Why you should consider a Sonos Surround Sound
Sonos Home Theater is a new home theater system that allows you to wirelessly stream music and movies from your favorite devices. Designed with comfort, clarity, and convenience in mind, Sonos Home Theater will transform how you watch TV and listen to music. Plus, setup is a breeze, and control everything from your smartphone or tablet.
Even while the Dolby Atmos soundbar was amazing, the system may be improved even further by adding a Sonos Arc Surround Sound Package. It is well recognized that adding two identical speakers for the back channels improves positional audio and creates a more immersive experience, making it an important upgrade for many. Adding a Sonos Sub to the mix provides a strong and earth-shattering experience for those who want the finest bass possible, albeit this upgrade is extremely pricey compared to other options.
Do you want to stop using your tv speakers and upgrade to a new system? Want to see more? Read on for all the details!
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What is Sonos Home Theater and what are its key features
The Sonos ecosystem allows you to wirelessly stream music and movies from your favorite devices. The system works seamlessly with TVs, smartphones, tablets, and even computers so you can enjoy surround sound in any room of your home or apartment without having to run unsightly cables all over the place. This makes the home theater setup with Sonos a breeze. There is the need for only one cable for the system to work and that is the HDMI cabling between the TV and the Sonos Arc.
The Sonos App allows users to control their Sonos in every room of the house. Easily play pause, skip tracks, switch songs, or launch your favorite radio station no matter where you are in the house. Streaming only works when within range of a Wi-Fi network so you can always enjoy music without interruption.
Stream your music in surround sound
Sonos also has integration into Spotify, Pandora, and iHeart radio.
Sonos is so versatile that you can start with just a Sonos Arc
Sonos’ latest surround sound solution, dubbed Arc, is contained solely within a single soundbar that connects to a television. It is unclear whether the device’s name comes from the HDMI interface it employs, the curved sound it produces, or the fact that it is perhaps, metaphorically, a vessel that transports impressive surround sound to the modern minimalist home, but, whatever the reason for its existence, the device appears to be determined to disrupt the surround sound game. The Sonos Arc can also be wall-mounted.
Dolby’s latest TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus sound codecs are utilized by the Sonos Arc in order to give the highest quality lossless audio found on cutting-edge Blu-ray discs and some of the most popular streaming services on the market. Later, it enriches the 3D soundscape by employing object tracks from the Dolby Atmos system to bounce some sounds off the walls surrounding you, giving you the impression that sounds are coming from all directions. This is a powerful system with impressive sound even before adding other Sonos speakers.
Sonos enhances your experience with the addition of the Sonos Sub
Many consider that the Sonos Sub, a wireless subwoofer, is the final piece of the puzzle; you don’t start with this speaker by any means, but it’s the component that might very well elevate your enjoyment of the complete system to a whole new level. At $699, the Sub isn’t even close to being a bargain. However, there’s no disputing that it offers tremendous low-frequency depth, ranging from subtle bass anchoring to major deep bass thunder, and the Sonos app makes it simple to modify bass settings without having to leave your chair. Even if the cost is exorbitant, the quality of the results is unquestionably great.
Expand your sound system by adding more two rear speakers from Sonos
Sonos lets you go even further by letting you add additional speakers like the Sonos One and Sonos five.
Sonos One
The Sonos One was the catalyst for a revolution. In addition to being one of the first smart speakers that didn’t compel customers to pick between smarts and good sound quality (it offers both), it was also one of the first to not force consumers to choose between Alexa and Google Assistant. The Sonos One can also be wall mounted.
Without that, though, the Sonos One is an outstanding speaker, and it is the greatest smart speaker available on the market in 2022. While using it in our home, we were continually satisfied with the sound quality in both standalone and stereo speaker modes, as well as the progress that has been made with voice assistant integration over the past several years. The Sonos One can wirelessly connect to the Sonos arc providing room filling sound through the rear speakers.
Sonos Five
Sonos has released an update for its largest and first all-in-one wireless smart speaker, the Sonos Five. The Five was introduced to replace the popular Play:5 model with an updated design, improved memory and processing power, Bluetooth Low Energy compatibility, and a more consistent and strong Wi-Fi connection, among other improvements.
