I did this when the 300s first appeared and even mentioned this configuration to several "influencers" needless to say I got rinsed in the Sonos forums and several TH-cam comment threads, I think it sounds great. Well done for bringing this setup to a wider audience.
You suggested a while back that Sonos make rear upward firing speakers and here we are with the 300s. Maybe Sonos is listening and will make this a config as well. Great vids, keep them coming.
Sonos, people are literally begging you to let them give you more money, all it takes is one update, you will be the undisputed champion in soundbar home theater systems and multi room audio. With 4 Era 300s, arc, and dual subs, I think not even the dragon could match it.
I have been asking for years, they need to introduce an AV amp that will support up to 11 channels, they as a user you can use it what ever you want to fill those discrete channels
I am a tremendous fan of your communication style! Much appreciative of your combination of tech and humor shared in a very understandable and absorbable fashion. I was most interested in this combination of SONOS gear as my home theatre set up gets a similar unconventional boost (though with less impact and sophistication). I am running an Arc, a gen 1 and gen 3 sub, along with 2 era 300’s utilized as surrounds. Up front, along with a required connect, I have two powered Emotiva powered speakers along with an Audioengine sub. As for replacing the latter with a pair of 300’s…
Its crazy that Sonos do not let users use the BEAM with front era 300 for front stereo and height channels.... Ive been really impressed with stereo 300 and sub with music.
I might be interested if they would let you use the 300s as fronts. I had the Arc, two 5s, and two subs, and it was good but not great, in my opinion. I was really impressed by the subs, but the Arc wasn't enough to fill the space. The sound wasn't wide enough, and I always knew the sound was coming from the soundbar. I also found the system to be far better for movies than music, which surprised me. Allowing a right and a left might have been enough for me to keep it, but I didn't. I enjoyed the convenience but always felt I was trading sound quality for convenience, which doesn't work for me. I agree the A9s allowed you width, and I enjoyed the sound, but I thought the sub was really a weak link and would have loved a center. If I could combine the two systems and have used the Sonos subs with the A9s, I would have been happy. So I think both systems are really close but not there yet. I was hoping Sennheiser was going to add surrounds to the Ambeo, but they never went there, which I think is a shame. They were on the doorstep of a killer system and could have made a real impact on this segment. I'm curios if the Dragon is the system I was hoping Sennheiser to be. Going to check it out when I can. For now, however, I will have to continue to run wires to achieve the sound I'm looking for.
Awesome video Daniel, thanks for taking the time to put this together. What are your thoughts on the best physical positioning for the 300's as rear and front? How high or low and away from walls and ceilings would place the 300's? How did you manage to pair the 300's with the Arc for the front channel? Keep up the good, always enjoy your videos.
Wouldn’t the Dolby Labs Atmos guidelines help you out there? The room size /shape / acoustic properties and number of prime listening positions would certainly need to be included in the calculus. Of course much I’d what I’ve been reading from said documentation seems to be predicated on discrete direct radiating speakers, each located at specified narrow range of hemispheric degrees from listening position, with acoustic treatment to mitigate the type of reflections that systems such as these use to achieve their spacial effects, so different “rules” / considerations apply. My son has a fairly basic ARC + single sub and single pair of ceiling mounted Klipsch speakers powered by a Sonos amp. When he was prewiring during a recent major reno, I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that 4 overheads would be better for the size of the room, but was over-ruled by SWMBO, and simply put, not all folks are as devoted to getting the best performance the room might allow. The open floor plan of living/dining room/kitchen makes for a great venue for social entertainment, but doesn’t allow for discrete surrounds so this was the best compromise he could attain.
When Sonos allows this setup I would definitely buy four 300’s… for now I’m staying put with my Ones as they’re doing a great job. As for the Dragon, it may sound better but what I absolutely love about Sonos is that I can take my Ones and subwoofer outside to play music for parties and get togethers. The sound is amazing and the Arc does a great job on its own playing music and movies… the versatility of Sonos is bar none.
Great video you got a new follower ! I just got the era 300’s to replace my rear ones. Do you think it would be worth trying the ones as front wide speakers? They’re going to collect dust otherwise
Hi Daniel... I'm looking for the best Atmos music set up for my open plan house and I'm stuck between a stereo pair of Era 300s with a Sub.... or 4 x Era 300s grouped in 2 stereo pairs. We don't have a TV in this space so it's just for music and mainly Atmos content. What's your take? I'm really tempted by the thought of 4 Eras in this space!!!
I have the Arc, dual sub, and Fives are rear surrounds. I'm waiting and wishing Sonos would update its app to allow additional speakers to the home theater group to compete with the Nakamichi Dragon 11.4.6 set-up. I had some extra Symfonisk bookshelf speakers and I tried the same thing of adding them to the front on either side of the Arc. It sounded great; but, it was too much work adjusting and tweaking the Symfonisk to sound just right with every volume change or with different streaming or cable TV 5.1/Atmos content.
Yeah, I mentioned it’s a lot of work a few times due to level changing necessities … and really only suited in experimental spaces. Nonetheless I though two extra 300s. Was too tempting to not at least explore.
@@neverenoughtech I ended up keeping my two Roams connected to my Arc system and moving the Symfonisk to another room with a Beam Gen 1. One Roam is in the kitchen for extra audio for listening to the news. The other Roam next to my primary listening position for at night when I don't want to keep the whole house up with Arc/dual sub/Five set-up.
A fanticiful watch ...we viewers with limited resources usually invest in one platform....(.multiple speakers) & cannot afford to duplicate a different brand just because it might offer better voice delivery or a deeper sound with explosions ..but we watch these videos to justify the $1000's we have already spent 😅😅😅😅
this exercise got me curious so I got a Five to use as an unofficial center channel, grouped with Arc (fixed on the wall), 2 Eras 300 and sub gen 1: for me the fives as center is just perfect, it adds a lot! The only problem is that with the recente Dune 4K Blu-ray I need to keep the volume at max 25 to not blow the room!
I know if Sonos supported this setup, I would absolutely buy a second sub, and 4 Era 300s to accompany my Arc, Sub, and replace my existing One SL surrounds.
Hello Daniel That was really something to try But readding some comments you didn’t go far enough You could have paired with the front 2 eras 300 grouped with the home theater : 2 sub gen3 For a total of 4 subs Imagine how low it could hit How smooth the frequency response But only if there is no delay between the two set up
SONOS NEEDS TO ALLOW DEDICATED FRONT L/R SPEAKERS. A fellow on the r/Sonos subreddit told me that some of them were beta testing for Sonos, they are testing it. It’s gunna be a matter of when. Sonos is really missing out on some serious profits, I know people will run out to buy another 900$ pair of ERA300’s for dedicated front’s or (supposedly ERA500’s)
Dude, idk. This video deff is intriguing. However, the dragon is beast. Keep in mind it’s 4 8” sub drivers. I’m excited once the dragon makes it in the wild.
It really all hinges on the importance of the front separation and the notion that the dragon is gonna have just an excessive amount of headroom that would be a little damaging hearing wise to access … but yeah, we’ll see … the dragon is a lot cheaper too
Hahahhaha best one so far Daniel, that is insane Alice in wonderland borderline hardcore sound club 😂 Had no idea you can group and this is dangerous for me as I thought I topped my small room with arc sub gen3 and fives rear…oh no, here we go again 😂
Well you can group as many speakers as you want (but you can only pair two 300 rears) - I thought an extra two 300s was worth trying out. But theoretically I could group even more 300s - though I wouldn’t want to be ridiculous
@@neverenoughtech i get that and sure makes sense for the user case, too bad Sonos is not allowing pairing and merging the front L/R channels with the arcs…. Still you figured it out, with tinkering you got a feel of it and you opened the possibility for me as well, one beer from me!
Love your videos and especially this one. I have the Arc, the Sub Gen 3 and two 300s. Two questions for you. I have my system all set up in my living room and when using the App and TruePlay I can't individually control each speaker. How are you able to do that? And when you added the two additional 300s did you have to set those up under separate room?
