The idea of setting up a home cinema may conjure visions of wires snaked through the walls, stacks of complicated gear and multiple remotes. While this might have been true in the past, getting immersive audio in your home has never been easier or more valuable. With advancements in technology and software, all you need are a few well-chosen speakers to experience sound that rivals the best film cinemas.

Yet the number of decisions you have to make to set up a home cinema that works for you can be overwhelming. Let’s not get started on the confusing jargon — what on earth are speaker ‘channels’, and should you really care about 5.1 or 7.1.2 surround sound? With that in mind, we put together this guide to help you make a few simple decisions so you can experience cinema-quality sound at home.

If you’re not sure which soundbar is best for your TV, you can learn more about setup requirements here.

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Better TV sound with a tap

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All of our soundbars feature settings designed to improve your listening experience. With a quick tap in the Sonos app, you can make dialogue even clearer or improve the sound for lower volume levels when watching late at night.

Night Sound

Tap the half moon icon to balance the sound so you won’t wake the rest of the house (or your neighbours). No more turning up the volume when characters whisper and then frantically turning it down when things explode.

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Speech Enhancement

Tap the dialogue box icon on the Now Playing screen to emphasise dialogue so you won’t miss a word — even when the action gets intense. With Arc Ultra, enjoy greater control by choosing your preferred level of Speech Enhancement in Settings.

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You can learn more about Night Sound here and Speech Enhancement here.

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Pro Tip: Already have a pair of speakers you love? Sonos Amp allows you to turn your existing audio equipment into a wireless Sonos system. It’s perfect for those who want to keep their analogue gear but also enjoy the ease of streaming films and music from the cloud.

Choosing your Sonos subwoofer

Understanding surround sound

Choosing your surround sound speakers

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Now you may be thinking, if a soundbar can produce incredible surround sound on its own, why should you add two more speakers? While adding rear speakers won’t always impact the channel configuration (such is the case for Arc Ultra), surround speakers will help disperse audio more evenly across your space, ensuring sound reaches every corner and angle of the room. This will add even greater depth and detail for truly lifelike sound that feels like the action is unfolding in your living room.

A note on placement

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One of the tricky parts of adding rear speakers to a home cinema setup is where to place them. We’ve made it easy with a variety of speaker stands and mounts. Choose what works best for your viewing room here.

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Learn more about placement tips for Era 300 here and Era 100 here.

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Pro Tip: Add Sonos Voice Control to your system in the Sonos app to turn on your TV and adjust your home cinema audio settings hands-free.

Recommended Sonos home cinema setups

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Now that you understand the basics of home cinema sound, it’s time to find the right setup for you. To help take the guesswork out of building your system, we've put together this chart with our recommended speaker pairings based on the size of your space, the size of your TV, and level of immersion you’re hoping to achieve.

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5.1 (Small room size, TV up to 55”)
Ray + Sub Mini + 2x Era 100

7.1.2* (Small to medium room size, TV up to 65”)
Beam + Sub Mini + 2x Era 100

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7.1.4* (Medium to large room size, TV up to 65”)
Beam + Sub 4 + 2x Era 100

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7.1.4* (Large room size, TV up to 65”)
Beam + Sub 4 + 2x Era 300

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9.1.4 (Medium to large room size, TV 50” and over)
Arc Ultra + Sub 4 + 2x Era 100

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9.1.4 (Large room size, TV 50” and over)
Arc Ultra + Sub 4 + 2x Era 300

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*Some channels rendered using virtualisation techniques. Requires compatible TV and Dolby Atmos-supported streaming service. Learn more about compatibility requirements here.

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Once you’ve chosen the right setup for you, there’s no need to build it yourself. Save when you get it as a set.

Once you’ve set up your home cinema, it’s easy to make sure it sounds its best in your unique space by fine-tuning it with Trueplay. It’s also easy to add additional speakers in other rooms of the house. That way, you won’t miss any of the action when you head to the kitchen for more popcorn. In fact, the most difficult thing to do will be deciding what you want to watch or listen to next.