it works for what you need.

335dX · 06-24-2020, 07:23 AM

I’ve had Sonos for a couple of years and have just replaced my Sonos play bar with the arc. It’s excellent and has made a huge difference to my 5.1 Sonos system. ( Arc, sub and 2 x play 1’s.)

I don’t know what your talking about with the rest of what you wrote!

225 · 06-24-2020, 07:23 AM

The Arc is the top of my list currently. Only snag for me is that the lgoled55 is low so I would need to raise it up some how for the arc to sit in front of it.

SkyJawa · 06-24-2020, 08:19 AM

Thanks guys, our tv is on the wall so there is plenty of room on the units in front for it.

I don't think the headphones is an issue, read the manual and the TV has a jack so if connected re-routes audio to the headphones which would solve that issue.

Reading up on eARC its designed to support Dolby True HD but streaming services don't use it so its only really an issue with the BD player, but from reading an article from TrustedReviews it seems my TV will remix the True HD format to Dolby Digital Plus inc Atmos to send to the Arc...

"If you’ve got HDMI eARC, then you can get Dolby Atmos at the highest quality with any Dolby TrueHD source, such as an Ultra HD Blu-ray player. This will move the full-quality sound through your TV to the Sonos ARC.

Streaming services that support Dolby Atmos don’t use Dolby TrueHD as it’s too bandwidth-heavy, and instead encode Atmos using Dolby Digital Plus, which is encoded at between 384Kbit/s and 768Kbit/s. So, if you watch Netflix or Disney Plus, then you’re still getting a compressed version of Dolby Atmos.
The good news here is that if you have a TV with HDMI ARC that supports Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos, then you’ll get the same quality from streaming services as on a TV with HDMI eARC.
Things get a bit more complicated when it comes to external devices. Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray discs only carry Dolby Atmos as part of a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, which as we know can’t be passed through to the Sonos Arc, as there’s not enough bandwidth. There is a workaround: if your TV supports Dolby Atmos decoding natively, such as LG’s 2018 OLED TVs, then the TV can decode the high-resolution Atmos input and re-encode it as Dolby Digital Plus to send to the Sonos Arc.
You get a slightly compressed version of the sound, but in practice, it’s hard to hear the difference as the change is subtle."

So I think my main issue will be the lack of HDMI jacks on the TV for the amount of devices I have. Edit - think I have a solution to this too seems there are some pretty decent HDMI switches that support everything needed and gaming at 4k 60hz.

Looks like its definitely a goer!

Devilot · 06-24-2020, 08:54 AM

I’m in same boat, but will wait little bit to find out what the outcome of the bass issue will be (seems to be ongoing Even after firmware update)

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-...t-bass-6842379

Straitkash · 06-24-2020, 08:55 AM

I have a beam 5.1, which consists of 1x sub 2x play1. They sounds pretty good for watching movies and playing games. I would get Arc for my living room in the future.

SkyJawa · 06-24-2020, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devilot

I’m in same boat, but will wait little bit to find out what the outcome of the bass issue will be (seems to be ongoing Even after firmware update)

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-...t-bass-6842379

Not really an issue though if getting the surround set inc the sub.....

Devilot · 06-24-2020, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Not really an issue though if getting the surround set inc the sub.....

Fair comment.
I’m thinking to start with just arc with two 1s as surround ( price for sub is hard to digest) so I’ll wait for some conclusion to bass issue.
Bet you will love yours, with sub it will be pretty amazing set up

SkyJawa · 06-24-2020, 04:10 PM

I do agree the sub being almost the cost of the arc is a bit ott!

Just need it all to come back into stock then I’ll decide if I bite the bullet, currently estimating mid July....

Wife has already given approval tho so I probably will!

EvilDrPorkChop · 06-24-2020, 04:51 PM

Big lover of Sonos, think it's great. We've got it throughout and i've got the Beam in the living room. But if you've got the room and a decent room for it (As in Square with the TV in a the middle of a wall) you can't beat a proper 5.1 or 7.1 system. For the cost of the Sonos system you can get some pretty decent speakers and amps. We've got an Onkyo 5.1 in the bedroom. Had it years now and you really can't beat a true amp and set up with the HDMI switching.

