How to position your Sonos Era 300 for best result 

Just texted you about 12 hours ago as a Patreon member. (Nice benefit). Thorough and comprehensive as per usual. Your research and testing is much appreciated!!

Thank you so much for this video! Watching now to see ur findings.

Excellent editing as always! ❤

Happy holidays Peter. Thanks again

Thank you - good video and enjoy the holidays!

I did this placement in conjunction with today's 15.6 update. Reran Trueplay. Prior my 300s were facing forward. IMHO Peter's recommendation really works. Tested with Kraftwerk "Autobahn" in Atmos. Dynamic soundscape in at times in the air above my sweet spot I hadn't noticed before.

Enjoy your holidays Peter!

Fully agree , found the same settings myself - even though in all marketing pictures - the 300 face the tv

How about when you room is smaller and your couch is < 1foot from the back wall?

perfect timing... this exactly how I have place two of my era 300 speakers but not quite facing me.

So happy you validated the standard for Dolby, maybe because of you - people will STOP being uninformed, but also realize why when they don’t ‘have room’ that’s why they don’t get a good experience

Great video as usual!! Congrats... Do you have any suggestion of wall mount position when the couch is agains de wall? Cuz, with that distribution, the 30% + degrees is not possilbe.. maybe you have some suggestion.. I´ll appreciate it :)

I actually kept mine facing toward the front of the room with no off axis angling. But, what I did notice was that you need to Trueplay your listening area rather carefully to get the precise balance needed for best results. I did this about 3 times on the second step of Trueplay and the timing hits perfectly inside the bubble. I really don't like angling bipolar speakers as they don't need it in a surround position. IMHO😊 But, if I did not have true play then I would angle them. It's just hard to know what to listen for when you're trying to snap a rear channel into focus. And, it can get quite tedious if you're trying to match up with the center channel position of the Arc.

Quick question . If my rears one SL’s are connected as surrounds, when I play music, do they switch to stereo mode automatically or I have to remove as surrounds every time I listen to music? Also when I listen to music my Sonos Arc vocals sound echoed.

Hi Peter, I hope you’re recovering well? I just wondered if you are going to do a comparison of the Era 300 vs Fives in a surround setup? Also have you thought about doing a prediction’s video for what’s coming from Sonos in 2024? Have a great holiday and Happy New Year…🎉

I’ve solved the rear surround volume issue! But only under certain conditions. I own an A/V company so I’ve been dealing with this for a long time. Nothing that I tried worked but this morning I bought an Xbox Series S, installed the Dolby app and Plex. I downloaded a few UHD 4K movies in truehd 7.1 atmos, specifically Dunkirk and Lord of the Rings. The Xbox is setup correctly and goes into a Sony a8h and then eARC out to the ARC with the Xbox and Sony set to passthrough. There was an immediate difference, it was like I was using a different system. Using the Dolby built in channel tester the slider didn’t make a difference. The only time it works is playing those movies like I said. I got on the phone with sonos and they ran diagnostics on my system as I changed sources and played what worked and adjusted the slider and they confirmed that they saw a difference.

excellent!

Thanks for all your valuable info on the sonos platform. Im looking into getting a pair of era300 as wall mounted rears, i have low ceilings, can the ERA300 be mounted inverted ? How would this type of placement affect Atmos performance, Height adjustments and side firing sound...any thoughts on this ?

I’ve tried both configurations, facing the TV and angled inwards towards my listening position. Angling towards my listening position, the sound separation is far greater than facing the Era 300s towards the TV. I can hear sound playing in the middle and the back of the room much clearer and louder (Once True played). That being said, most of the images I’ve seen from Sonos have them facing forward position toward the TV, although there were some instructions from Sonos instructing us to angle the speakers at the TV (Toward listening position). Conflicting information from Sonos but I personally think it sounds much better angled inward.

Man you are the best. I'm about to buy this with sanus adjustable stands. What are your thoughts.

Hi Peter, Just wondering if the 300 can send a side surround out. Why can’t we just ad 2 new speakers (ones) to an arc setup? and great a true side channel💪🏼👍

Still want to know how the sound is when placed high against de ceiling while placing the spreakers upside down. This way is also discribed in the instuctions as a way to place the speakers.

Hello, thanks for the reviews. just a question, if i am only going to get one Era 300 for my desktop, and have to place the Era 300 on the left of my display, would it affect the listening experience? e.g. stronger sound on the left ear. thanks.

@peter pee - in a 7.1.4 system with Era 300 as surrounds and sitting position 2.5 meters from the Arc, do we still need to tilt the sound bar?

Peter have a great holiday. If you can answer one question. My current rear surrounds are even with my sitting are. I ant move then or any new speakers 35 degrees farther to the rear. I feel the Era 300 would be a waste of money if you cannot get the farther behind the setting area. Am I correct?

Question: do you think the speaker, stand-alone should be in a certain position for music playback (one speaker only)

Hi, Peter and community. Sorry If I’m bothering you, I just noticed a week ago when I added my Sub Mini to my system with Sonos Beam Gen 2 + two Sonos One’s rears that the dialogues in the center channel of the beam is slightly coming from the left of the center speakers. I am wondering if this is a common problem as I have only seen a post in Reddit of people experiencing this issue.

