Sonos In-Ceiling Speakers or Monitor Audio C265 for Rear Channel

BP1

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Hi,

I have a couple of questions that I cannot find answers to, so I'm hoping for a few opinions or suggestions.

I am in the process of renovating my house and will be adding in-ceiling speakers to a few rooms with Sonos amps. In the main living room, I will be using a Sonos Arc + Sonos Sub + Sonos Amp/in-ceiling speakers for the rear surrounds. I am contemplating using Monitor Audio C265 speakers as the in-ceiling speakers in all locations, including the living room rears. Here are my questions:

1. Which is a better speaker, in general - the Sonos In-Ceiling speaker or Monitor Audio C265? I have not been able to find a location to listen to both. The installer I am speaking with is recommending the Monitor Audio in.

2. If I go with Monitor Audio as the rear surrounds in the living room with 5.1.2 (Arc) set-up, will I still be able to true-play tune the Arc and Sub? Or will trueplay tuning be disabled for the entire living room set up?

3. Is trueplay tuning effective? Would make a noticable difference in sound quality in a by livingroom set up (Arc + Sub + in-ceiling rears)?

Ultimately, I am looking for best sounding speakers, but I am concerned about my ability to NOT be able to trueplay tune the 5.1.2 livingroom set up.

Looking forward to any opinions or suggestions.

Thanks
 
The Sonos speakers are made by Sonance, they have no intelligence in them they can not be 'tuned' by the AMP, only the output of the AMP can be tuned because it part if the AMP

Personally i see it as a bit of a cynical move by Sonos to grab even more market / profit at the expence of the end user and installer.

Given the choice i would go with the Monitor Audio 265's they will outperform the Sonance / Sonos
 
Thank you very much for your reply. While I realize that the Sonos (Sonance) speakers have no intelligence in them, the Sonos software will deativate their trueplay calibration tool if non-Sonos ceiling speakers are connected to the Sonos amp. Further, my understanding is that, if using non-Sonos in-ceiling speakers in conjunction with the Sonos Arc + Sub, the truplay calibration is deactivated for every component within the 5.1 setup. So I was wondering if it's worth losing trueplay tuning for the 5.1 set-up for the sake of better rear channel speakers? I do not have any experience with Sonos. Please also feel free to make other speaker suggestions. I am not necessarily set on Monitor Audio C265 as an alternative to the Sonos speakers - they came recommnded and seem to have a similar pricepoint to Sonos.
 
How does the sonos Amp know that a pair of its brand specific speakers are attached for it not to run TruePlay. That is what i find difficult for them to explain.

I will do a little digging tomorrow and I am happy to be told differently and how.
 
Thank you again for your input! Really appreciated. To answer your question - I am not sure. But I have been doing a lot of research and that is my understanding (the Sonos Amp recognizes the Sonos branded in-ceiling speakers as a Sonos product). Even if you buy the "same" Sonance speakers (non-Sonos branded), the Sonos amp will NOT recognize them as a Sonos product and will, therefore, disable trueplay tuning. That said, I am also not sure how effective/important the trueplay tuning is. I have no first hand experience with Sonos or in-ceiling speakers.
 
By contacting Sonos, I have confirmed that connecting non-Sonos speakers to the Sonos amp will disable trueplay tuning in some scenarios and will not disable it in other scenarios. If the non-Sonos speakers + Sonos amp is set up as a standalone room, trueplay tuning will be disabled (the amp recognizes thes speakers are not Sonos). However, if the non-Sonos speakers + Sonos amp are a part of a 5.1 set up with the Arc, then trueplay tuning will remain enabled for the 5.1 set up. Which is good news.

Based on that, I am still considering non-Sonos in-ceiling speakers for my set up. American Audio recommended that I go with the Monitor Audio C265 over the Sonos/Sonance. However, I am now considering the Monitor Audio C265-IDC (which is a 3-way speaker, and more expensive than the C265). Does anyone have experience with either of these speakers? I am open to other suggestions as well. I have no experience with in-ceiling speakers and cannot find anywhere to demo the speakers (due to covid restricitons).
 
In-ceiling 'surround' speakers will mean you cannot make use of the Atmos option your proposed system offers.

Surround and Rear channels in a 5.1 or 7.1 system should be in-wall or on-wall (if you are not using floor or stand mounted cabinets).

Surround and Rear channels in an Atmos enabled system should be set lower in/on the wall than in a conventional 5.1 or 7.1 system.

Joe
 
As above. Any base level speakers set into the ceiling will basically rule out having an Atmos layout. There needs to be a good separation between the base level and the Atmos domain. That's why Dolby recommend that all base level speakers be set at a seated head height or just above.
 
The ARC Soundbar always, as far as I know, delivers the up firing Atmos channels - you can pair the ARC with other SONOS zone players if you want to add physical 'surround' channels.

Joe
 
How does the sonos Amp know that a pair of its brand specific speakers are attached for it not to run TruePlay. That is what i find difficult for them to explain.

I will do a little digging tomorrow and I am happy to be told differently and how.
I believe the amp sends out a tone that it measures and the response is unique to the sonos speakers, did see a video on YouTube somewhere. If the amp doesn’t see the response it’s looking for (very high pitched) then trueplay is not enabled.
 
So it could be a filtering thing within the Sonance speakers, allowing them to pass a higher frequency than traditional in-ceilings.
 
Hi,

I have a couple of questions that I cannot find answers to, so I'm hoping for a few opinions or suggestions.

I am in the process of renovating my house and will be adding in-ceiling speakers to a few rooms with Sonos amps. In the main living room, I will be using a Sonos Arc + Sonos Sub + Sonos Amp/in-ceiling speakers for the rear surrounds. I am contemplating using Monitor Audio C265 speakers as the in-ceiling speakers in all locations, including the living room rears. Here are my questions:

1. Which is a better speaker, in general - the Sonos In-Ceiling speaker or Monitor Audio C265? I have not been able to find a location to listen to both. The installer I am speaking with is recommending the Monitor Audio in.

2. If I go with Monitor Audio as the rear surrounds in the living room with 5.1.2 (Arc) set-up, will I still be able to true-play tune the Arc and Sub? Or will trueplay tuning be disabled for the entire living room set up?

3. Is trueplay tuning effective? Would make a noticable difference in sound quality in a by livingroom set up (Arc + Sub + in-ceiling rears)?

Ultimately, I am looking for best sounding speakers, but I am concerned about my ability to NOT be able to trueplay tune the 5.1.2 livingroom set up.

Looking forward to any opinions or suggestions.

Thanks
Hey, how did it all work out in the end? DId you go for the monitor speakers, if so which ones?

Currently refurbing and considering the c265 in ceilings...
 

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