Yes separate room and stereo paired … with the arc system you can control the tv and music volume of the rear 300s … you can’t control the eq. You have all the control of the stereo pair as you would with a single unpaired era 300 including height volume
Just based on specs alone....pretty sure the DRAGON will still beat this set-up for movies, with a better price too. Those ERA 300's are in crazy expensive territory for what they do. 4 Era 300 + 2 Sub + Arc is a $4293 USD setup
Yeah, I get that, I’m kind of positing that the separate wider front soundstage just can’t be virtualized … I suspect the dragon can get louder, more rumbly, offer better raw sound and technically better 3D audio … but can’t compete on the front sound stage … like a fully loaded vehicle on its final model year kind of thing
Hi, i just got in to sonos system and right now im testing beam gen 2 with two Era 300 as surround and i was curious and tryied combination of Beam as separate speaker grouped with stereo paired era 300 in front of tv and than playing tv sound thru both speakers at once. But there was a noticable delay in sound coming from era 300.. i tried to fiddle with latency setting etc. my wifi connection is strong and i use good cables for everything but still there was an delay..
I spoke of a delay some have said they can fix with delay settings but my advice has always been make sure the 300 volume is at least 15% lower than the arc system
So I’ve just ordered 300’s to replace my ONE’s as surrounds. I was planning on selling them… Do you think adding the ONE’s to the front as you did the second pair of 300’s would have a similar and spectacularly worthy affect? Or perhaps sell them in interest of a second sub? Ha, just made it to that part of the video 🤣🤣
I totally disagree with the final statement. I indeed purchased Sony HT-A9 as thought it will be best with my Sony A95k but decided to return it. We bought the ARC set and are amazed how great it plays. Worth mentioning I was using Bose 700 before. I personally stay with Sonos.
@@neverenoughtech yes I did. It simply was not “strong” enough and I experienced disconnections. Also worth mentioning that the sub from Sonos seems to play better, “clearer”
I have the Sony HT-A9, loving it. I miss dual-sub and the more clear-neutral sounding Sonos speakers for listening to music. How would you rate the Sonos with 4x ERA300 to the Sony HT-A9?? I recommend doing more videos featuring your Sonos hack. Thumbs up for this one! Compare it in detail to other systems. Compare it with itself using the Sonos PLY5 instead of the ERA300 in the front. Test music & ATMOS. If the diff between this hack vs Sony HT-A9 is substantial, I might switch back to Sonos.
I initially tested the fives up front … but sensed the 300s would draw more interest … the 300s contributed more to the spatial element. I’d take my experimental setup over the A9, though the Sonos setup can be a bit more wild … need to spend a little extra time with the Sonos system finding the right sound
I have been desperately trying to get answers from sonos regarding this unsanctioned setup. My main question is “is the arc smart enough not to send redundant signals to front era300’s and will the front tweeters on the 300 be engaged.”. Do you know those answers? Thank you. Great video
@@neverenoughtech I re-watched your excellent video and you indicated that the left and right ERA 300s will be redundant. That’s a real bummer I was hoping that the arc would be smart enough not to send redundant information. Oh well perhaps of future upgrade. Thank you for your quick response.
My illegal sonos setup is adding two Sonos one SLs as a stereo pair grouped to my Arc, BIg Sub, and 2 Era 300s as rears. When I did a speaker test I was happy that my sonos ones act like right and left speakers in this setup. The original setup already sounds amazing, but adding the Sonos ones took it to another level. Don’t know why Sonos don’t take advantage of this by adding features.
Great video! I have the Arc setup with the sub and two Play 3’s. My 300’s are due next week and I had been wondering if grouping a second pair (my Play 3’s) would be crazy. So I’m gonna try and see how that works out based on your try at using your old Play Ones. Thank you.
I am opting for Arc + 2 Sub gen3 + 2 Era 300 as base for home theater + 2 Move placed in the the middle of the ”scene” in my living room on both sides as additional L and R channel
Thanks for this video. I didn’t realize you could play Sonos speakers in groups like that. I’m sure various speaker groupings could be used besides for the Era 300’s.
Love the content, bro. I am in the market for a new soundbar. I got a heap of 4k blu rays so the Sonos not having dts:x is a deal breaker, which is a shame. All reviews of the Sonos Arc are solid. A few years back I started with an LG soundbar and returned because of the poor dialogue, I replaced it with a Samsung that lasted just under 2 years. Might have to try Sony but the reviews are up and down on the hta7000, not to mention its gloss top. Anyhow love the channel man.
So I have a question? I am running this 9.4.2 set up. But while I was messing around I added one of the subs to the stereo pair of 300’s. So my question is can I add 2 subs to the arc and then one if not 2 to the ear’s
You can add two to the arc and one to a stereo pair . The third sub would be paired with the 300s stereo pair which I assume would be in the front … you can put the third sub where you like
@@neverenoughtech exactly right. Currently I have 1 to either side and would run a third on a 180 phase perhaps but yes that’s the plan just didn’t know if it would work so I may go buy a third now haha
I grouped a pair of Sonos one with Arc and then tested them as front channels using a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos audio test file. The Ones are playing regardless of what channels is a playing in the video except for the LFE channel. The Ones even played the height channel sound. So this setup will obviously not work if widening the front soundstage (for the front channel only) is the goal.
If Sonos makes this a reality, I would 100% be a buyer @ $3,499! 11.2.6 support needs to happen. Asap Like before this christmas holiday season. 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾
Well done for exploring your idea and sharing the outcome. For me, having watched your reviews, I believe if your idea did not work for you, you would have shared that also. 2 things: How close are your neighbours? How much space do you need to experience a "spacial sound"? Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed it very much.
Come back when you've had a chance to listen to and play around with the Naka Dragon. Your views and opinions will change dramatically. Guaranteed......Take Care Hot Rod
Every speaker but the two Black Era 300s are ‘paired’ or ‘combined’ to work as a single unit such that each piece is outputting distinct channels - this official combination or pairing I referred to as the Arc system … the process of pairing is very easy it just takes a bit of time in the Sonos App. when speakers are combined/paired they act as a single speaker (mostly) so when you raise the volume all the speakers in that pairing get louder. The Arc soundbar takes the HDMI signal and distributes appropriately. The thing I did in this video that is weird is that I took additional speakers that cannot pair/combine with the arc (as the arc system only supports 2 rear speakers not 4) and treated them as though they were part of the combination. So I paired the two black era 300s as a stereo pair (easy to do the app prompts you to create a stereo pair) and then grouped (not paired/or combined) with the arc system. Sonos supports multiroom playback so tthe 300 pair took signals from the Arc but the Arc treats the black speakers as a separate entity not the arc entity. So I did a weird thing having two separate sound system entities playing at the same place and same time … I wanted to see if it would work in this case as Sonos is so modular you can experiment a bit. This is difficult to explain over comments but maybe this helped
very interesting...glad I bypassed the A9s ..& stuck with my 12 Sonos units.....do you think that your ears give you an unfair listening advantage ?😅😅😅-😅
A more even sound would be doing this, but not stacking two subs with the arc system, instead spread them out with one sub for the arc system and one sub for the two eras 300's upfront. The sound is absolutely incredible. I'm wondering how this pairs with the new sony bravia home theatre QUAD system.
I think the 4 era 300 can work like the theater quad when properly setup by the app. Then something like a beam gen 2 as a powerful center and the earc connector would do the job fairly well
Have to say I'm just a little disappointed with your review. How can you make an opinion on the Nakamichi Dragon without even testing it. Not right at all! Could it be sour grapes for not being able to purchase one of the limited edition sound bars? I think so...
