Sonos PLAYBASE

Sonos PLAYBASE User Manual Surround speakers

Sonos PLAYBASE

You can easily pair two PLAY:1, PLAY:3 or PLAY:5 (gen2) speakers with a PLAYBASE to function as left and right surround channels in your Sonos surround sound experience. Make sure the Sonos products are the same—you can’t combine two different speaker types to function as surround speakers.

  • Be sure to follow these instructions to set up your surround speakers. Do not create a room group or stereo pair as these will not achieve the left and right surround channel functionality.

Add surround speakers

If you’re using a mobile device

  1. From the Settings menu, tap Room Settings.

  2. Select the room the PLAYBASE is located in.

  3. Tap Add Surrounds.

  4. Follow the prompts to add first a left and then a right surround speaker.

If you’re using a computer

  1. Select Manage -> Settings (PC) or Sonos -> Preferences (Mac).

  2. Select Room Settings if it is not already highlighted on the left.

  3. Choose the room the PLAYBASE is located in from the Room Settings drop-down list.

  4. From the Basic tab, select Add Surrounds.

  5. Follow the prompts to add first a left and then a right surround speaker.

Remove surround speakers

If you’re using a mobile device

  1. From the Settings menu, tap Room Settings.

  2. Select the room the surround speakers are associated with. The room name appears as Room (+LS+RS) on the Room Settings menu.

  3. Tap Remove Surrounds.

  4. Tap Next to drop the surround sound speakers from your surround system. If these were newly purchased speakers they will appear as Unused on the Rooms menu. If these speakers existed in your household previously, they revert back to their previous state.

You can now move them to another room for individual use.

If you’re using a computer

  1. Select Manage -> Settings (PC) or Sonos -> Preferences (Mac).

  2. Select Room Settings if it is not already highlighted on the left.

  3. Choose the room the PLAYBASE is located in from the Room Settings drop-down list. The room name appears as Room (+LS+RS).

  4. From the Basic tab, click Remove Surrounds. If these were newly purchased speakers, they will appear as Unused in the Rooms pane. If these speakers existed in your household previously, they revert back to their previous state.

Change the surround settings

The default setting is determined by the calibration process. If you wish to make a change, you can follow the steps below.

If you’re using a mobile device

  1. From the Settings menu, tap Room Settings.

  2. Select the room the PLAYBASE and surround speakers are located in. It appears as Room (+LS+RS) on the Room Settings menu.

  3. Tap Advanced Audio -> Surround Settings.

  4. Choose one of the following:

    • Surrounds: Choose On or Off to turn the sound from the surround speakers on and off.

    • TV Level: Drag your finger across the slider to increase or decrease the volume of the surround speakers for playing TV audio.

    • Music Level: Drag your finger across the slider to increase or decrease the volume of the surround speakers for playing music.

    • Music Playback: Choose Ambient (default; subtle, ambient sound) or Full (enables louder, full range sound). This setting applies only to music playback, not TV audio.

    • Balance Surround Speakers (iOS): Select Balance Surround Speakers and follow the prompts to manually balance your surround speaker levels.

If you’re using a computer

  1. Select Manage -> Settings (PC) or Sonos -> Preferences (Mac).

  2. Select Room Settings if it is not already highlighted on the left.

  3. Choose the room the PLAYBASE and surround speakers are located in from the Room Settings drop-down.

  4. Select the Surrounds tab.

  5. Choose one of the following:

    • Surrounds: Check to turn the sound from the surround speakers on; uncheck to turn it off.

    • TV Level: Click and drag the slider to increase or decrease the volume of the surround speakers for playing TV audio.

    • Music Level: Click and drag the slider to increase or decrease the volume of the surround speakers for playing music.

    • Music Playback: Choose Ambient (default; subtle, ambient sound) or Full (enables louder, full range sound). This setting applies only to music playback, not TV audio.

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