Getting The Most Immersive Surround Sound From My Bose 700 Sound bar and Surround Speakers

[bwelland]

I just purchased the Bose 700 5.1 surround package (700 Soundbar, 700 Sub, Bose Surround Speakers).  The sound is clear and pleasing overall.  However, it is not as immersive as I had hoped for a surround package.  When listening to music or watching movies, the sound comes mainly from the front.   I have run the room turning software serveral times and despite playing with the settings, I can't get sound that seems to immerse the entire room.   I've tried turning up the surround level - even all the way to max (100 on the app)  - and the sound still seems to be mainly coming from the front (where the 700 bar is).  I also have a Sonos playbase 5.1 package, and while the sound isn't as clear - it is much more immersive with sound seemingly coming from everywhere rather than mainly isolated from the front.  I'm trying to get the clearer Bose sound to be as immersive as the Sonos.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  

[Liam_W · Accepted solution]

Hello @bwelland , and welcome to the Community!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the sound quality of our system, and are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the volume level that this plays at.

The speakers themselves are designed for more immersive sound rather than projecting louder sound.

With that said, there are still ways to improve the level of audio that you receive from the Surround speakers.

One of these ways is through the manual adjustment you have already used in the app.

In this instance, I would be advising that you re-run the room tuning software, but perform this slightly differently. Before you run this calibration, move the Surround speakers as far away from both yourself and the Soundbar before calibrating. This will lead the system to believe that these are further away and balance these to play louder as a result. Once the calibration is finished, move all the items back to where you would prefer these to be, and then set this up again.

Please get back to me to let me know how this goes!

Liam W - Community Support

[bwelland]

Thank you.  This helped.

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@Liam_W wrote:

Hello @bwelland , and welcome to the Community!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the sound quality of our system, and are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the volume level that this plays at.

The speakers themselves are designed for more immersive sound rather than projecting louder sound.

With that said, there are still ways to improve the level of audio that you receive from the Surround speakers.

One of these ways is through the manual adjustment you have already used in the app.

In this instance, I would be advising that you re-run the room tuning software, but perform this slightly differently. Before you run this calibration, move the Surround speakers as far away from both yourself and the Soundbar before calibrating. This will lead the system to believe that these are further away and balance these to play louder as a result. Once the calibration is finished, move all the items back to where you would prefer these to be, and then set this up again.

Please get back to me to let me know how this goes!

Liam W - Community Support

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[Ea238]

I have exactly the same setup, you can lower the volume of the sound bar ie in the app centre, bass, trebble closer to 0 and put rear speakers on max ie 100, it allows you to hear the rear speakers

I get what you mean about it not being very immersive. The sound come from the speakers and doesnt fill the room. I get better immersive sound from Samsung s10 phone.

I tried every setting but doesnt really sound that great. There is a YouTube video that suggests to point the rear speakers up to the ceiling so the sound bounces off that and lands in the middle of the room but I haven't tried that

https://youtu.be/ac-oLIWJjh8

[Alonzo7744]

I would be advising that you re-run the room tuning software, but perform this slightly differently. Before you run this calibration, move the Surround speakers as far away from both yourself and the Soundbar before calibrating. This will lead the system to believe that these are further away and balance these to play louder as a result. Once the calibration is finished, move all the items back to where you would prefer these to be, and then set this up again.  MyFedLoan

[Ea238]

Hi there thanks for your reply, my issue isn't really the sound level, its more so the actual quality, I feel like it doesnt seem immersive. The sound bar itself doesnt feel like it calibrated the sound well and trust me I have run adapt iq multiple times. I'm actually considering the omni jewel speakers 

[MooreDynamic]

If the "center channel" is too high it will drowned out the surround speakers a little.  Also you will get a more immersive music experience if the music is remastered in 5.1 - 

I have my center channel at +50 but you can go as low as +30 without compromising vocals and some clarity.  Also position the surround speakers closer to your listening area if possible because normal Stereo music won't play sound from the surround speakers as loud as 5.1 music will.  

[Derwin22]

Too get the best surround effects from your rear Bose surround speakers, lower the volume on your Bose sound bar to 60 or 70 and raise your volume level on your surrounds. This is all done on the Bose music app. The sound is amazing.

[NeonsNight]

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@Derwin22 wrote:

Too get the best surround effects from your rear Bose surround speakers, lower the volume on your Bose sound bar to 60 or 70 and raise your volume level on your surrounds. This is all done on the Bose music app. The sound is amazing.

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You also need to make sure that your TV is outputting 5.1 if you are using a TV that has an ARC output and not an eARC one. I go over this issue in this guide.