Ummmm … I admitted there was some sour grapes but also - It is a legitimate question whether exploding the front with two additional quality speakers can create a better experience at least in some aspects than a traditional-ish SB arrangement … Also it’s a prediction not so much a definitive
Good video but you did not have the Nakamichi Dragon on site to validate a true comparison. I also thought if you can't control the whole system volume then you are dancing in and out of volume controls which would indeed suck over time. , so that would drive me crazy. Imagine that, 3 speakers in the front, starting to sound like a traditional setup instead of a sound bar just relying on audio bounce.
Seems overkill, and sonos doesn't even allow for this setup right? The reason the arc is so good is because what it does with sound as center and front left and front right, when you start limiting what the arc is doing, I can't imagine that will be good for overall sound quality. So essentially nerf the Arc, then spend anther $1000 to add two more front speakers? I dunno. seems ridiculous. My setup with dual subs front left and right, 2 era 300's rear, and arc in front is beefy.
The video was meant more as a convo starter. My assumption would be that the arc would not be the obvious choice for a center channel but perhaps a new speaker that would have the IO and act as a center channel probably also an upward firing driver and 300s would act as directional channels so allowing the “soundbar” to be broken up and spread out but without speaker wire. I think Sonos is well suited for this move and there is significant interest at least amongst the tech community and this would be the kind of move that would continue to dramatically move this space forward in terms of performance …. Just bigger and bigger bars may not be the best innovative direction
Goddamn $3500 and $4133 😂😂. How are people still choosing that over a home theater system with a AVR. Its cheaper, easy to set up & has same amount of wires as the sound bar systems 😂. O well great video bro
The wire statement is not true at least in terms of total feet and other routing work required. It’s true you got to plug all these in which created its own challenge. Lots of people have AVRs but my channel seems to largely be those exclusively interested in SBs or those who have migrated from AVRs for simplicity. This is also an over the top video largely for fun
How do these compare to the q990c? Looking for a good setup for my samsung s95b QD OLED TV. Mostly for playing ps5 & streaming movies. The sonos price is crazy.
Sounds like Everyone is doing what Sony did with the HT-A9, after Sony sold out for several months I'm guessing every major company took notice of aesthetic normie home theater systems.
@@neverenoughtech I have the following configuration, ARC+SUB 3 GEN+2ERA and I was thinking of experimenting with putting two FIVEs in front, but I don't know if the real stereo sound in front is worth it
I'm trying this craziness with 5 homepods and a sub. It's a big sound, but I know if apple hadn't been lazy and made a specific program to turn your homepods if you have enough into a 5 or more .1 setup that utilizes the individual homepods as such, it would be much better. 5 homepod gen1's is cheaper then 2 era 300's. 5 homepods,...that's 5 woofers and 35 tweeters. I'll keep saying it......I know 1000% that with the right program this set up would sound amazing. Apple unfortunately doesn't care.
5 HomePods and a sub? The community demands to know how to do that? Something like two stereo pairs and a single? Sub a direct connection to a tv? So confused
I’m pretty sure I address in the video … can’t remember things anymore . But yes they do play rear sounds … a QUESTION embedded in the video is “amongst the fireworks” does this “strangeness” ruin everything. And would it be a more substantial system than the dragon that was not yet released
Enjoyed the video and appreciate you are pushing the limits. However, aren’t you really just demonstrating that you would rather have separates than a sound bar? You are essentially asking Sonos to use the sound bar as a center channel rather than be a one-stop solution for those who don’t want the hassle of separates. That said, I am a hypocrite and considering a pair of 300’s as rears for my Arc / Sub combo. 😂
Yeah but I think these speakers are more specialized with self amplification and multi directional than traditional HT - along with wireless. So there may be ways to make the arc something more than a traditional channel - think Sonos could explore how to keep their speakers special in ability but yet support a more typical HT formation.
I have the fives in front with the Arc and Sub Gen 3. The Era 300s can’t match that when playing regular music. The Fives will blow away the Era 300s IMHO…
I thought the fives were better for music … said as much in this video Part 1: Era 100, Era 300, Five, HomePods (music performance) th-cam.com/video/ttqw4Vy52ZU/w-d-xo.html . I think 300s make more sense in HT. I was almost ready to do this video with fives in front I tested that and then thought most probably want the four 300s … I preferred the 300s for the ride
Curious if they said it sounds bad based on experience or expectation. It’s too unofficial to recommend seriously … especially considering Sonos may officially support something like this next year. So those two factors should caution you to wait and see
Great vid. My ideal would be the Beam as centre channel with two front 300's and two 100's at the rear, and a single sub. I would have said 300's at rear, but your observation about their main speaker going silent in this config seems to me to make them no better than 100's as a rear .
With four speakers creating an Atmos bubble that center speaker isn’t needed, and would probably not add anything to the rear surround. I have an Arc, gen 3 sub, and a pair of Era 300s for the rear surround pair and the Atmos sound bubble is nuts!
No the era 300s are really great as rears - I mentioned best rear speaker you can get. It’s not obvious based on normal listening that it doesn’t play it just speaks to even more potential not being tapped. You definitely want the 300s in back and the 100s in front so both front and back have height capabilities
So wait… I’m confused.. how do you set it up? I thought I heard him say not to connect it to the arc? So how do you set it up then? I would be super interested in this. Just need a step by step explanation to how to set this up if anyone would be so kind to send that. Also how do you think this would sound if you added those two speakers plus two 5 s.. oh my! Probably over kill! Thanks! Awesome video by the way!
The voices were a bit muddied so I wonder how to dial that in a little better (Top Gun Maverick) - I also noticed that it didn't raise volume together. Any ideas?
Does it have a way to pair it for 4 ERA300 Sonos, ARC Sonos, 2 SUB Sonos, and 1 SONOS AMP? ¿Is it possible to achieve more than 5.2.4? Thanks for the magnificent videos.
The technical max is 7.1.4 that is with arc, 2 300s and a sub … two subs would still technically be give a .1 … you can’t ‘pair’ any more 300s or any other speakers … that’s what I would have done instead I grouped a stereo pair to mimic the Arc system so it’s a 7.1.4 + 2.0 (not sure what the era stereo count is) playing the same material at the same place
Great video! Thank you. So I have the Arc, sub (gen 3), and 2 Eras 300s (received today!). I know with the ones we could make the surround Ambient or Full, what do you all think it’s the best recommendation for this setting? I want to use my setup for movies and music. Thanks I’m advance :)
Well you can only (officially) pair either the 300s or the ones as rears … you can group as many other speakers or stereo pairs as you wish … for paired speakers you have the option for ambient or full playback when streaming music over the S2 network. I usually keep it as ambient. You don’t have those ambient or full option when playing video also any speaker that is grouped will play full no matter what
Please cand you give me some advice in buying a surround wireless setup for my apartment. I want to place them in a 20m2 room(64m2 all apartment). I watch a lot of movie from netflix,hbo, and music from spotify premium, youtube. I dont want an overkill bass, or watt power just dolby atmos when i watch music or movies and good sound arc+2 x era 300= 1600Euro in Romania arc+ mini sub+ 2 x era 100 almost same price.1540E or beam2+mini sub+2x era 300 for 1600e? What do you recomend? Thanks a lot
Do the math this particular set up is substantially more than a Nakamichi Dragon ridiculously more and it’s set up is not how did directors intended it to sound your system is nothing more than a gimmick
Please immediately visit 1:59 and I literally did the math and wrote down numbers on screen soooo? I’m not sure the directors intended all the front sound to come out a single speaker
Does your TV have sufficient inputs plus the eARC out to support your system needs? This seems to be a common gripe, but considering the control functionality that CEC offers, how many folks want to use the sound bar as switching hub? Honest question, not a trolling comment.
@@fonkenful The thing is my tv is not very top end and no it does not have an e-arc port and I am also sure my tv wont output atmos. But I have an apple tv though, as of now I have an yamaha soundbar which has 2 hdmi port, since my tv wont support good audio output i have connected my apple tv to soundbar and then to tv. I know if I connect my apple tv to soundbar first then I will get good sound, so the must for me is 2 HDMI ports on a soundbar.
