Sonos Beam add ons..

[gdeusthewhizkid]

I just bought one and its hands down better to use than the HomePod.. I just want to know who has one.. and I wanted to add on to it.. what Sonos speakers would you guys suggest for a small place.. I’m torn between the subs or the Sonos One....

 

[waw74]

I've got ....
Living room - Beam + 2 play:1 + sub
Kitchen - 1 play:1
Bath - 1 play:1
Bedroom - 2 one (Original thought was airplay from appleTV, but i hardly ever do that)


if you want surrounds for the beam, get the play:1
It's the same audio engine (speakers and processing) as the one, but without alexa & airplay.
when using the ones as surrounds, it disables alexa and airplay on them (but you still get those features from the beam)
so when used as surrounds, play:1 and one behave exactly the same, but you save $50-100 depending on current sales.

The beam does sound much brighter with the sub, even if the sub volume is turned down (i live in apartment, can't get too thumpy.) But the beam sounds great with or without the sub, But i'm still not sure it's worth the price tag on the sub.

I'd probably go for other speakers before the sub.
and unless you want to airplay directly to them, or they're placed where Alexa in the beam can't hear you, the play:1 is a great option.
You can airplay to the beam, and then have any other sonos speakers join the beam via sonos sharing.
You can also send TV audio from the beam to the other sonos speakers, so if I'm cooking and have the TV going, I just have the audio also go to the kitchen

98% of the time, i use the sonos app over airplaying from my phone.
only time i really use airplay is if I'm about to leave home or just got home, and want to continue listening to something. I moslty listen to "stations", so continuing a specific album isn't something i do too often.

and one thing to keep in mind, if you want stereo pairs, they must be the same model, so "one+one" or "play:1+play:1", not "one+play:1"

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Congratulations bro! It's definitely the best looking soundbar on the market. I love it!
Play 1's for the rear surround would be great!
Please keep us posted on your findings. BTW have you played some iTunes films on it yet? ENJOY MAN!

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

I've got ....
Living room - Beam + 2 play:1 + sub
Kitchen - 1 play:1
Bath - 1 play:1
Bedroom - 2 one (Original thought was airplay from appleTV, but i hardly ever do that)


if you want surrounds for the beam, get the play:1
It's the same audio engine (speakers and processing) as the one, but without alexa & airplay.
when using the ones as surrounds, it disables alexa and airplay on them (but you still get those features from the beam)
so when used as surrounds, play:1 and one behave exactly the same, but you save $50-100 depending on current sales.

The beam does sound much brighter with the sub, even if the sub volume is turned down (i live in apartment, can't get too thumpy.) But the beam sounds great with or without the sub, But i'm still not sure it's worth the price tag on the sub.

I'd probably go for other speakers before the sub.
and unless you want to airplay directly to them, or they're placed where Alexa in the beam can't hear you, the play:1 is a great option.
You can airplay to the beam, and then have any other sonos speakers join the beam via sonos sharing.
You can also send TV audio from the beam to the other sonos speakers, so if I'm cooking and have the TV going, I just have the audio also go to the kitchen

98% of the time, i use the sonos app over airplaying from my phone.
only time i really use airplay is if I'm about to leave home or just got home, and want to continue listening to something. I moslty listen to "stations", so continuing a specific album isn't something i do too often.

and one thing to keep in mind, if you want stereo pairs, they must be the same model, so "one+one" or "play:1+play:1", not "one+play:1"

So wait if you have the play 1s and you add on them to the beam and play music. The beam is the only thing that plays music not all of them in stereo?
[doublepost=1545253223][/doublepost]

Congratulations bro! It's definitely the best looking soundbar on the market. I love it!
Play 1's for the rear surround would be great!
Please keep us posted on your findings. BTW have you played some iTunes films on it yet? ENJOY MAN!

Yes it is amazing... I was just watching oblivion on the Apple TV 4K with it.. looks and sounds amazing like a actual theater.. I like the night mode option as well. I still get sounds and i dont have to worry about disturbing neighbors...

 

[bodonnell202]

Great starting product!
My setup is Beam plus a pair of Play 1s as surrounds in the living room and I currently have a single One in the master bedroom for tunes in there (or the whole home audio experience). As others have mentioned save yourself some coin and go with Play 1s for surrounds instead of Ones since you get the voice control and Airplay 2 features from the Beam. I've considered getting a Sub but I'm afraid it might be a little too thumpy for my Condo and honestly the Beam plus Play 1s sound great for both movies/TV and listening to music so it probably isn't worth spending that much on a sub in my case.
I may get an additional One for a stereo pair in the bedroom at some point too, but I listen to music far more in the living room so that hasn't really been a priority...

So wait if you have the play 1s and you add on them to the beam and play music. The beam is the only thing that plays music not all of them in stereo?

