Sonos is a top brand when it comes to audio equipment, especially home entertainment systems.
If you have a Sonos surround sound system, you can expect immersive, high-quality audio for your music, movies, and TV shows. But how do you get the best sound out of your Sonos system?
In this guide, we’ll go through the various Sonos surround sound settings and how you can adjust them to optimize your listening experience.
Before we go into the settings, it’s worth noting that the optimal sound settings will depend on your specific setup, including the size and layout of your room, the placement of your speakers, and your personal preferences.
That being said, these guidelines will help you get started and provide a solid foundation for tweaking your Sonos settings.
Sonos Surround Sound Settings for Best Audio
Speaker Placement
The placement of your Sonos speakers is critical in achieving the best possible surround sound experience. The optimal placement will depend on the size and layout of your room
Ideally, the front speakers should be at ear level when seated, while the rear speakers should be placed behind and above your seating position, pointing towards the front speakers. Additionally, it’s recommended to place the speakers at an equal distance from your listening position.
Room Calibration
You will find a room calibration feature that helps optimize the sound quality based on the acoustic properties of your room. Use the steps below to calibrate your Sonos system:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > Room Settings > [Room Name] > Trueplay Tuning.
- Step 3: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the calibration process. This involves walking around your room with your smartphone or tablet to measure the acoustic properties of the space.
EQ Settings
There are several EQ settings in Sonos music systems that can be adjusted to optimize the sound quality based on your personal preferences. To access the EQ settings, do the following:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > [Room Name] > EQ.
- Step 3: Adjust the EQ settings based on your preferences. Sonos provides preset EQ settings for different types of music and media, including rock, jazz, classical, and movies.
Surround Settings
The surround settings allow you to adjust the volume and delay of the rear speakers to optimize the surround sound experience. To access the surround settings, follow these directions:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > [Room Name] > Advanced Audio.
- Step 3: Adjust the surround settings to your liking. The volume and delay settings should be adjusted based on the distance and placement of your speakers.
Speech Enhancement
If you find it difficult to hear dialogue in movies and TV shows, Sonos offers a speech enhancement feature that boosts the volume of speech without affecting the overall sound quality. To enable speech enhancement, you can use the steps below:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > [Room Name] > Advanced Audio.
- Step 3: Turn on Speech Enhancement.
Night Sound
The night sound feature reduces the volume of loud sounds and enhances softer sounds to provide a more balanced listening experience at low volumes. To enable night sound, do the following:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > [Room Name] > Advanced Audio.
- Step 3: Turn on Night Sound.
Volume Limit
If you have children or live in an apartment, you may want to set a volume limit to prevent the sound from becoming too loud. The volume limit feature on the Sonos music system allows you to set a maximum volume level for your system. You can set a volume limit with the steps below:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > [Room Name] > Volume Limit.
- Step 3: Adjust the volume limit to your desired level.
Music Services
Sonos supports a wide range of music services, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. You can adjust the settings for each service to optimize the sound quality. To access the settings for a specific music service, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to More > Add Music Services.
- Step 3: Select the music service you want to adjust.
- Step 4: Adjust the settings for the music service based on your preferences.
Wi-Fi Settings
Finally, it’s worth noting that the quality of your Wi-Fi signal can affect the sound quality of your Sonos system. If you’re experiencing dropouts or poor sound quality, you may want to adjust your Wi-Fi settings. To do so, apply these steps:
- Step 1: Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Step 2: Go to Settings > System > Network.
- Step 3: Follow the on-screen instructions to adjust your Wi-Fi settings.
Best Sonos Surround Sound Settings for the Best Audio
The best Sonos surround sound settings will vary depending on your specific home theater setup and personal preferences.
However, here is an example of settings that can help you achieve the best possible audio quality:
- Speaker Placement: Place the front speakers at ear level and approximately the same distance from the seating area. The center channel should be directly below or above the TV, and the rear speakers should be at ear level and behind the seating area.
- EQ Settings: Set the bass and treble levels to your preferred settings. A good starting point is to set the bass level to 0 and the treble level to +3.
- Surround Settings: Set the surround sound mode to “Full” to enhance the immersion of the sound.
- Speech Enhancement: Enable speech enhancement to improve the clarity of dialogue in movies and TV shows.
- Night Sound: Enable night sound to reduce the volume of loud sounds, such as explosions and gunshots, while still allowing you to hear quieter sounds, such as dialogue.
- Volume Limit: Set a volume limit to prevent the audio from becoming too loud.