@@fonkenful Yes true, but the thing is speakers are not something like you change very often, you buy once and use it for decades, you should actually not compromise on speakers. So I would like something which fulfills all my expectations like I can wait even for 1 year and save the money and buy what I want. Or may be sonos comes up with something with 2 ports in their new models by then, cause I really dont want to spend on a new tv as the present one has a good display. I have also kept option open even for tower speakers with amps/receivers.
@@heavenlyxtacy All of my chatter re Sonos ecosystem and implementation is based entirely upon home theatres in my two adult children’s homes. While the lifestyle convenience and flexibility is undeniable, there’s little about the sonic performance that percs my coffee, if you know what I mean. As for speakers not being something that get changed very often - well, that’s a generalization based on I think a very small sample size of long time audiophiles. I’ve got 60+ years in the hobby, and the only speakers to ever last more than 5 years in my system are the 11 that comprise my current upstairs 2 channel rig, with the remaining number in my downstairs HT Atmos system.
Did not expect this configuration hehe, it really does open up a lot of possibilities , I’m still sad this system isn’t “better” than the Sony or the Q990B, I think it’s a huge leap compared to having the ones as surrounds, everything changed to me and it can sometimes be too distracting, I find myself paying more attention to the sound than the movie, I do agree with you that the left and right sound is lacking a bit but that’s probably due to room layout aswell maybe you have more space so you need more power to the sides, maybe sonos could let us raise the left and right volume? It’s been a couple of years I don’t think they will, add channels officially maybe …thanks for the video always fun and informative ! Edit: this video had me realize I have extra two ones sitting around in two rooms…maybe I’ll connect them to this system and have a poor man’s version of yours 😂
👍 - want to clarify (as I can’t tell how you interpreted) that what I reviewed I deemed more capable than the B and A9. At the end when I discussed the arc system without the extra front speakers - I felt perhaps it was not the best SB system on a pure sound front. Yeah give the 100s addition a shot if they’re sitting around doing nothing.
I have a Beam gen 2.1 Sub gen 2 and 2 symphonic rears. How can I add 2 300 to the front and get upward firing sound when watching Dolby Atmos. Sonos said I can't add the 300 fronts for movies. How did you do that?
@@neverenoughtech Thanks. Can I do the same with just 1 Era 300? I just want to add upward firing to the Beam for movies. without spending $900. Will the upward firing speaker be disabled? Is the audio lag bad?
This video has appeal for many of us in the Sonos ecosphere. I was tempted by the Dragon and would probably have gotten it if I were buying a premium sound bar from scratch. However, I own the Arc and 2 Sonos subs. I also had Sonos 1s as rear channels which I thought were pretty worthless. My wallet clearly dictated replacing the 1s with 300s as rear channels for around $1,000 as opposed to spending $3,500 on the Dragon. No regrets about my choice, but I’m always looking to see what can be done with my setup. This is interesting, but requires more fiddling than I would personally like. Be interesting to see if Sonos offers something like this in the future
@@A95L-Is-On-My-Wall To be honest, if I was starting from scratch, I’d get the dragon. But neither of use are starting from there. I though the 1 SLs were a waste of money for the rears. Didn’t appreciate the rears until I got the 300s
Hi great videos. I tried this config with two era’s in tie front. This has made a massive difference however I have run i to one issue. The front era speakers works fine but after a few min starts going load and soft and unsure why. Any ideas why this is or a solution? Have grouped them.
Hi, I found the issue, the arc and era 100 were competing for the same wifi signal. Dropped the era’s to 2.4G and solved the issue. Thanks for your reply and keep up the excellent work!!!
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I did this when the 300s first appeared and even mentioned this configuration to several "influencers" needless to say I got rinsed in the Sonos forums and several TH-cam comment threads, I think it sounds great.
Well done for bringing this setup to a wider audience.
They all live in that judgment tower in my video
I had the same idea but not brave enough to ask the forums because I knew about the ivory tower of judgement.
@@AtlantaJonny I took the hit lol. I actually ended up learning some things
You suggested a while back that Sonos make rear upward firing speakers and here we are with the 300s. Maybe Sonos is listening and will make this a config as well. Great vids, keep them coming.
Sonos, people are literally begging you to let them give you more money, all it takes is one update, you will be the undisputed champion in soundbar home theater systems and multi room audio. With 4 Era 300s, arc, and dual subs, I think not even the dragon could match it.
I think the dragon wins in pure force but a coordinated Sonos wEra300 up front system would take the spatial audio 👑
I have been asking for years, they need to introduce an AV amp that will support up to 11 channels, they as a user you can use it what ever you want to fill those discrete channels
I am a tremendous fan of your communication style! Much appreciative of your combination of tech and humor shared in a very understandable and absorbable fashion. I was most interested in this combination of SONOS gear as my home theatre set up gets a similar unconventional boost (though with less impact and sophistication). I am running an Arc, a gen 1 and gen 3 sub, along with 2 era 300’s utilized as surrounds. Up front, along with a required connect, I have two powered Emotiva powered speakers along with an Audioengine sub. As for replacing the latter with a pair of 300’s…
There’s a lot of pressure to make something like this happen from Sonos fans -- hopefully Sonos does the cool thing
Its crazy that Sonos do not let users use the BEAM with front era 300 for front stereo and height channels....
Ive been really impressed with stereo 300 and sub with music.
Just out of interest which Sub are you using?
Interesting set up man. Sonos really needs to look into support for multiple speakers.
As far as I can tell it opens up a path for more money and esteem in this space. If I were CEO …
There must be some technical limitation? There is no other explanation I can think of. It's money on the table.
I might be interested if they would let you use the 300s as fronts. I had the Arc, two 5s, and two subs, and it was good but not great, in my opinion. I was really impressed by the subs, but the Arc wasn't enough to fill the space. The sound wasn't wide enough, and I always knew the sound was coming from the soundbar. I also found the system to be far better for movies than music, which surprised me. Allowing a right and a left might have been enough for me to keep it, but I didn't. I enjoyed the convenience but always felt I was trading sound quality for convenience, which doesn't work for me.
I agree the A9s allowed you width, and I enjoyed the sound, but I thought the sub was really a weak link and would have loved a center. If I could combine the two systems and have used the Sonos subs with the A9s, I would have been happy. So I think both systems are really close but not there yet.
I was hoping Sennheiser was going to add surrounds to the Ambeo, but they never went there, which I think is a shame. They were on the doorstep of a killer system and could have made a real impact on this segment. I'm curios if the Dragon is the system I was hoping Sennheiser to be. Going to check it out when I can. For now, however, I will have to continue to run wires to achieve the sound I'm looking for.
Awesome video Daniel, thanks for taking the time to put this together. What are your thoughts on the best physical positioning for the 300's as rear and front? How high or low and away from walls and ceilings would place the 300's? How did you manage to pair the 300's with the Arc for the front channel? Keep up the good, always enjoy your videos.
Im wondering the same thing 😮
Wouldn’t the Dolby Labs Atmos guidelines help you out there? The room size /shape / acoustic properties and number of prime listening positions would certainly need to be included in the calculus. Of course much I’d what I’ve been reading from said documentation seems to be predicated on discrete direct radiating speakers, each located at specified narrow range of hemispheric degrees from listening position, with acoustic treatment to mitigate the type of reflections that systems such as these use to achieve their spacial effects, so different “rules” / considerations apply.
My son has a fairly basic ARC + single sub and single pair of ceiling mounted Klipsch speakers powered by a Sonos amp. When he was prewiring during a recent major reno, I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that 4 overheads would be better for the size of the room, but was over-ruled by SWMBO, and simply put, not all folks are as devoted to getting the best performance the room might allow. The open floor plan of living/dining room/kitchen makes for a great venue for social entertainment, but doesn’t allow for discrete surrounds so this was the best compromise he could attain.