Im planning to buy a set of sonos speakers with an Arc, Sub gen 3 and 2 rears. Now im really considering which rears i should get. The problem im facing is that the couch we will be sitting on will be placed against the back wall and in the corner of the room. This will put a rear speaker quite close to your left ear if someone is sitting in that corner. Is the era 300 a bit overkill for that position and will it just be annoying for the person sitting in that corner and get the era 100 instead?

@peter - Is the recommendation with this positioning to keep TruePlay OFF or ON please? Thank you

Hi Peter. As I am currently using the arc. I am looking to purchase 2 Era 300. As the sofa is directly infront of the wall. How should I set it up on the ceiling/wall mount. I believe the angle of the mount also is limited. And I think it would not be maximized. Do you have recommendations for me. Any help would be much appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from you 🙏🏻

If you buy one of the stands made for the era 300 it's actually sloped slightly downward, is that so that the upward firing speaker goes directly off the ceiling and can't be interfered with by the front firing speaker at all or doesn't just bounce straight up and down off the ceiling but bounces off the ceiling towards the listener position? If that's the case should you lift the back of the speaker slightly if you have it sitting directly on and end table or something?

My room is pretty big and I have them setting on top of the kitchen cabinets angled towards the listening position on both sides. I'm not sure this is working because the cabinets are high and also this is about 10 feet away from the listening position. I know in the Sonos app the settings for surround distance is more than 10 feet, but I wonder if it will correctly delay the surrounds for that distance.. I have noticed the difference between the delay settings seems to include how loud the surrounds are at any given volume setting. So if I set them between 2 to 10 feet and have surround volume at +5 it's not as loud compared to having them set at more than 10 feet at the same volume level. Any thoughts on this.

What's the height recommended por Era 300 floor stands for a home theater set up?

What do you use to extend the distance of the rear speakers, the power cables are so short.

Would you suggest having them ear level or a foot above? I have these wall mounted a foot above ear level due to speakers would be too close to listener. Should I leave them foot above or move them down to ear level?

Hi Peter, I have a question on the era 300. When I pair era 300 as a surround with that arc - is it possible to occasionally use them as a stand alone stereo music when needed? Or should we unpair before we want to use it for stereo music?

HI peter, I'm just curious if you have considered reviewing the Nakamichi Dragon? You are the type of reviewer that would be of great value to such a beast

Compare the era 100 vs one gen2 please. Is the price difference justified?

Personally for me having them facing the tv gives me better sound separation…on my configuration ofc what I would like is diferente height controls for the Arc and Era 300 I opened a topic on the sonos forum and Reddit if anyone is interested, the era 300s height effects is a lot more pronounced than the Arc on my living room

I heard if pair both Era300 together to listen music, the Atoms gone/ will turn off?? If yes, can compare pair era300 as stereo to listen Dolby Atmos songs vs era300 save as room different room setting but put in same room to listen Atmos songs, which is better? Thanks. ( currently still saving $ to buy)

Hi i have a sonos arc in front of my tv and a sub on the right side and two sl one in the celling facing down and i want to buy two era 300 and put them on the wall left and right. Plus can i use era 300 with the sl one? If not can i use era 300 in the celling replacing my sl one?

Thanks for another great video! I replaced a set of 1SLs with a pair of Era 300s and was pleasantly surprised that the wall mounts had the exact same spacing, so I didn't have to drill new holes in my wall.

I have vaulted ceilings. Am i getting worse results with era 300 over a era 100 then?

Are the Eras better than your in ceiling set up?

Thanx !! Maybe it’s the heat but Complicated !! Sonos should tell all!!!

@peter: You forgot a comparison placing it upside down nearer the ceiling.

How high should i put them up on the wall as surrounds for best effects

Thanks Peter -Any word on a rear channel volume fix yet? Can be a put jarring moving from surround to rear when the surround volume is higher.

Did Sonos ever mentioned that they would consider adding One‘s / Era‘s as front speaker to your Beam 2 or Arc in the future?

How far to the sides should they be placed?

Question for you, Peter. I only have enough money to buy one or the other for my birthday next week. I have an arc already…should I buy a pair of 300 as my rears to replace my SL’s or should I use that same money to add a second sub? What would be the better choice?

With a pair of Era 300's 2 subs and a Arc. Would you say the Arc in this setup is better than the Sony HT A9 System? Enjoy your holliday👍

omg..this guy needs to lay off the coffee ! LOL.....thanks for the update Peter !

Furious at the depiction of bipolar in this video.

Peter: Question If you have an open concept living one of the ERA 300 will be firing to open air room. That’s why I returned them and bought the ERA 100 instead. Just my opinion. Great vacation / time away enjoy ✌️

Small thing, not a bi-pole. Using discrete channels sent to specific drivers that use Dolby/Sonos Virtualization.

