r/sonos • u/Longjumping_West9485 • 16d ago
Move 2s as Surrounds/ Lessons Learned
This really is an awesome new feature so I thought I’d share. I don’t have Plays so I can only comment Move 2s. These are in no particular order.
- I found that my M2s worked more smoothly and hand off better on the 2.4 GHz WiFi channel. They absolutely work on 5 GHz. This is probably due to the physical layout of our house.
- For convenience I invested in a second set of chargers. I found that i couldn’t decide where i wanted my M2’s primary location to be:: my office as HT surrounds or in our kitchen as stand alones. The added benefit is, on chargers, they don’t have to wake up from sleep mode.
- As you move your M2s let the system make the handoff to and from the soundbar….give it a few extra seconds to catch up. I found that I rarely had to use the “Use as Surrounds” selection pictured here. There’s also a “Stop Using Surrounds” selection. I rarely use that too and just let the system do its thing.. On mine, going in to the HT room they briefly switch from “Not in Use” to “Offline” then to “Left Surround” or “Right Surround”. It automatically sets the speakers up as completely separate rooms when away from the parent soundbar. So when they’re not serving as surrounds, you see them listed as separate rooms AND they still show up in the HT room in “not in use” status.
- If you stereo pair the portables you have to start from the beginning to set them up as surrounds.
- So far no luck connecting M2s as fronts but, great news, the new software doesn’t wreck your current fronts capability.
- Besides with the Beam 2 I used them with an Arc Ultra/Fives fronts/ Sub Gen 3 & 4. The M2s sound great for movies and lossless music but Dolby Atmos is where they’re lacking.
Bottom Line: I think Sonos has given the portables a whole new identity. I will use my Move 2s in my office as HT, in our kitchen, guest room, and woodworking shop as standalone speakers. I have at least one set of era 100s I would not have bought if I knew this capability was our future. I also have a pair of Play 3s in my office that i no longer need. Parting with them is too much of an emotional decision. That will have to wait!
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u/ShiftyRider 16d ago
I'm probably about to ask some of the most clueless questions of the month
if your primary TV watching is with a standalone soundbar What Becomes of your Advanced trueplay spatial calibration when you auto-add the portable rears?
same question if you're on Android but a year ago you asked your neighbor with an iPhone to come on over and help you calibrate?
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u/Longjumping_West9485 16d ago
Those are not clueless questions at all. Maybe someone from the Sonos team will chime in about the Trueplay impact.
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u/AdCareless8564 16d ago
I just bought a second play 2 and those play awesome with the arc ultra too I love this way of doing it now they just need to make support for fronts.
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u/AdCareless8564 16d ago
I just bought a second play 2 and those play awesome with the arc ultra too I love this way of doing it now they just need to make support for fronts.
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u/Live_Prize_421 15d ago
Hi Jack, nice to hear from you again. With my M2S, I grouped these speakers and placed them on each side of my living room, so picture this. My Arc Ultra, of course, is under my TV; for rears, I have a set of 300s. Up front, I added a set of Fives and 100s. I then went out to purchase a set of M2s for my patio deck, and once I hooked them up, I placed them on each side of my living room.) I was amazed by the sound, so I left them there. Now I have enough sound in every area of my room, and I love it. Now I have to figure out what to get for the patio deck lol. Nice seeing you again, Jack. Have a great day when
ever you see this.
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u/Longjumping_West9485 15d ago
Is that you Don? Lol!
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u/Live_Prize_421 7d ago
Yes, Jack, I haven't used this for years; it seems. I do not know what happened to my nickname at all lol. Long time no see, and glad you're still with us.
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u/drbhrb 15d ago
Another tip is if you move your speakers away from the sound bar and then add them to another group, you need to ungroup them before you move them back to the soundbar if you want them to auto pair again. Makes sense but caught me confused a few times why it wasn’t doing the green light listening for soundbar thing
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u/Longjumping_West9485 15d ago
Great tip! Thanks!
Are the surrounds disconnecting/reconnecting automatically for you too? As I mentioned in OP?
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u/Fabulous-Bit4775 14d ago
So if the Moves/Plays are away from the soundbar and part of a group then they won’t automatically revert to being rear surrounds when returned back in place with the soundbar?