When Sonos allows this setup I would definitely buy four 300’s… for now I’m staying put with my Ones as they’re doing a great job. As for the Dragon, it may sound better but what I absolutely love about Sonos is that I can take my Ones and subwoofer outside to play music for parties and get togethers. The sound is amazing and the Arc does a great job on its own playing music and movies… the versatility of Sonos is bar none.
Why wouldn't sonus allow it? Didn't Daniel do just that in the video?
LMAO exactly what i was thinking@@michael-4k4000
Great review! I hope Sonos will release a package with five Era 300s with two subs.
Great video you got a new follower ! I just got the era 300’s to replace my rear ones. Do you think it would be worth trying the ones as front wide speakers? They’re going to collect dust otherwise
This is the exact situation I’m going through I also want to put my old Ones in front hope we’ll get a comment. Cheers!
I added my play ones to the front. It did widen the sound I am now going to place them in my room and add the 300s to the front.
Same situation for me
Yeup... Me too... 💚🍀🇮🇪
We clearly have too much money... Lol
Great job and yes I think your right but I’m still waiting on the dragon 🐉 to out . Lol 😎👍
Hi Daniel... I'm looking for the best Atmos music set up for my open plan house and I'm stuck between a stereo pair of Era 300s with a Sub.... or 4 x Era 300s grouped in 2 stereo pairs. We don't have a TV in this space so it's just for music and mainly Atmos content. What's your take? I'm really tempted by the thought of 4 Eras in this space!!!
did you do this? i am looking at the same thing but having a hard time finding info
I have the Arc, dual sub, and Fives are rear surrounds. I'm waiting and wishing Sonos would update its app to allow additional speakers to the home theater group to compete with the Nakamichi Dragon 11.4.6 set-up. I had some extra Symfonisk bookshelf speakers and I tried the same thing of adding them to the front on either side of the Arc. It sounded great; but, it was too much work adjusting and tweaking the Symfonisk to sound just right with every volume change or with different streaming or cable TV 5.1/Atmos content.
Yeah, I mentioned it’s a lot of work a few times due to level changing necessities … and really only suited in experimental spaces. Nonetheless I though two extra 300s. Was too tempting to not at least explore.
@@neverenoughtech I ended up keeping my two Roams connected to my Arc system and moving the Symfonisk to another room with a Beam Gen 1. One Roam is in the kitchen for extra audio for listening to the news. The other Roam next to my primary listening position for at night when I don't want to keep the whole house up with Arc/dual sub/Five set-up.
Furthermore, 2 Sonos subs will be no match for the 4 the Nakamichi provides
A fanticiful watch ...we viewers with limited resources usually invest in one platform....(.multiple speakers) & cannot afford to duplicate a different brand just because it might offer better voice delivery or a deeper sound with explosions ..but we watch these videos to justify the $1000's we have already spent 😅😅😅😅
this exercise got me curious so I got a Five to use as an unofficial center channel, grouped with Arc (fixed on the wall), 2 Eras 300 and sub gen 1: for me the fives as center is just perfect, it adds a lot! The only problem is that with the recente Dune 4K Blu-ray I need to keep the volume at max 25 to not blow the room!
I finally picked up the Ht-A9 with the sub 5. It was on sale, 30% off. I am very happy with it´s immersive sound.
I know if Sonos supported this setup, I would absolutely buy a second sub, and 4 Era 300s to accompany my Arc, Sub, and replace my existing One SL surrounds.
Hello Daniel
That was really something to try
But readding some comments you didn’t go far enough
You could have paired with the front 2 eras 300 grouped with the home theater : 2 sub gen3
For a total of 4 subs
Imagine how low it could hit
How smooth the frequency response
But only if there is no delay between the two set up
SONOS NEEDS TO ALLOW DEDICATED FRONT L/R SPEAKERS. A fellow on the r/Sonos subreddit told me that some of them were beta testing for Sonos, they are testing it. It’s gunna be a matter of when. Sonos is really missing out on some serious profits, I know people will run out to buy another 900$ pair of ERA300’s for dedicated front’s or (supposedly ERA500’s)
Well, I’m glad the video worked
I'll move to Sonos once they support DTS, c'mon Sonos 🙏
You mean dts-hd right? Dts is supported
@@garretts431 yeah sorry. I meant lossless DTS (DTS MA) and DTS:X. I have over 100 movies with DTS:X 😕
did you use trueplay to tune?
Dude, idk. This video deff is intriguing. However, the dragon is beast. Keep in mind it’s 4 8” sub drivers. I’m excited once the dragon makes it in the wild.
It really all hinges on the importance of the front separation and the notion that the dragon is gonna have just an excessive amount of headroom that would be a little damaging hearing wise to access … but yeah, we’ll see … the dragon is a lot cheaper too
Hahahhaha best one so far Daniel, that is insane Alice in wonderland borderline hardcore sound club 😂
Had no idea you can group and this is dangerous for me as I thought I topped my small room with arc sub gen3 and fives rear…oh no, here we go again 😂
Well you can group as many speakers as you want (but you can only pair two 300 rears) - I thought an extra two 300s was worth trying out. But theoretically I could group even more 300s - though I wouldn’t want to be ridiculous
@@neverenoughtech i get that and sure makes sense for the user case, too bad Sonos is not allowing pairing and merging the front L/R channels with the arcs…. Still you figured it out, with tinkering you got a feel of it and you opened the possibility for me as well, one beer from me!
Hopefully the arc2 launch will finally make them want to support front and rear surrounds.
Love your videos and especially this one. I have the Arc, the Sub Gen 3 and two 300s. Two questions for you. I have my system all set up in my living room and when using the App and TruePlay I can't individually control each speaker. How are you able to do that? And when you added the two additional 300s did you have to set those up under separate room?
Yes separate room and stereo paired … with the arc system you can control the tv and music volume of the rear 300s … you can’t control the eq. You have all the control of the stereo pair as you would with a single unpaired era 300 including height volume
@@neverenoughtech Awesome. Thank you so much!
@@neverenoughtech would it also work with a pair of Sonos One?
I have independently arrived at your chaotic idea, and your video only supports my thesis. Only a few more chaotic decisions away haha
I do feel a little bad that you suffer from my same thought processes
Just based on specs alone....pretty sure the DRAGON will still beat this set-up for movies, with a better price too. Those ERA 300's are in crazy expensive territory for what they do. 4 Era 300 + 2 Sub + Arc is a $4293 USD setup
Yeah, I get that, I’m kind of positing that the separate wider front soundstage just can’t be virtualized … I suspect the dragon can get louder, more rumbly, offer better raw sound and technically better 3D audio … but can’t compete on the front sound stage … like a fully loaded vehicle on its final model year kind of thing
I think you are to something. I tried this with my fives added to the arc. Man. Let me tell you. Wowwwwww
@@neverenoughtech I wonder if Nakamichi will release add-on fronts to open up sound stage
Hi, i just got in to sonos system and right now im testing beam gen 2 with two Era 300 as surround and i was curious and tryied combination of Beam as separate speaker grouped with stereo paired era 300 in front of tv and than playing tv sound thru both speakers at once. But there was a noticable delay in sound coming from era 300.. i tried to fiddle with latency setting etc. my wifi connection is strong and i use good cables for everything but still there was an delay..
I spoke of a delay some have said they can fix with delay settings but my advice has always been make sure the 300 volume is at least 15% lower than the arc system
@@neverenoughtech lets hope for sonos to integrate this feature natively ✌️
So I’ve just ordered 300’s to replace my ONE’s as surrounds.
I was planning on selling them…
Do you think adding the ONE’s to the front as you did the second pair of 300’s would have a similar and spectacularly worthy affect?
Or perhaps sell them in interest of a second sub?
Ha, just made it to that part of the video 🤣🤣
I totally disagree with the final statement. I indeed purchased Sony HT-A9 as thought it will be best with my Sony A95k but decided to return it. We bought the ARC set and are amazed how great it plays. Worth mentioning I was using Bose 700 before. I personally stay with Sonos.