I've you've got the cables in the walls etc. then i'd stick with a true system. For an easy, all round solution then Sonos is the answer. Our living room is an awkward room so I couldn't see much benefit in 5.1, where as when we do the extension i'll be doing 5.1 and designing the seating around that.

bytejunkie · 06-25-2020, 02:49 AM

xbox should have a pass through HDMI on it, so put the PS4 behind it as you wont play both at the same time. im assuming

SkyJawa · 06-25-2020, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bytejunkie

xbox should have a pass through HDMI on it, so put the PS4 behind it as you wont play both at the same time. im assuming

Thats a good tip thanks, though it does require you to have the Xbox on and launch oneguide from what I can tell, adds a bit of controller lag too. I have a 5 port HDMI switch inbound so shouldn't need to use the feature, but its handy to know about thanks

SkyJawa · 06-25-2020, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDrPorkChop

Big lover of Sonos, think it's great. We've got it throughout and i've got the Beam in the living room. But if you've got the room and a decent room for it (As in Square with the TV in a the middle of a wall) you can't beat a proper 5.1 or 7.1 system. For the cost of the Sonos system you can get some pretty decent speakers and amps. We've got an Onkyo 5.1 in the bedroom. Had it years now and you really can't beat a true amp and set up with the HDMI switching.

I've you've got the cables in the walls etc. then i'd stick with a true system. For an easy, all round solution then Sonos is the answer. Our living room is an awkward room so I couldn't see much benefit in 5.1, where as when we do the extension i'll be doing 5.1 and designing the seating around that.

I do agree but I think you've hit the nail on the head, I think we need an easy all round solution.

The current setup is great, for me, but my young son and wife constantly struggle with it and the Harmony that controls it all, frequently stuff gets out of sync and I'm forever being shouted at to fix it!! I know how to do it but they cant seem to get their heads round it so its time for something easier. Also we don't utilise the potential of the sound output, with the little one asleep upstairs we no longer blast movies and tunes out in the evening.

Theres also a really annoying thing with the amp that unless you turn it on to Sky Q first the sound doesn't kick in. So if I fire up Netflix on the LG it all turns on and goes to right inputs but theres no sound from the amp. Turn on the Sky Q Tv and Amp and sound is there straight away and then you can switch to another input like Netflix. Its all just starting to feel a bit of an irritation and a simpler plan would be beneficial.

Hopefully I can get a decent chunk of the Sonos outlay back by selling the Amp (5 year old Onkyo TX-NR646), 7 speakers, Sub and 2 Atmos Speakers.....

EvilDrPorkChop · 06-25-2020, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

I do agree but I think you've hit the nail on the head, I think we need an easy all round solution.

The current setup is great, for me, but my young son and wife constantly struggle with it and the Harmony that controls it all, frequently stuff gets out of sync and I'm forever being shouted at to fix it!! I know how to do it but they cant seem to get their heads round it so its time for something easier. Also we don't utilise the potential of the sound output, with the little one asleep upstairs we no longer blast movies and tunes out in the evening.

Theres also a really annoying thing with the amp that unless you turn it on to Sky Q first the sound doesn't kick in. So if I fire up Netflix on the LG it all turns on and goes to right inputs but theres no sound from the amp. Turn on the Sky Q Tv and Amp and sound is there straight away and then you can switch to another input like Netflix. Its all just starting to feel a bit of an irritation and a simpler plan would be beneficial.

Hopefully I can get a decent chunk of the Sonos outlay back by selling the Amp (5 year old Onkyo TX-NR646), 7 speakers, Sub and 2 Atmos Speakers.....

Yes you are quite right, my OH can't turn any of our TVs on

After many attempts of showing her what to do i've given up.

The issue with the Onkyo is that it's managing HDMI too, and the issue is that they keep updating/changing the standard so it doesn't keep up. My Onkyo amp is 11 years old now and i've had to disconnect everything and just use optical now - shame as there's nothing wrong with the amp itself.

pmgreenwood · 06-25-2020, 02:58 PM

I have yet to hear a "Sonus" style setups with TV sound bars and subs that gets near the quality of good av receiver and hifi quality sub and individual hi fi speakers.
There is trade off in convenience , compactness and style for sound quality

SkyJawa · 08-19-2020, 01:47 PM

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.

EvilDrPorkChop · 08-19-2020, 03:20 PM

Quote:

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.

Out of interest have you tried the Fibre HDMI cables?

SkyJawa · 08-19-2020, 04:04 PM

I haven’t but have seen post of people trying but no better.

Tv processing power is just not good enough it would seem, lots of complaints out there, it’s a shame they can’t just hand the sound straight off to the sound bar without processing it first and let the soundbars sort it.

F20MAW73 · 08-19-2020, 04:31 PM

Kudos to Sonos.... I had a play 5 fail (would not power on) the other day which I've had over 5 years. After a quick search online it appears others have had the same issue with this particualar generation of the play 5. I spoke with sonos via their online chat in regard to this and without too much trouble they very kindly agreed to replace it absolutely free of charge with the latest model. I sent the old one back via ups all pre paid and within a week a new model play 5 was delivered. I'm really impressed with their level of customer service.

I have there soundbar and subwoofer also with a couple of play 1s and the sound is fantastic.

335dX · 08-20-2020, 01:14 AM

Quote:

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.

Have you adjusted the time lag in the S2 app?