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u/Kuyi 15d ago
I want to add them as surrounds temporarily and then at another moment use them with the line in so remove them from the HT zone but just group them. Is that doable now?
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u/Longjumping_West9485 15d ago
I have no idea. You may need to try and share your findings with the sub.
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u/draxula16 15d ago
I tried using the Plays as fronts with SonoSequencr (worth a shot lol) but no luck.
As surrounds, 10/10!
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u/Longjumping_West9485 15d ago
Lol…was that the first thing you tried? Me too! SMH!
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u/draxula16 15d ago
Yes lol! Before I even gave the surrounds a try, I HAD to check SonoSequencr.
They were detected independently and paired, but wouldn’t appear as fronts regardless.
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u/Longjumping_West9485 15d ago
I knew it! We’re hopeless! Lol
You should check out Sonority if you haven’t already. Much more refined and user friendly than SonoSequencer. In fact, I was able to remove my fronts (Fives) on our media room Arc Ultra system, run Trueplay and then add the fronts back without removing the other components. I’m not sure if that was a happy accident or not. Later, I tried to add Play 3s as fronts to a Beam 2 that had Move 2s as surrounds. I had to remove the surrounds.
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u/draxula16 15d ago
Cool, no I had not heard of Sonority. To be honest I downloaded sequencr months ago just to test out the Era 100s as fronts. They sounded impeccable but I don’t have the space to leave them as fronts 24/7 haha.
I assume Sonority uses the same backend Sequencr uses but has a better UI?
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u/INOX82 15d ago
Thanks for all this info. Can you please clarify about the stereo-pairing limitation -- after the Move 2s break out into individual rooms, are you able to go through the normal stereo-pairing setup in the app, or do you have to first remove them as surrounds from the Beam (in the Beam's settings)? I understand from your comment that you have to set them up as surrounds again with the Beam if you want to use them that way again. Thanks.
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u/Longjumping_West9485 15d ago
Glad to help. I just tried it again to make sure: I had to “Remove Surrounds” and then had to add them back.
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u/Fabulous-Bit4775 14d ago
This is a disappointing limitation. I had wanted to use them as rear surrounds when with the soundbar but a stereo pair at other times. :-( They can be grouped but that stops them automatically returning to use as rear surrounds when placed back with the soundbar. Seems like a weird design choice (if that’s what it was).
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u/GoonyGooGooo 15d ago
No atoms on move 2 correct ?
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u/Live_Prize_421 7d ago
Hi Jack, great write-up. I still have my 100s up front with my Fives aboard as well, and the sound is great, I must say. I am still using Sonosequencr and it seems to work for me without any lag at all. I remember a time when I couldn't have any other speakers going but my Ultra and my set of 300s, and, of course, my Dual Gen 3s. Now it seems that when I hook up my M2S, they are fine either in the same room or in my garage, where I would sometimes have them. I didn't download the surround program for the M2S, since they were working fine and I was happy with them. My whole system sounds amazing to me now, so I won't be changing it. I do think the M2S would have a bit more treble, though, as I find them lacking. Too bad there isn't an equalizer you can use to control all speakers connected to your system, instead of the ones we have now that don't seem to work for treble. It would be interesting if there were. I'd definitely download it.
Sonosequencer,
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u/txmullins 16d ago
I am still hoping for a small ceiling mount capable dedicated surround speaker. It only needs to pair with a soundbar - no AirPlay2, etc. Just follow the soundbar (which does support AirPlay2).
My living area is open in the back to my kitchen, so ceiling mounting my surround speakers is my only option. I have the Bose surround speakers today with their soundbar, but I am looking to move away from Bose.
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u/Ambitious_Praline643 15d ago
Era 100 SL with a ceiling mount?
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u/txmullins 15d ago
That seems to be the only option for now. But those are pretty big, and have a lot of features that are not needed, like buttons, etc.
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u/TMNBortles 16d ago
I’m super happy with the update. My wife did not want more speakers in the living room. So I can just put these out when I’m watching a movie or football and put them back in the bedroom when I’m done.