Did you pair the A9 with the sub - it’s pretty bad without that? Also I use it in a very open space
@@neverenoughtech yes I did. It simply was not “strong” enough and I experienced disconnections. Also worth mentioning that the sub from Sonos seems to play better, “clearer”
I have the Sony HT-A9, loving it. I miss dual-sub and the more clear-neutral sounding Sonos speakers for listening to music.
How would you rate the Sonos with 4x ERA300 to the Sony HT-A9??
I recommend doing more videos featuring your Sonos hack. Thumbs up for this one!
Compare it in detail to other systems. Compare it with itself using the Sonos PLY5 instead of the ERA300 in the front. Test music & ATMOS.
If the diff between this hack vs Sony HT-A9 is substantial, I might switch back to Sonos.
I initially tested the fives up front … but sensed the 300s would draw more interest … the 300s contributed more to the spatial element. I’d take my experimental setup over the A9, though the Sonos setup can be a bit more wild … need to spend a little extra time with the Sonos system finding the right sound
Have you try to add a Gen1/3 to the stereo-pair ERA300 up front?
So now that you have had time with the Dragon do you think that this Sonos setup is a clear winner?
Maybe a formal response coming
I have been desperately trying to get answers from sonos regarding this unsanctioned setup. My main question is “is the arc smart enough not to send redundant signals to front era300’s and will the front tweeters on the 300 be engaged.”. Do you know those answers? Thank you. Great video
Yes the front tweeter are engaged when they are grouped
@@neverenoughtech I re-watched your excellent video and you indicated that the left and right ERA 300s will be redundant. That’s a real bummer I was hoping that the arc would be smart enough not to send redundant information. Oh well perhaps of future upgrade. Thank you for your quick response.
Then you must be a very wealthy guy because most people cant afford just ONE Era 300 on its own,
Was wealthy
My illegal sonos setup is adding two Sonos one SLs as a stereo pair grouped to my Arc, BIg Sub, and 2 Era 300s as rears. When I did a speaker test I was happy that my sonos ones act like right and left speakers in this setup. The original setup already sounds amazing, but adding the Sonos ones took it to another level. Don’t know why Sonos don’t take advantage of this by adding features.
I do feel bad that I have inspired so many criminals
@neverenoughtech Don't feel bad at all, I'm loving it 😂.
Have the ultimate sonos setup but considering the criminal act of adding a pair of play 1s via grouplay.
I’m not sure if Sonos is prosecuting pre-crimes yet
Great video! I have the Arc setup with the sub and two Play 3’s. My 300’s are due next week and I had been wondering if grouping a second pair (my Play 3’s) would be crazy. So I’m gonna try and see how that works out based on your try at using your old Play Ones. Thank you.
It’s definitely worth a try if you have the hardware
Do it. Do it.
How is it with the 3’s as surrounds as I’ve got a pair knocking about just about to buy the arc in the next week or so
I am opting for Arc + 2 Sub gen3 + 2 Era 300 as base for home theater + 2 Move placed in the the middle of the ”scene” in my living room on both sides as additional L and R channel
have you noticed speckling?
I’ve heard rare dropouts
@@neverenoughtech sorry I should have been more specific. I mean with the ALR screen.
🍻 let’s go!
🍻!
Dude, your hillariius😂! Great video!
Thanks for this video. I didn’t realize you could play Sonos speakers in groups like that.
I’m sure various speaker groupings could be used besides for the Era 300’s.
Yes you can group as many as you want. Pairing is where the constraint is
Love the content, bro. I am in the market for a new soundbar. I got a heap of 4k blu rays so the Sonos not having dts:x is a deal breaker, which is a shame. All reviews of the Sonos Arc are solid. A few years back I started with an LG soundbar and returned because of the poor dialogue, I replaced it with a Samsung that lasted just under 2 years. Might have to try Sony but the reviews are up and down on the hta7000, not to mention its gloss top. Anyhow love the channel man.
So I have a question? I am running this 9.4.2 set up. But while I was messing around I added one of the subs to the stereo pair of 300’s. So my question is can I add 2 subs to the arc and then one if not 2 to the ear’s
You can add two to the arc and one to a stereo pair . The third sub would be paired with the 300s stereo pair which I assume would be in the front … you can put the third sub where you like
@@neverenoughtech exactly right. Currently I have 1 to either side and would run a third on a 180 phase perhaps but yes that’s the plan just didn’t know if it would work so I may go buy a third now haha
@@neverenoughtech thank you greatly though.
Please do a step by step set up guide for this configuration absolutely fantastic video by the way
Second half of this video: Sonos Pairing & Grouping Explained
th-cam.com/video/nSTVcVYHfRs/w-d-xo.html
I grouped a pair of Sonos one with Arc and then tested them as front channels using a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos audio test file. The Ones are playing regardless of what channels is a playing in the video except for the LFE channel. The Ones even played the height channel sound. So this setup will obviously not work if widening the front soundstage (for the front channel only) is the goal.
Is the limitation to control the volume of the front Era's 300 because of hardware or software?
It’s just a choice made by Sonos - they could easily add a setting so that the front grouped pair volume goes up as you change the arc volume
Shame on Sonos!
If Sonos makes this a reality, I would 100% be a buyer @ $3,499! 11.2.6 support needs to happen. Asap Like before this christmas holiday season. 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾
Well done for exploring your idea and sharing the outcome.
For me, having watched your reviews, I believe if your idea did not work for you, you would have shared that also.
2 things: How close are your neighbours?
How much space do you need to experience a "spacial sound"?
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed it very much.
Appreciate it
Come back when you've had a chance to listen to and play around with the Naka Dragon. Your views and opinions will change dramatically. Guaranteed......Take Care Hot Rod
Can you explain in detail how you setup the combination? Interested buyer for this type of brand!
Every speaker but the two Black Era 300s are ‘paired’ or ‘combined’ to work as a single unit such that each piece is outputting distinct channels - this official combination or pairing I referred to as the Arc system … the process of pairing is very easy it just takes a bit of time in the Sonos App. when speakers are combined/paired they act as a single speaker (mostly) so when you raise the volume all the speakers in that pairing get louder. The Arc soundbar takes the HDMI signal and distributes appropriately. The thing I did in this video that is weird is that I took additional speakers that cannot pair/combine with the arc (as the arc system only supports 2 rear speakers not 4) and treated them as though they were part of the combination. So I paired the two black era 300s as a stereo pair (easy to do the app prompts you to create a stereo pair) and then grouped (not paired/or combined) with the arc system. Sonos supports multiroom playback so tthe 300 pair took signals from the Arc but the Arc treats the black speakers as a separate entity not the arc entity. So I did a weird thing having two separate sound system entities playing at the same place and same time … I wanted to see if it would work in this case as Sonos is so modular you can experiment a bit. This is difficult to explain over comments but maybe this helped
@@neverenoughtech once pair as a group, this setup stays in place. I’m guess you don’t activate each time you using you home theatre setup?
very interesting...glad I bypassed the A9s ..& stuck with my 12 Sonos units.....do you think that your ears give you an unfair listening advantage ?😅😅😅-😅
A more even sound would be doing this, but not stacking two subs with the arc system, instead spread them out with one sub for the arc system and one sub for the two eras 300's upfront. The sound is absolutely incredible. I'm wondering how this pairs with the new sony bravia home theatre QUAD system.
I think the 4 era 300 can work like the theater quad when properly setup by the app. Then something like a beam gen 2 as a powerful center and the earc connector would do the job fairly well
Have to say I'm just a little disappointed with your review. How can you make an opinion on the Nakamichi Dragon without even testing it. Not right at all! Could it be sour grapes for not being able to purchase one of the limited edition sound bars? I think so...