I have the same 5.1 set up with a 2 year old Samsung TV sand have never had any issues. But my ARC bar isn’t attached via HDMI, its attached via a skinny cable that is new and I only have one connection to my little black box by the TV. I don’t what that cable is as my engineer set it up - but he said it was what the ARC bar uses as it’s different to the first bar.

Sorry to be so vague.

SkyJawa · 08-20-2020, 04:38 AM

You've got it via optical cable, which supposedly doesnt have the problem. However with an optical cable you can't get Dolby Digital Plus or Atmos as it doesn't have the bandwidth to carry the signal.

When its picture before sound theres no fix, if it was the other way round its easy to fix as you say by just adding in delay.

06-24-2020, 06:25 AM	#1
SkyJawa Major General 3719 Rep 8,636 Posts Drives: F10 530d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hampshire iTrader: (1)	Sonos Arc Surround Hi guys I shouldn't be thinking of junking another 1800 quid on stuff, but I'm getting very tempted by the Arc system, albeit out of stock at the mo! I currently have an Onkyo AV amp with 5.1.2 setup which I've been happy with for years, but I'm thinking the Sonos would free up some space as no receiver required etc. I also have 2 Echo Plus and an Echo Sub linked in the lounge to play music through (as well as the amp if needed) and I guess the Sonos would free up the real estate from that too.... I can think of three issues making the switch. First would be my LG 65C8 is only ARC not eARC not sure this would make a huge difference as very little is eARC at the moment... Also my amp currently takes inputs from PS4, Xbox One, 4k Blu Ray Player, Sky Q 4k and also a 4k Apple TV, but the LG only has 4 HDMI one of which would be taken by the Sonos. Finally, when my wife goes to bed I tend to listen to everything using some Sennheiser headphones attached to the Amp, I've heard rumours Sonos are coming out with some headphones but nothing yet and don't think the Arc supports them? Any advice, thoughts?
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06-24-2020, 06:52 AM	#2
AlRex Private First Class 97 Rep 154 Posts Drives: 440i GC Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: York iTrader: (0)	I have the Arc and it’s a very good piece of kit. I don’t have eArc however with the correct settings on the tv my Sonos systems tells me it still receives Dolby Atmos and the sound is very good and very clear. Also have a beam 2 play 1s and a sub. I noticed a big improvement with the Arc over the beam. Know I haven’t really answered your questions... but the Arc is a great piece of kit if it works for what you need.
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06-24-2020, 07:23 AM	#3
335dX Lieutenant 430 Rep 452 Posts Drives: Astra Hybrid \| Corsa Ultimate Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Northants iTrader: (0)	I’ve had Sonos for a couple of years and have just replaced my Sonos play bar with the arc. It’s excellent and has made a huge difference to my 5.1 Sonos system. ( Arc, sub and 2 x play 1’s.) I don’t know what your talking about with the rest of what you wrote!
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06-24-2020, 07:23 AM	#4
225 Brigadier General 2281 Rep 4,933 Posts Drives: 340i Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Uk iTrader: (0)	The Arc is the top of my list currently. Only snag for me is that the lgoled55 is low so I would need to raise it up some how for the arc to sit in front of it.
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06-24-2020, 08:19 AM	#5
SkyJawa Major General 3719 Rep 8,636 Posts Drives: F10 530d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hampshire iTrader: (1)	Thanks guys, our tv is on the wall so there is plenty of room on the units in front for it. I don't think the headphones is an issue, read the manual and the TV has a jack so if connected re-routes audio to the headphones which would solve that issue. Reading up on eARC its designed to support Dolby True HD but streaming services don't use it so its only really an issue with the BD player, but from reading an article from TrustedReviews it seems my TV will remix the True HD format to Dolby Digital Plus inc Atmos to send to the Arc... "If you’ve got HDMI eARC, then you can get Dolby Atmos at the highest quality with any Dolby TrueHD source, such as an Ultra HD Blu-ray player. This will move the full-quality sound through your TV to the Sonos ARC. Streaming services that support Dolby Atmos don’t use Dolby TrueHD as it’s too bandwidth-heavy, and instead encode Atmos using Dolby Digital Plus, which is encoded at between 384Kbit/s and 768Kbit/s. So, if you watch Netflix or Disney Plus, then you’re still getting a compressed version of Dolby Atmos. The good news here is that if you have a TV with HDMI ARC that supports Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos, then you’ll get the same quality from streaming services as on a TV with HDMI eARC. Things get a bit more complicated when it comes to external devices. Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray discs only carry Dolby Atmos as part of a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, which as we know can’t be passed through to the Sonos Arc, as there’s not enough bandwidth. There is a workaround: if your TV supports Dolby Atmos decoding natively, such as LG’s 2018 OLED TVs, then the TV can decode the high-resolution Atmos input and re-encode it as Dolby Digital Plus to send to the Sonos Arc. You get a slightly compressed version of the sound, but in practice, it’s hard to hear the difference as the change is subtle." So I think my main issue will be the lack of HDMI jacks on the TV for the amount of devices I have. Edit - think I have a solution to this too seems there are some pretty decent HDMI switches that support everything needed and gaming at 4k 60hz. Looks like its definitely a goer! Last edited by SkyJawa; 06-24-2020 at 08:50 AM..