All the speakers will play music in stereo - he just means that whether you pair Ones or Play 1s to your Beam as a surround setup, the outcome is basically the same, you'll just only have microphones in the Beam if you go with Play 1s for surrounds but in my experience that isn't an issue at all.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

So wait if you have the play 1s and you add on them to the beam and play music. The beam is the only thing that plays music not all of them in stereo?
[doublepost=1545253223][/doublepost]


Yes it is amazing... I was just watching oblivion on the Apple TV 4K with it.. looks and sounds amazing like a actual theater.. I like the night mode option as well. I still get sounds and i dont have to worry about disturbing neighbors...

WOW! It's such a neat design too! Apple should definitely sell this on their online store as they have other SONOS speakers on it. My favourite SONO design to date.
SONOS made some great promo videos that are on YouTube one with Miguel and another with some musicians in NYC. Really good series!

 

[waw74]

All the speakers will play music in stereo - he just means that whether you pair Ones or Play 1s to your Beam as a surround setup, the outcome is basically the same, you'll just only have microphones in the Beam if you go with Play 1s for surrounds but in my experience that isn't an issue at all.

exactly,
the only difference between the play:1 and ones when used as surrounds is $100 (and slightly different visual appearance)
They sound and operate exactly the same way.

From what i read somewhere, someone paired the ones as surrounds with a playbar/base and didn't get the microphone, so i think when used as surrounds they're disabled, but i'm not 100% sure.


when you have surrounds sonos gives you some additional options buried in setup.
Similar to the EQ settings that are in "room settings"
for music you get ambient or full
--ambient will give you simulated surround, only some of the sound comes out of the rears
--Full gives you full stereo, so your left surround has the full left front track, and same for the right

in addition to that choice, there is a volume adjustment, This works relative to the volume of the beam itself.

There is also a volume adjustment for TV surround.
(2 volume adjustments total, one for music, one for TV)

 

[bodonnell202]

exactly,
the only difference between the play:1 and ones when used as surrounds is $100 (and slightly different visual appearance)
They sound and operate exactly the same way.

From what i read somewhere, someone paired the ones as surrounds with a playbar/base and didn't get the microphone, so i think when used as surrounds they're disabled, but i'm not 100% sure.


when you have surrounds sonos gives you some additional options buried in setup.
Similar to the EQ settings that are in "room settings"
for music you get ambient or full
--ambient will give you simulated surround, only some of the sound comes out of the rears
--Full gives you full stereo, so your left surround has the full left front track, and same for the right

in addition to that choice, there is a volume adjustment, This works relative to the volume of the beam itself.

There is also a volume adjustment for TV surround.
(2 volume adjustments total, one for music, one for TV)

Yep, that's exactly how it works with my setup. You do have to dig a little into the settings but I went with full for music as I preferred the sound.

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

WOW! It's such a neat design too! Apple should definitely sell this on their online store as they have other SONOS speakers on it. My favourite SONO design to date.
SONOS made some great promo videos that are on YouTube one with Miguel and another with some musicians in NYC. Really good series!

I’m a check that out right now..
[doublepost=1545331835][/doublepost]

WOW! It's such a neat design too! Apple should definitely sell this on their online store as they have other SONOS speakers on it. My favourite SONO design to date.
SONOS made some great promo videos that are on YouTube one with Miguel and another with some musicians in NYC. Really good series!

Actually just watched it.. really like most of them had the sub... I’m liking my Sonos Beam a lot.. I’m hoping i can pick up another Sonos add on this weekend...

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I’m a check that out right now..
[doublepost=1545331835][/doublepost]


Actually just watched it.. really like most of them had the sub... I’m liking my Sonos Beam a lot.. I’m hoping i can pick up another Sonos add on this weekend...

Best of fun with it buddy! Please let us all know your thoughts when you add to it So is the Apple TV 4K and SONOS a marriage made in Heaven?

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

Best of fun with it buddy! Please let us all know your thoughts when you add to it So is the Apple TV 4K and SONOS a marriage made in Heaven?

Absolutely don’t regret it all. Been watching movies and catching up on tv shows on Netflix and regular tv shows. Mostly superhero and spy thrillers. Besides sports the only thing I watch lol. Been picking up 4K Dolby titles from iTunes that have been on sale this week for 4.99 lol

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Absolutely don’t regret it all. Been watching movies and catching up on tv shows on Netflix and regular tv shows. Mostly superhero and spy thrillers. Besides sports the only thing I watch lol. Been picking up 4K Dolby titles from iTunes that have been on sale this week for 4.99 lol

That's fantastic! Yes, December has been a GREAT month for iTunes films offers I've bought a few. Even got one of my favourite surfing doc's yesterday - Peninsula for £1.49!!!!!!! I already have it bought from Vimeo but at £1.49 it's nice to have in the iCloud for my travels.