Ummmm … I admitted there was some sour grapes but also - It is a legitimate question whether exploding the front with two additional quality speakers can create a better experience at least in some aspects than a traditional-ish SB arrangement … Also it’s a prediction not so much a definitive
Good video but you did not have the Nakamichi Dragon on site to validate a true comparison. I also thought if you can't control the whole system volume then you are dancing in and out of volume controls which would indeed suck over time. , so that would drive me crazy. Imagine that, 3 speakers in the front, starting to sound like a traditional setup instead of a sound bar just relying on audio bounce.
Well the validation video might just be in the cooker based on recent rumors … and yes I’m aware of the usability frustrations
Great review. But i suggest waiting for the dragon haha.
It’s hard to wait when you’re in a blind rage … but yes probably a good idea
Seems overkill, and sonos doesn't even allow for this setup right? The reason the arc is so good is because what it does with sound as center and front left and front right, when you start limiting what the arc is doing, I can't imagine that will be good for overall sound quality. So essentially nerf the Arc, then spend anther $1000 to add two more front speakers? I dunno. seems ridiculous. My setup with dual subs front left and right, 2 era 300's rear, and arc in front is beefy.
The video was meant more as a convo starter. My assumption would be that the arc would not be the obvious choice for a center channel but perhaps a new speaker that would have the IO and act as a center channel probably also an upward firing driver and 300s would act as directional channels so allowing the “soundbar” to be broken up and spread out but without speaker wire. I think Sonos is well suited for this move and there is significant interest at least amongst the tech community and this would be the kind of move that would continue to dramatically move this space forward in terms of performance …. Just bigger and bigger bars may not be the best innovative direction
Goddamn $3500 and $4133 😂😂. How are people still choosing that over a home theater system with a AVR. Its cheaper, easy to set up & has same amount of wires as the sound bar systems 😂. O well great video bro
The wire statement is not true at least in terms of total feet and other routing work required. It’s true you got to plug all these in which created its own challenge. Lots of people have AVRs but my channel seems to largely be those exclusively interested in SBs or those who have migrated from AVRs for simplicity. This is also an over the top video largely for fun
How do these compare to the q990c? Looking for a good setup for my samsung s95b QD OLED TV. Mostly for playing ps5 & streaming movies. The sonos price is crazy.
Sounds like Everyone is doing what Sony did with the HT-A9, after Sony sold out for several months I'm guessing every major company took notice of aesthetic normie home theater systems.
Well Sonos is not “doing this” this setup is a hack to simulate as best Sonos can an A9 like setup
Super stuff as usual, really cool experiment, well done!
So can we add the 300 pairs to rear and mid of the room and leave the arc as front? That software development from sonos would be nice.
What if you put 2 FIVE instead of 2 ERA? Is the same?
Not the same - but both possible - fives are better (HiFi) and worse (Spatial)
@@neverenoughtech I have the following configuration, ARC+SUB 3 GEN+2ERA and I was thinking of experimenting with putting two FIVEs in front, but I don't know if the real stereo sound in front is worth it
been waiting for this one for a while, thanks!
Q990c for $1900 less than the Sonos ultimate immersive set (Arc, sub, 2x 300s)?
Is the Sonos $1900 better?
Samsung Q990C vs Sonos Arc + 2 Eras 300s + Sub
th-cam.com/video/J0S_-AK1jQo/w-d-xo.html
I'm trying this craziness with 5 homepods and a sub.
It's a big sound, but I know if apple hadn't been lazy and made a specific program to turn your homepods if you have enough into a 5 or more .1 setup that utilizes the individual homepods as such, it would be much better.
5 homepod gen1's is cheaper then 2 era 300's. 5 homepods,...that's 5 woofers and 35 tweeters.
I'll keep saying it......I know 1000% that with the right program this set up would sound amazing. Apple unfortunately doesn't care.
5 HomePods and a sub? The community demands to know how to do that? Something like two stereo pairs and a single? Sub a direct connection to a tv? So confused
I thing i wish is volume counter on my lg c8 tv instead of plus n minus
Maybe dumb question, but don’t you get the back sounds with this settup now also from the front?
I’m pretty sure I address in the video … can’t remember things anymore . But yes they do play rear sounds … a QUESTION embedded in the video is “amongst the fireworks” does this “strangeness” ruin everything. And would it be a more substantial system than the dragon that was not yet released
Do you think the same effect could be achieved with using Era 100s as the additional front two pairs?
Love this video.
Enjoyed the video and appreciate you are pushing the limits. However, aren’t you really just demonstrating that you would rather have separates than a sound bar? You are essentially asking Sonos to use the sound bar as a center channel rather than be a one-stop solution for those who don’t want the hassle of separates. That said, I am a hypocrite and considering a pair of 300’s as rears for my Arc / Sub combo. 😂
Yeah but I think these speakers are more specialized with self amplification and multi directional than traditional HT - along with wireless. So there may be ways to make the arc something more than a traditional channel - think Sonos could explore how to keep their speakers special in ability but yet support a more typical HT formation.
Volume set in the app maintains its position, remote only moves arc volume.
I am using a Port with some expensive amp and speakers, does a great job.
I have the fives in front with the Arc and Sub Gen 3.
The Era 300s can’t match that when playing regular music.
The Fives will blow away the Era 300s IMHO…
I thought the fives were better for music … said as much in this video Part 1: Era 100, Era 300, Five, HomePods (music performance)
th-cam.com/video/ttqw4Vy52ZU/w-d-xo.html . I think 300s make more sense in HT. I was almost ready to do this video with fives in front I tested that and then thought most probably want the four 300s … I preferred the 300s for the ride
I wanted to do this EXACT same set up but the FB user group says it sounds so bad.... so if are you saying its worth getting?
Curious if they said it sounds bad based on experience or expectation. It’s too unofficial to recommend seriously … especially considering Sonos may officially support something like this next year. So those two factors should caution you to wait and see
I wating nakamichi dragon 11.4.6 review
I may have to do this and add two more eras. Only difference, I have one sub behind the couch to give a little different immersion.
Great vid. My ideal would be the Beam as centre channel with two front 300's and two 100's at the rear, and a single sub. I would have said 300's at rear, but your observation about their main speaker going silent in this config seems to me to make them no better than 100's as a rear .
ERA100 has no up firing, so ERA300 should still be better in terms of ATMOS.
With four speakers creating an Atmos bubble that center speaker isn’t needed, and would probably not add anything to the rear surround. I have an Arc, gen 3 sub, and a pair of Era 300s for the rear surround pair and the Atmos sound bubble is nuts!
No the era 300s are really great as rears - I mentioned best rear speaker you can get. It’s not obvious based on normal listening that it doesn’t play it just speaks to even more potential not being tapped. You definitely want the 300s in back and the 100s in front so both front and back have height capabilities
So wait… I’m confused.. how do you set it up? I thought I heard him say not to connect it to the arc? So how do you set it up then? I would be super interested in this. Just need a step by step explanation to how to set this up if anyone would be so kind to send that. Also how do you think this would sound if you added those two speakers plus two 5 s.. oh my! Probably over kill! Thanks! Awesome video by the way!
I just grouped (multirooled) the two front 300s as a stereo pair. Not as special as it sounds. I have a video coming to explain the setup
The voices were a bit muddied so I wonder how to dial that in a little better (Top Gun Maverick) - I also noticed that it didn't raise volume together. Any ideas?
Gotta keep the 300s volume a little lower than the bar
Does it have a way to pair it for 4 ERA300 Sonos, ARC Sonos, 2 SUB Sonos, and 1 SONOS AMP? ¿Is it possible to achieve more than 5.2.4?
Thanks for the magnificent videos.
The technical max is 7.1.4 that is with arc, 2 300s and a sub … two subs would still technically be give a .1 … you can’t ‘pair’ any more 300s or any other speakers … that’s what I would have done instead I grouped a stereo pair to mimic the Arc system so it’s a 7.1.4 + 2.0 (not sure what the era stereo count is) playing the same material at the same place
Looks like a fake video, Sonos won't let you add four 300's.