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06-24-2020, 08:54 AM	#6
Devilot Private 15 Rep 71 Posts Drives: F30 328i Msport Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: South west iTrader: (0)	I’m in same boat, but will wait little bit to find out what the outcome of the bass issue will be (seems to be ongoing Even after firmware update) https://en.community.sonos.com/home-...t-bass-6842379
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06-24-2020, 08:55 AM	#7
Straitkash Private First Class 13 Rep 111 Posts Drives: 2015 428i GC Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: LA iTrader: (0)	I have a beam 5.1, which consists of 1x sub 2x play1. They sounds pretty good for watching movies and playing games. I would get Arc for my living room in the future.
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06-24-2020, 04:10 PM	#10
SkyJawa Major General 3719 Rep 8,636 Posts Drives: F10 530d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hampshire iTrader: (1)	I do agree the sub being almost the cost of the arc is a bit ott! Just need it all to come back into stock then I’ll decide if I bite the bullet, currently estimating mid July.... Wife has already given approval tho so I probably will!
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06-24-2020, 04:51 PM	#11
EvilDrPorkChop Lieutenant Colonel 951 Rep 1,643 Posts Drives: Porsche Cayman Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Big lover of Sonos, think it's great. We've got it throughout and i've got the Beam in the living room. But if you've got the room and a decent room for it (As in Square with the TV in a the middle of a wall) you can't beat a proper 5.1 or 7.1 system. For the cost of the Sonos system you can get some pretty decent speakers and amps. We've got an Onkyo 5.1 in the bedroom. Had it years now and you really can't beat a true amp and set up with the HDMI switching. I've you've got the cables in the walls etc. then i'd stick with a true system. For an easy, all round solution then Sonos is the answer. Our living room is an awkward room so I couldn't see much benefit in 5.1, where as when we do the extension i'll be doing 5.1 and designing the seating around that.
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06-25-2020, 02:49 AM	#12
bytejunkie Lieutenant 159 Rep 548 Posts Drives: F31 335d xDrive M Sport Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Leeds iTrader: (1)	xbox should have a pass through HDMI on it, so put the PS4 behind it as you wont play both at the same time. im assuming
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06-25-2020, 02:58 PM	#16
pmgreenwood Major 483 Rep 1,189 Posts Drives: F31 320D se auto sold, Macan S Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: West Sussex UK iTrader: (0)	I have yet to hear a "Sonus" style setups with TV sound bars and subs that gets near the quality of good av receiver and hifi quality sub and individual hi fi speakers. There is trade off in convenience , compactness and style for sound quality
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08-19-2020, 01:47 PM	#17
SkyJawa Major General 3719 Rep 8,636 Posts Drives: F10 530d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hampshire iTrader: (1)	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. Last edited by SkyJawa; 08-19-2020 at 01:57 PM..
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08-19-2020, 04:04 PM	#19
SkyJawa Major General 3719 Rep 8,636 Posts Drives: F10 530d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hampshire iTrader: (1)	I haven’t but have seen post of people trying but no better. Tv processing power is just not good enough it would seem, lots of complaints out there, it’s a shame they can’t just hand the sound straight off to the sound bar without processing it first and let the soundbars sort it.
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08-19-2020, 04:31 PM	#20
F20MAW73 440i Gran Coupe, Auto 877 Rep 1,295 Posts Drives: 440i GC Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: UK, West Sussex iTrader: (0)	Kudos to Sonos.... I had a play 5 fail (would not power on) the other day which I've had over 5 years. After a quick search online it appears others have had the same issue with this particualar generation of the play 5. I spoke with sonos via their online chat in regard to this and without too much trouble they very kindly agreed to replace it absolutely free of charge with the latest model. I sent the old one back via ups all pre paid and within a week a new model play 5 was delivered. I'm really impressed with their level of customer service. I have there soundbar and subwoofer also with a couple of play 1s and the sound is fantastic. __________________ Z4M40i Black Sapphire
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08-20-2020, 04:38 AM	#22
SkyJawa Major General 3719 Rep 8,636 Posts Drives: F10 530d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hampshire iTrader: (1)	You've got it via optical cable, which supposedly doesnt have the problem. However with an optical cable you can't get Dolby Digital Plus or Atmos as it doesn't have the bandwidth to carry the signal. When its picture before sound theres no fix, if it was the other way round its easy to fix as you say by just adding in delay.
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