Sonos recommends face the front of the ERA 300's towards the screen if used in a surround system

Los he ido probando en varias posiciones desde su lanzamiento y justo en esa posición es donde los tengo

I am having a really difficult time choosing between the Sonos Beam 2 and Bose Soundbar 600 for my small apartment. Clear dialogue is important for me as well as a decent dolby Atmos sound. I would also probably just use a soundbar only. Anyone compare these two before?

I tried the speech enhancement and it sounded artificial to me. One thing I noticed with the height controlwas the big difference it made when I added my 300s. When I had the Ones, it made very little difference- with the 300s its pretty dramatic.

I can not get my Sonos surround sound to connect to tv. Yes I have paired remote with arc. I still only get sound from tv speakers.

Best placement is where you test it out. All rooms are different in sound. It's that simple. It's not magical.

Was hoping for some wall mounting tips 😢

My room acoustics are so uneven that even with trueplay I have too leave them facing straight forward or else the imbalance becomes way worse

Has anyone tried these in an inverted position?

I have placed 4 era300 in the room. 2 rear and 2 front Sonos Arc (2 sub gen3). I think you should talk about this possibility for those who, like me, want to spend more money to have a better atmos sound. Thank you. Peter

Dolbys standards are for direct firing speakers…not a multi-firing speaker.

Nope. With the 300 hundreds as rear surrounds in a typical room parallel to the TV is better most of the time. The only benefit of 300 facing the listening position is when the up firing tweeter is active but even then the other four sound worse. Sonos needs to activate the front tweeter in surround mode and provide adjustments in S2 app.

This would be a lot better if you actually positioned the speakers where you would put them in a surround setup than just talking about it!

The subs can’t be any good if you need 2, I got 2 different systems samsung and Sony and only need 1 cos there boss

Bipo lol I think you mean Omni directional

I was underwhelmed by the sound tbh. Going the audiophile route!

My family room won’t accommodate the space necessary for the 300s, and for music’s sake I bought the 100s as a surround speaker for movies or full sound for music. I find the treble lacking on the 100s when I just play music on them alone, outside on my deck, even when lowering the bass and raising the treble. I wish the Apple store had a graphic equalizer app that actually worked, or better yet, their own graphic equalizer app, like they do on the Macs. Very disappointing….

Confusing

7:19 very powerful ? Really ?🤔 I don’t agree!

Still waiting for the stands.. Lol

6:39 EVERYBODY can see at this point that the left rear speaker is AT LEAST 2 meters (6.56168 feet) away! But you're talking about 3 - 4 feet (0.9144 meters to 1.2192 meters)?! I find these attempts to explain the Era 300 better than they really are to be confusing and back when you first started talking about Sonos systems you never got the impression that you were doing positive advertising for Sonos! Unfortunately, that has changed a lot in the last few months. A pity ! There is just too much difference between your positive reports and the reports of affected Sonos users. The forums about the Era 300 are full of dissatisfaction and I too have returned my 2 x Sonos Era 300 after about 4 weeks and replaced them with my Sonos One back! People who talk about ONE Sonos Era 300 talk about a good sound! But people who have traded in a few Sonos Ones for a few Sonos Era 300s are NOT satisfied. At least those who exchanged 2 x Sonos One for 2 x Sonos Era 300!

PSA! Sonos does not repair products out of warranty! You have to buy new. They will give you a 30% discount. My $400 Move will cost me $300 to replace it. I have over $4,000 of Sonos that is now basically Junk! No one can repair Sonos.

Bought and returned. It's too much for rear speakers

DO NOT BUY- The app is trash and you can't get them to connect or work after a year. Customer support is not helpful and speakers should always work even if the app is not the best. After trying everything for years they just got worse and just trashed over $1k in speakers. Terrible purchase and never again.

You make fun of the illness of a Bipolar Disorder? You find that funny? I tell you something ! I pray to God that one day you will suffer from this bad and sad disease 🙏 And on the topic: There are a lot of people who bought a pair of Sonos Era 300 and were absolutely not happy! And not because they placed the speakers wrong, but because it just doesn't sound good! The sound really rolls over and when the sound comes to the wall and back again, the sound is very unbalanced! I spoke to Sonos on the phone and they are aware of this problem and are trying to solve the problem with Updates. But then, like CURRENTLY, this has a negative impact on Sonos One Owners in Connection with a Sonos ARC and the Sonos Sub! EVERY Owner of an ARC and 2 Sonos One + Sub knows IMMEDIATELY what we are talking about! A few months ago there was also an Update that had a negative effect and it was quickly undone by another Update ! This in turn has had a negative impact on the currently sold Era 300 and that's why they decided to release another Update to help Era 300 Owners! The Owners of 2 x One + ARC + Sub CURRENTLY have a worse Sound! You might think that Sonos is trying to get people to buy the new Era speakers! Of course they wouldn't admit it.

Hi Peter, I have a question on the era 300. When I pair era 300 as a surround with that arc - is it possible to occasionally use them as a stand alone stereo music when needed? Or should we unpair before we want to use it for stereo music?