You didn’t watch. I paired 2 and grouped 2 … was very transparent about that
Great video! Thank you.
So I have the Arc, sub (gen 3), and 2 Eras 300s (received today!). I know with the ones we could make the surround Ambient or Full, what do you all think it’s the best recommendation for this setting? I want to use my setup for movies and music. Thanks I’m advance :)
Well you can only (officially) pair either the 300s or the ones as rears … you can group as many other speakers or stereo pairs as you wish … for paired speakers you have the option for ambient or full playback when streaming music over the S2 network. I usually keep it as ambient. You don’t have those ambient or full option when playing video also any speaker that is grouped will play full no matter what
Please cand you give me some advice in buying a surround wireless setup for my apartment. I want to place them in a 20m2 room(64m2 all apartment). I watch a lot of movie from netflix,hbo, and music from spotify premium, youtube. I dont want an overkill bass, or watt power just dolby atmos when i watch music or movies and good sound
arc+2 x era 300= 1600Euro in Romania
arc+ mini sub+ 2 x era 100 almost same price.1540E or
beam2+mini sub+2x era 300 for 1600e?
What do you recomend? Thanks a lot
Arc and two era 300s adjust the bass on eras and arc to taste
@@neverenoughtech Thanks for reply. I thought that was the answer. I think the bass is enough from that setup
Can you explain or point me to infomation on how to connect Era300 pair (front arrangement) to the existing sonos arc+oneSL pair+dual sub ?
Watch the second half of this video Sonos Pairing & Grouping Explained
th-cam.com/video/nSTVcVYHfRs/w-d-xo.html
Do the math this particular set up is substantially more than a Nakamichi Dragon ridiculously more and it’s set up is not how did directors intended it to sound your system is nothing more than a gimmick
Please immediately visit 1:59 and I literally did the math and wrote down numbers on screen soooo? I’m not sure the directors intended all the front sound to come out a single speaker
Punctuation is a thing.
Sonos is a great soundbar, but only thing keeping me away from them are the single hdmi port.
Does your TV have sufficient inputs plus the eARC out to support your system needs? This seems to be a common gripe, but considering the control functionality that CEC offers, how many folks want to use the sound bar as switching hub?
Honest question, not a trolling comment.
@@fonkenful The thing is my tv is not very top end and no it does not have an e-arc port and I am also sure my tv wont output atmos. But I have an apple tv though, as of now I have an yamaha soundbar which has 2 hdmi port, since my tv wont support good audio output i have connected my apple tv to soundbar and then to tv. I know if I connect my apple tv to soundbar first then I will get good sound, so the must for me is 2 HDMI ports on a soundbar.
@@heavenlyxtacyI know I’m sounded like a broken record on the subject, but every use case and budget is different; there is no single best.
@@fonkenful Yes true, but the thing is speakers are not something like you change very often, you buy once and use it for decades, you should actually not compromise on speakers. So I would like something which fulfills all my expectations like I can wait even for 1 year and save the money and buy what I want. Or may be sonos comes up with something with 2 ports in their new models by then, cause I really dont want to spend on a new tv as the present one has a good display. I have also kept option open even for tower speakers with amps/receivers.
@@heavenlyxtacy All of my chatter re Sonos ecosystem and implementation is based entirely upon home theatres in my two adult children’s homes. While the lifestyle convenience and flexibility is undeniable, there’s little about the sonic performance that percs my coffee, if you know what I mean. As for speakers not being something that get changed very often - well, that’s a generalization based on I think a very small sample size of long time audiophiles. I’ve got 60+ years in the hobby, and the only speakers to ever last more than 5 years in my system are the 11 that comprise my current upstairs 2 channel rig, with the remaining number in my downstairs HT Atmos system.
The Dragon is on sale again. Do you think the order button will work this time?😏
Easy to miss but a few months ago I posted that I successfully pre-ordered on the second round - expect it in October
Button didn't work for me either and did the same thing I had to refresh three time and got to purchase
I got in on the latest round
My setup is Arc, Sub Gen 3, two Ones as Front pair, and two Era 300’s as rear pairs!
How is your experience mate? I am also close to adding front speakers either ones or two more eras
Did not expect this configuration hehe, it really does open up a lot of possibilities , I’m still sad this system isn’t “better” than the Sony or the Q990B, I think it’s a huge leap compared to having the ones as surrounds, everything changed to me and it can sometimes be too distracting, I find myself paying more attention to the sound than the movie, I do agree with you that the left and right sound is lacking a bit but that’s probably due to room layout aswell maybe you have more space so you need more power to the sides, maybe sonos could let us raise the left and right volume? It’s been a couple of years I don’t think they will, add channels officially maybe …thanks for the video always fun and informative !
Edit: this video had me realize I have extra two ones sitting around in two rooms…maybe I’ll connect them to this system and have a poor man’s version of yours 😂
👍 - want to clarify (as I can’t tell how you interpreted) that what I reviewed I deemed more capable than the B and A9. At the end when I discussed the arc system without the extra front speakers - I felt perhaps it was not the best SB system on a pure sound front. Yeah give the 100s addition a shot if they’re sitting around doing nothing.
Am watching this even when I have a Bose 900 system. 😂
That is quite silly
It seems like using a Beam as a center channel would be a better option. Then the Arc and 300's wouldn't be fighting each other and causing the echo.
Interesting thought … the echo was at least partly caused by timing mismatch not overlapping channels- which was slight
I have a Beam gen 2.1 Sub gen 2 and 2 symphonic rears. How can I add 2 300 to the front and get upward firing sound when watching Dolby Atmos. Sonos said I can't add the 300 fronts for movies. How did you do that?
You just create a 300 stereo pair and GROUP it with the Arc system - Sonos tried to stop me but I did it anyway …
@@neverenoughtech Thanks. Can I do the same with just 1 Era 300? I just want to add upward firing to the Beam for movies. without spending $900. Will the upward firing speaker be disabled? Is the audio lag bad?
What projector are you using? How many lumens?
This video has appeal for many of us in the Sonos ecosphere. I was tempted by the Dragon and would probably have gotten it if I were buying a premium sound bar from scratch. However, I own the Arc and 2 Sonos subs. I also had Sonos 1s as rear channels which I thought were pretty worthless. My wallet clearly dictated replacing the 1s with 300s as rear channels for around $1,000 as opposed to spending $3,500 on the Dragon.
No regrets about my choice, but I’m always looking to see what can be done with my setup. This is interesting, but requires more fiddling than I would personally like. Be interesting to see if Sonos offers something like this in the future
Yes fiddly-laden … but the potential output is quite compelling and yes cheaper for folks that already have many of the components already
Set the difference using the app, and everything adjusts together, but it doesn’t with a remote.
@@seanquigley3624 Very true. Using the remote just messes your adjustment between the Arc and the 300s
Did the addition of the 300 for rears make the Sonos that much better? I have the same Sonos ECO now with rear Play1's. I'm looking at the Dragon.
@@A95L-Is-On-My-Wall To be honest, if I was starting from scratch, I’d get the dragon. But neither of use are starting from there. I though the 1 SLs were a waste of money for the rears. Didn’t appreciate the rears until I got the 300s
Hi great videos. I tried this config with two era’s in tie front. This has made a massive difference however I have run i to one issue. The front era speakers works fine but after a few min starts going load and soft and unsure why. Any ideas why this is or a solution? Have grouped them.
Did not experience that … was there some change in the official volume level during those periods?
Hi, I found the issue, the arc and era 100 were competing for the same wifi signal. Dropped the era’s to 2.4G and solved the issue. Thanks for your reply and keep up the excellent work!!!
Got my Dragon coming. Had to frantically push the order button for 22 minutes when it finally let me in.
It said sold out before I ever got in. I suspect that was not true. Your persistence paid off