How I customized my Sonos speaker to make my home theater sound truly immersive

TV and Music Level: In this settings folder, you can adjust the audio level of your surrounds when playing TV audio or music. You can adjust these levels on a 30-point scale, plus or minus 15. I keep these settings neutral

Surround Distance: Ensure your surround distance is as accurate as possible, as this feature serves as a balancing measure for your surrounds. This distance refers to how far your Sonos surround speakers are from your preferred listening position. However, Sonos only provides three vague distance options for this option, so if you don’t plan to move your room’s furniture or speakers anytime soon, let TruePlay gauge this distance for you.

Music Playback: This feature changes the loudness of your rear speakers’ output. Your options are Ambient or Full. I prefer listening to music when my rear speakers are set to Full. I noticed that this setting improves balance when listening to stereo music. In Ambient, I felt that my soundbar was doing too much of the heavy lifting, and I could only hear vocals without many instruments; it was unenjoyable for me. If you prefer your music to be front and center, you’ll appreciate Ambient more.

Also: Sonos Era 300 vs. Denon Home 400: Why I’m pulling the plug on the more popular speaker

I also noticed that I could squeeze more immersion from stereo tracks with the Full setting, and my music went from highly center directional to a wider soundstage with some illusion of sounds coming from above my head. Note that changing this setting does not apply to Dolby Atmos music playback.

However, if your Sonos system is in an asymmetrical room (as many living or family rooms are), the audio from your surround speakers might become too loud or overwhelming if you end up sitting closer to one of them. If you like the fuller surround sound but it’s too loud, first try adjusting the TV and Music Level settings mentioned above.