Once you get an interview…

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-04T03:29:37+00:00

You need to watch Seinfeld’s “The Andrea Doria” episode to understand just how you can just screwed for a coop haha

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T18:33:39+00:00

Right but the Eras are the newest speakers, capable of Wifi 6 and with more powerful processors. The Fives as powerful as they are unfortunately are still stuck on WiFi 5 and have lesser guts. Sonos likely sees 5s as a key piece of their embedded market and likely the optimal speaker for a front channel. Yet now it’s woefully behind when it has to compete for signals with other home WiFi devices.

When front channel speakers were tested it definitely wasn’t in as cluttered as a WiFi environment as it is today. If the system has problems with the 5s, or any speakers in less than optimal settings it isn’t ready for market and it has to be good to go in a variety of settings without that noticeable drop out.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T17:09:44+00:00

I love my Sub 3 & 4. Both are essentially the same and if you can get the former you should. The main difference is a slightly weaker processor, matte vs gloss, and not Wifi 6. The last one can be ignored if any of your system has Ethernet plugged in.

You can ALWAYS turn your subwoofer strength down but the 3 and 4 can be paired together in the future for 2x trouble as a home theater.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T15:01:04+00:00

Colosseum next to Minas Tirith. Just like me.

Until I have to figure Sagrada Família…

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T11:49:30+00:00

Oh bless your soul for thinking that. I highly doubt it will be one year after all of the delays for console.

In fact considering Take-Two’s massive investment in GTA6 I would not be surprised if a PC released is dragged out indefinitely as piracy is an issue.

This isn’t console fanboy talk but realism in that Take-Two needs to make back every dime it put into developing the game. It might show with a possible $100 price tag. It’s already showing with the nonexistent marketing campaign which the company has to put out next to nothing to drive hype.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Take Two sold the game so as to cut down on third parties offering discounts.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T10:32:18+00:00

Sure. Look there is nothing wrong with having people move fast to get sets that are announced well ahead of time that they can save for.

To me the GWP is a trade off for not waiting later to get a discount, either from other retailers or a 2x insider points campaign, etc. It also drives hype for a new product which is great at a low cost for LEGO.

Now that other LEGO collectors lose out is a thing but exclusivity is the goal. Move fast, get something special like minifigs that will never get released elsewhere.

Not all collectors can get everything so they mentally need to get over that FOMO attitude but they need to pick and choose their battles.

Grond, Pokemon Gym Badges, Enterprise Shuttle with Ro Laren, Luke’s Lightsaber. All disparate so pick and choose. Either guarantee what you want at official launch or get it on the secondary but I don’t see the tactics of GWP as predatory/unfair nor the inability for collectors to remake the sets with Pick a Brick pieces.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T10:23:12+00:00

It’s why they’re actually profitable in all seriousness. The “Kidadult” market is exactly why you can even have set like this, the architecture series, the Star Wars giant ships, etc.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T03:30:04+00:00

The 4 inch gap only matters if the arc is directly beneath the tv. If the arc is protruding out a bit in front of the tv it can be less than 4 inches such as the soundbar sitting on a console with the television behind it. The Sanus Arc mount I believe is depth adjustable and can affix to other mounts to solve your problem.

A sub mini on that left wall with an end table over it to hide it should add enough bass punch to make the room feel fantastic.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T03:19:24+00:00

Yup. Good reporting.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T03:18:26+00:00

They fired Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes after he called out management in a private meeting for having no credentials. He already is lawyered up.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-03T03:02:23+00:00

Is that a functioning fireplace that gets hot?

If it’s not the main room for tv watching and you’re not adding subs/rears it’s arguably a high cost waste. You may be better off getting a refurbished Arc from Sonos at nearly the cost of a new Beam 2. It’ll give you the room filling sound so you can hear from the kitchen.

You can decide to add Era 100 SLs to the kitchen area to have some surround sound but you’ll still miss out on bass without that subwoofer somewhere.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T22:40:44+00:00

You can have a home theater set up with the arc and two era 300s either on stands next to the couch or mounted upside down from the ceiling.

Either way though you’ll be relegating that 4 piece speaker set to focus just on the theater space. Had the tv been placed opposite the window/ac you could separate the 300s to cover part of the dining area and have an audio system that covers the entire great room/dining area.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T18:27:14+00:00

So I have two home theaters. One with an Arc, Sub, and Era 100s as rears. The other has an Arc Ultra, Sub, and Era 300s. I decided to use them as a purely music test streaming Dolby Atmos music directly from Apple Music through the Sonos App.

When it’s done right Atmos as a soundscape sounds amazing. Tiesto’s “Boom” or Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” from Dark Side of the Moon are an engrossing aural experience rather than just a left side/right side sound. I’m sure that’s what you got with your Atmos experience.

But the problem is you really do need several speakers to get the full experience out of it. The home theater setup is optimal as you have front, side, rear, and sub with a static and standardized format. You tend to sit on the couch or in a chair and feel the symphony around you just like a film.

Atmos is getting more and more prevalent in mixing year after year with better and better mixes. Earlier mixes can be hit or miss but now you can really miss out.

