Home Theatre speakers help

I have two play1’s For rear surrounds. Very impressive. That’s one of the cool things about Sonos. You can always add them later with almost no effort.

The system uses your phone to measure sound in your room, and sets all the acoustics accordingly. It works very well.

 

I have a Sony sub and bar. I like the sound quality. However, my biggest beef is the inability to adjust the speaker. I'm not an audiophile so bear with me here.

When watching BluRays, if I set the dialogue scenes at a comfortable level the music and explosions in the next action scene damn near blow me out of my chair. If I set the action scenes at a reasonable level, the dialogue scenes are inaudible.

I essentially have to watch BluRay's with the audio remote in my hand. This is not a problem with DVD's, downloaded movies played as an avi or mp4 file, Netflix or Prime Video etc. BluRay only. Apparently it has something to do with the way BluRays are made.

I would have a much larger collection of BluRay's if this wasn't such a pain in the ass.

I'm told that with a proper speaker/amp/whatever set up, I would be able to lower the sound levels on the outer speakers and increase the level on the center speaker. Doing this, would set the volume at a comfortable level across the board.

That may be something to take into consideration when you set up your own system.

 

Yeah I will most likely add those later. Still need to buy a TV so need to save some moneys lol.

The cheap sound bar I have in my bedroom has an auto volume limited for that reason! I use it when watching late at night. Hope the sonos doesn’t have that issue.

 

I had the same issue with the JBL sound bar I previously had. It’s always been a PITA. The Sonos doesn’t have this issue. At all. It’s a very welcome change. You also have full adjustment of the speaker settings through the app. And music also sounds excellent. It’s also pretty cool that I can take the Play1’s and use them elsewhere around the house, or take with me when I go elsewhere. The only thing that would be better if they had batteries in them so you could take them camping or something.

 

By the way, a slight thread jack: If anyone has recessed lights in their home, these are pretty badass. My company sells them, so I was able to get my hands on them a couple of months ago. You can link up to eight together, and they actually sound pretty good. I’ve tinkered with running tv sound through them in my upstairs game room. The problem is that my tv doesn’t have Bluetooth audio output. I got an adapter to broadcast the tv audio through Bluetooth. It worked, and they sounded good, but there’s no volume control that way. The speakers use your phone to control volume, so it doesn’t help the tv. Still haven’t figured out a workaround for that.

For music though, these things are pretty great. Put out good light, and they’re damp location rated, so they’d work great in a patio where you have downlights. Easy install, plug n play.

 

At the budget$... Sonos will be your best option. For most people, this will suffice for quality and output. It is a TV extension solution, directed at simply making things louder than the TV alone, NOT for audiophiles, BUT not bad. Flexible too with other devices. Good luck.

 

Skip the Sonos Play 3. I would stick with the Play 1's, Sub and Soundbar. Maybe add a Play 5 down the road.

 

A step up from Sonos (if you are looking for a wireless system) is the line from Definitive Technologies. Best Buy has a chain of “magnolia” stores that carry them. You can listen to them side by side with Sonos. Down side is the are about 25-30% more expensive than Sonos. I have 2 wireless cubes in my house and have packed away the bigger speakers and amp.

 

Went with the Sonos PLAYBAR and Sub as @Sean266 recommended. Sounds awesome. Perfect for what I was looking for. Integrated seamlessly to all my media devices and sounds awesome. Perfect for movies with minimal wires to run. Good for playing music too. Price is just a bit on the high side.

 

I'll be doing the Sonos myself as I come to and end on our living room reno.
Play 1's with the sound bar option.

This way I can also move them around the house and speak though my home assistants.

 

Don’t forget the sub. Sub is definately worth it!

 

I got this sub 7/2015. It still sounds great.

 

Nice set up.

I almost went that direction but ended up going Bose SoundTouch 300 with the Sub. I’m happy and the sound quality is great.

 

I was going to go Bose but when I found out Sonos makes it easy to use multiple rooms with multiple speakers that won me. I was a Bose fan prior to this and still am.

 

True point! All about that bass

 

Agree on the ease of “multiple room” use. Sonos defintely has the market on that. I had a Polk SB1, but that thing was terrible - constant wifi connectivity issues and the app was cumbersome. It lasted about a year before I gave up on it.