For music, the redesigned speaker promises studio-quality sound with deep bass, sharp high-end response, and an ultra-wide sound stage, according to the manufacturer. In keeping with the Play:5, the multi-room pioneering business adopted a similar architecture to the Play:5: three high-excursion woofers and three tweeters at the top of the device — including two side-firing tweeters — all driven by six Class-D amplifiers in total.
Despite this, Trueplay, the device’s capacity to adapt to its acoustic environment, is still accessible through the Sonos (iOS) app. The Sonos Five can wirelessly connect to the Sonos Arc and provide rear surrounds with immersive sound. The Sonos Five can also be wall mounted.
The Sonos Experience
The Sonos app is well-designed and works on a variety of platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS. Controlling all of the speakers or zones, grouping them in any combination, adjusting the volume of each individual speaker (even if they’re grouped), searching for music, creating playlists, marking your favorites and more are all possible through the app. The speakers themselves have extremely minimal controls, usually consisting solely of a volume knob and a play/pause button. The rest is taken care of by the app. It also makes the process of setting up and configuring a system incredibly simple, regardless of how technically savvy you are.
It goes without saying that having access to playing music is the most vital element of a multiroom wireless speaker system, and the Sonos system continues to be the industry leader in this area. Currently, it supports more than 130 streaming services, albeit not all of them are available in every country; many other systems support only a half-dozen or fewer streaming services. Amazon, Play Music, Pandora, Spotify, and even Apple TV—as well as social media platforms such as Bandcamp, Mixcloud, and SoundCloud—are all included and accounted for in this section. In addition, you’ll discover additional specialized providers such as Concert Vault, Murfie, 7digital, Tidal, and Qobuz on the list. Users of iOS devices can also listen to podcasts and playback music from their local music library (with some restrictions for iOS users). After releasing its own Radio app, which incorporates the main functionality of TuneIn and iHeartRadio, Sonos now has access to more than 60,000 radio stations from across the world, as part of its S2 operating system upgrade. You may stream music from any source, and the chances are strong that Sonos will recognize and work with it.
Finding what you want to listen to is especially vital in this day and age when there are so many music services to choose from. Sonos provides direct access to all of the supported streaming services using a single app for your computer or smartphone, whereas many other systems need you to download and utilize a separate software for each streaming service. Sonos’s unified service approach allows you to search across all of the services you subscribe to, making it simple to find the music you want to listen to on your phone or computer.
In recognition of the fact that some consumers prefer to utilize native streaming service apps, such as those for Spotify and Apple Music, Sonos is beginning to make its speakers compatible with these services as of now. You can stream music straight to a Sonos speaker using the Spotify app or Apple Music, exactly like you would with a Spotify Connect speaker or an Apple HomePod, respectively. Sonos has stated that this compatibility will be available for more services in the future but has not offered a date or specific services to which it will be available.
Why you should buy a Sonos Home Theater
In a multiroom wireless speaker system, Dolby Digital, sound quality, realistic sound, ease of setup, and intuitive operation are the most important factors to consider. Sonos is our top pick in this category. Sonos has been designing and manufacturing these systems for longer than anybody else, and its expertise is evident at every level. In terms of polish, the mobile and desktop apps are among the best available, and they provide unified search across all of the services you subscribe to, including Apple Music.
Because of Sonos’ tight control over its ecosystem, you’re limited in terms of the speaker brands you can incorporate into your setup (unless you purchase Sonos devices that are specifically designed to allow you to incorporate your own speakers). However, the company’s offerings are available at a variety of price points and all produce excellent sound quality. The Sonos One is an excellent starting point. It is less expensive than the majority of high-end Bluetooth speakers, but its audio performance is as accurate as of that of speakers that cost several times the price of this device. Higher-end Sonos Five speakers, which can compete with similarly priced midrange bookshelf speakers without the need for an additional amplifier, are recommended for greater sound or larger rooms. There’s also the wireless sub, which can be used in conjunction with any current Sonos speaker to give it a little extra kick. Furthermore, you can integrate Sonos into your television set by purchasing the company’s Arc or Beam smart soundbars, either of which can be used in conjunction with a subwoofer and two additional speakers to build a surround system. For those who want everything all at once, you may get an Atmos-capable wireless home cinema system in a single bundle from a manufacturer.