Interestingly, I did a comparison between the iTunes and Vimeo copies and i'd say that both were IDENTICAL in terms of picture and sound quality. The Vimeo version does not have DRM which is good BUT Vimeo does not carry surround sound!

 

[keeper]

Has any one seen any surround sound issues using ATV 4K and the Beam?
I'm a bit cautious as it does not handle DTS.

I've got two play ones i'm planning to use with a beam as I don't want to install a full AVR system.
Anyone think this is an issue and only getting stereo sound?

 

[waw74]

Has any one seen any surround sound issues using ATV 4K and the Beam?
I'm a bit cautious as it does not handle DTS.

I've got two play ones i'm planning to use with a beam as I don't want to install a full AVR system.
Anyone think this is an issue and only getting stereo sound?

What app are you playing from?
the aTV doesn't natively support DTS,
so apps will have dolby tracks, or things like plex will convert to dolby

 

[keeper]

What app are you playing from?
the aTV doesn't natively support DTS,
so apps will have dolby tracks, or things like plex will convert to dolby

It will just be iTunes and Netflix from within the ATV

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

It will just be iTunes and Netflix from within the ATV

You don't need to worry about DTS buddy as iTunes uses Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital+ when Atmos is included in the mix. DTS is only for the old discs like BluRay etc (Remember those?).

 

[keeper]

You don't need to worry about DTS buddy as iTunes uses Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital+ when Atmos is included in the mix. DTS is only for the old discs like BluRay etc (Remember those?).

Yes but I still have my player, it’s never used along with my CDs, I just stream these days, I do wonder why I keep backing it all up on my NAS and amazon drive.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Yes but I still have my player, it’s never used along with my CDs, I just stream these days, I do wonder why I keep backing it all up on my NAS and amazon drive.

Yes this is true of me - I'm in my home less than 4 months a year AND right in front of my wardrobe, I have a DJ box from my clubbing days that has around 100 CDs in it that many years ago I ripped to my iTunes library. The box weighs a ton and other day I stabbed my toes on the damn thing. It was a wake up call when I thought of my iPhone X 256GB that travels the world with me - contains 3000+ music tracks, photo albums, home videos, surfing videos and 30+ iTunes 1080p HD some with HDR / Dolby Vision films ALONG with it being a professional quality 4K 60 fps camcorder and camera (and sat nav, FaceTime, alarm clock, Apple Pay, Instagram, egg timer, stop watch, AirPlay) - oh how times have moved on The kids of today are so lucky

 

[keeper]

Added 2 Play 1s as surrounds, sounds fantastic with the Beam, seems to have enough bass so no sub required.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Added 2 Play 1s as surrounds, sounds fantastic with the Beam, seems to have enough bass so no sub required.

OH WOW! I'm so tempted! The Beam is £329 in the UK at the moment. It's definitely the nicest looking of al of the soundbars Just wish that they made a Dolby Atmos version as so many new iTunes releases have Atmos and I'd love to experience it (I do in a tiny way with the Atmos decoder and speakers in my LG B7 OLED but not the same quality of course)

 

[keeper]

I think if you want an Atmos setup it would be better with a full AVR setup so you can really set the speakers up correctly, the beam and plays do produce a good sound, would be interesting to see if a home Atmos setup really works.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I think if you want an Atmos setup it would be better with a full AVR setup so you can really set the speakers up correctly, the beam and plays do produce a good sound, would be interesting to see if a home Atmos setup really works.

True but i'm definitely not prepared to have hifi separates in my home. For me, that's very 1999! I'm more about iPhones, bluetooth speakers, MacBooks and AirPods these days

 

[priitv8]

True but i'm definitely not prepared to have hifi separates in my home. For me, that's very 1999! I'm more about iPhones, bluetooth speakers, MacBooks and AirPods these days

Then these might be just for you : B&O BeoLab 90 although, sadly, no Atmos.
https://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/speakers/beolab-90

I have heard the half-cheaper siblings BeoLab 50, they sound also pretty decent.
But it required a visit from both network and BO techie, to get any wireless sound from them at all. And there is no other way than wireless.

 

[philrock]

I'm going to revive this (I hope) as I have a problem related.

Sony XBR-65X900F
AppleTV 4k (HDMI-4)
Sonos Beam + Play 1s (HDMI-3/ARC)
Sony blu-ray (HDMI-2)

My prior setup was a 2.1 Sony soundbar connected via optical. ATV was on ARC and with the ATV remote I was able to turn the TV on/off and control volume of the soundbar as long as it was already powered on. I also had Dolby Vision.

I installed the Beam and Play 1s today. I had to move my ATV to HDMI-4 so the Beam could be in the HDMI/ARC. I have volume control of the Beam via the ATV remote.

I have lost Dolby Vision and the ability to turn the TV on and off via the ATV remote tho...

Any ideas? I called Sonos but they were less than helpful. Thanks!