How do I…

Add a soundbar

Place a soundbar as its own device, choose its type, and connect it to a TV or a surround system.

Where to find it: Palette › Equipment › Surround Sound (L C R and C) or Speakers (L R)

A soundbar is its own device, numbered BAR-1, BAR-2 and so on, and drawn as a slim bar with a line for each channel. It has two facts, and you pick both in the palette:

• Channels: LCR powered and LCR passive have a centre, so a soundbar like that anchors a surround system. C powered and C passive are the centre alone: they anchor a surround system too, with front speakers of their own. LR powered and LR passive have no centre, so speakers joined to one are an ordinary zone.
• Power: the Passive / Powered switch at the top of Speakers decides which soundbars the palette lists: Passive shows LR passive, LCR passive and C passive, Powered shows LR powered, LCR powered and C powered. A powered soundbar (drawn solid), like a Sonos, needs no speaker wire from the rack; it has a Power row instead, which its cable card shows. A passive one (drawn with a white centre) is wired from the rack, one run per channel. Lines along the inside of the bar count its channels: three for L C R, two for L R, and one short line in the middle for C. Speakers and subwoofers are drawn the same way; see set a speaker to powered or 70V.

1. Place it, or drag it, just in front of a TV, projection screen or video wall. It snaps into place facing the room, already while you drag it there, takes most of the display's width, and pairs with it: moving or turning either one moves both, and the two labels sit on opposite sides. In either one's Properties, Placement shows the other as Paired, and Unpair in that row's ⋯ separates them.
2. To add speakers, select the soundbar, press Connect surround speakers in its Properties header, then click the speakers. Round an L C R soundbar each speaker takes a role by where it stands, as the listener facing the soundbar sees it: SL or SR at the sides, SBL or SBR further back. Round a C soundbar, on each side the speaker nearest the screen that stands toward the front, more beside the soundbar than out in the room, becomes FL or FR first. The roles it gave are sorted again whenever a speaker joins, whatever the order you clicked; a role you choose in Surround stays yours. It keeps its own icon; its label shows the role, and the zone counts the channels: two surrounds and a subwoofer make 5.1. Change a role in Surround, in the speaker's Placement. Switching the soundbar to an L R type takes the roles away and leaves an ordinary zone; switching back gives them again.

To change the type later, use Channels (L C R, L R or C) and Power (Powered or Passive) in the soundbar's Device section. A change that would leave two centers in one system, or give L C R to a soundbar whose speakers hold FL and FR, is refused with the reason.

A screen takes one soundbar. When two surround systems share a screen, the second uses a center speaker; connecting a second soundbar to the screen is refused.