Sonos will release a brand-new operating system and some new hardware in June 2020, according to the company. As a result of the new S2 operating system, higher-resolution audio is now supported, as are newer audio formats such as Dolby Atmos (which is only available on the Arc soundbar). Additionally, the new S2 operating system has an even simpler and more intuitive design, making the entire ecosystem easier to use than ever before.
How to set up your Sonos Home Theater
Sonos requires two back speakers, one for the left channel and one for the right channel, in order to provide surround sound with one of its soundbars. As long as the speakers are identical and are Sonos, you can utilize any two Sonos speakers you choose. Although I’ve previously utilized two large Sonos Five speakers, I’ve decided that this is overkill. Sonos One SL speakers are a better match for this setup. They have a similar tone to each other. You can save an additional $100 if you purchase two Sonos/Ikea Symfonisk speakers, which also have excellent sound quality.
This is one of the most straightforward wireless surround-sound systems to put together. Simply set the speakers of your choice to the left and right of your sofa, then open the Sonos app, select a surround speaker, and follow the on-screen instructions while the software takes care of the rest of the work.
Tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Sonos surround sound
Auto Discovery should be enabled.
By turning on the Auto Discovery Popups feature, you can have setup cards appear at the bottom of your smartphone display when new Sonos products are discovered in the vicinity.
Tap the Settings button in the bottom right corner of the app, then select App Preferences from the drop-down menu. Allow Pop-up Messages should be toggled on (iOS) or ticked (Android).
Boost the performance of your Sonos system.
For those who have a Wi-Fi network that isn’t the strongest and has a handful of weak areas, you may have purchased a Boost to help you receive more signal in a specific room or area. Then, go to the Settings menu, which can be found in the bottom right corner of the program. From there, select System > Add Product.
Personalize the EQ to suit your needs and preferences.
Is it all about the bass, all about the bass, with no treble? Yes, you may customize the EQ settings for each Sonos speaker that you have set up in your home. Navigate to the Settings tab in the bottom right corner of the app > System > Select Room > EQ to accomplish this.
It is necessary for you to adjust the sliders to your liking from this point on. From the Now Playing screen, you can easily make changes to your EQ choices. If you want to alter the EQ settings for each room, first press on the volume icon next to the slider symbol at the bottom, and then tap on the EQ slider icons that appear to the right of the volume slider for each room.
FAQs about Sonos Speakers
We do recommend that you go directly to Sonos for support, here are some of the questions that we see and our answers to them.
Can you use Sonos for the home cinema?
The answer is yes. Sonos provides one of the easiest setups for home cinema, there are multiple Sonos soundbars you can choose from. And regardless of which Sonos soundbar (yes even the Sonos beam) you will have access to one of the best home theater speakers on the market.
Is the Sonos Surround any good?
The answer is yes. Install the Sonos home theater speakers in your family room and you will have one of the best listening experiences out there. Sonos does provide options for you to achieve better sound in smaller rooms by letting you mix and match your speaker setup.
Are Sonos surround speakers worth it?
Sonos offers the best cinematic sound on the market. The Sonos product is generally priced at the top of the market. You are purchasing a high-quality Dolby digital home theater setup that is second to none. But look at it this way they do have a free Sonos app. 🙂
Final Thoughts
Due to the fact that it supports the most services and offers a large selection of high-quality speakers, sophisticated search options, and intuitive software that operates on practically all major mobile platforms, the Sonos system is the greatest multiroom wireless speaker system available. As technology advances, Sonos keeps its platform up to date by updating speakers, adding new services, and introducing new capabilities such as Trueplay room-correction technology. When compared to other multiroom wireless speaker systems now on the market, the Sonos user experience is the best, and it will only get better with the introduction of the new S2 operating system, which will be available in June 2020.