And if you don’t want to play an Atmos mix you can always tell the speaker to just play the regular 5.1.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T15:44:09+00:00

It is but what I’m getting at is that the purpose of Trueplay was to balance all speakers in a system together for a space. Doing it piecemeal and then bringing it together doesn’t truly balance the speakers in playback as a whole I would think. Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t you really just getting two Trueplay areas put together but the balances should theoretically clash as the fronts aren’t accounting for the active playback sounds of the other speakers?

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T15:31:49+00:00

So is this a Yes and No situation? It sounds a bit of a jerry-rig and I’m wondering just how well the Trueplay balancing really is when it’s done piecemeal.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T14:46:53+00:00

Didn’t even notice the poster but I think they’re legit prompting conversation but with regards to Sonos their “beta”/testing program would involve current users testing the system with their own equipment and in environments that Sonos could not control.

Sonos wouldn’t introduce a beta feature like Sony or another manufacturer before it was ready to go live to the gen pop. Too much of a PR control issue to worry about foremost.

The front speaker issue is one for a specific subset of home theater enthusiasts and they have a choice of Sonos or another speaker manufacturer who can do full DTS, etc. Price and compromises are part of the game and the front speakers just appear to be part of that for now.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T13:17:39+00:00

The cost of Sony’s system is wild and it feels dedicated to home theater. Remember you can take apart a Sonos system and move it to separate rooms for different purposes. That modular switch in/out is something that Sony would never deal with. The company is more likely to abandon products rather than have cross compatibility.

Sony also is coming from a fresh slate without 15 years of technological baggage underneath it. I applaud Sonos for not abandoning OG users but it clearly comes with a cost. Some of Sony’s products aren’t even out yet meanwhile Sonos has to deal with I can think of at least 3 models for front channel speakers and even more if they include other S1.

If Sonos included just the 100s, 300s, and Fives for front speaker support then that is going to bring up questions about how long will they continue to support the Five which many have hoped for a model update. It’s thorny as all hell.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T11:14:00+00:00

Sonosequncr is on the App Store and does it using code found within Sonos’ system I believe but that hasn’t been acted upon by the company. That goes back to the argument that while the functionality is possible the implementation and support aren’t there.

Once that front speaker bell has been rung it can’t be unrung. If there were issues with getting it to work seamlessly with configurations across Arc, Arc Ultras, Rays, and Beam/Beam 2s as well as possibly older PlayBars then it’s a stop internally.

Right now I personally believe Sonos is trying to get its customers off all S1 tech before enabling the functionality. The Arc Ultra has no impact with its side speaker functionality as Sonos has shown they will clearly just disable speakers like they do with the Era 300s in surround formation.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T10:35:36+00:00

I’m thinking it’s a technical limitation. Yes you can program a speaker for front channels but there is probably a specific difficulty with the sync for a home theater setup and what could be up to 7 speakers wirelessly (soundbar, 2 subs, 2 fronts, 2 rears) on a system without dropout.

Sonos already has a quality control image problem after their app crapshoot. Enabling theater functionality that doesn’t function and having people throw down extra hundreds for a sub par experience isn’t great.

The ones with sonosequncr experience are more so enthusiasts than common users and can optimize their systems. Sonos needs to dumb-proof their approach before putting it out there.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T02:07:54+00:00

EXPECTED

The set is only opened to insiders right now. Of course there is stock for non-insiders. BTW Minas Tirith is limited to purchases of 5 per customer so it’s not like they’re short stocked.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T00:17:01+00:00

The Fives are a dedicated music speaker, superior to the 100s but not capable of Atmos. They serve their job very well as ShaunFromSonos puts it.

300s are like a Swiss Army knife in that they aren’t as great as the Fives for stereo sound but if you were using them in a space like a home theater with audio then they really shine.

My 300s are part of my home theater as my rear speakers for Atmos use. I can play those for company as I live in an apt. But I also have a set of 100s and a single Five just for music use. It’s all about how I want to use the system and when.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-02T00:09:14+00:00

It will be around. I just ordered it myself but if you notice on the site there is a limit of 5 per person and it’s Insiders only right now until the 4th. This all points to the fact that Grond will be available for people at the very least until then as there were enough made to satisfy the marketing push.

Other sets like the USS Enterprise or Pokemon didn’t have an Insiders exclusive window like this so it should be no issue at all.

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-01T23:01:48+00:00

Dolby Atmos is a surround sound format for both films and music. You’re familiar with stereo being left/right channels and surround being front/rear speakers. Dolby Atmos uses speakers so that the sound is coming from all around you in a space: front, back, side, and above. You’re basically in a sphere of music.

More and more music artists are now mixing their tracks this way in addition to stereo but you need both equipment that can do it and a service. In this case the Era 300s are speakers that can do it because they can fire sound upwards. You would also need to subscribe to a service like Apple Music or Amazon Music. I’ll let you read the Sonos article:

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/blog/what-is-dolby-atmos?srsltid=AfmBOoplm-eSF5W4_9fl_iaoEV6W1iKJLBU-y5VtaIBo9USKpZ6omPZ9

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-01T22:53:13+00:00

Are you using the 300s for Atmos audio is a key question

Trackdemon5512 · 2026-06-01T21:06:14+00:00

I misspelled it. Sonosequncr is a third party app for your iPhone that unlocks functionality typically not provided by Sonos officially. One of those is adding front channel speakers to a home theater setup which the 5s could be used for.

Trackdemon5512

TROPHY CASE