Forum Discussion

Judy43's avatar
Judy43
Reel Rookie
10 months ago
Solved

Streambar won't play when roku speakers set to front

Equipment: 1). Roku Streambar   2).  Roku TV Wireless Speakers (set of 2)

Issue: When wireless speakers are set to "front", the streambar does not play sound.  

I need the streambar and 2 wireless speakers to all play "front"; however, there doesn't appear to be a setting to ensure the streambar plays "front" when the wireless speakers are also set to front.

Any solution for this? 

PS.  Streambar works as designed when speakers are set to "back". 

My Equipment: 

https://www.roku.com/products/audio/roku-streambar

https://www.roku.com/products/audio/roku-wireless-speakers 

Thanks

  • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
    RokuEmmanuel-D
    10 months ago

    Hi, Judy43.

    Welcome aboard to the Roku Community!

    We understand that your Roku Streambar's audio will not work when you place your Roku Wireless Speakers on its side. We're here to provide the information that you need. 

    For the optimal experience, it is recommended that you place your Roku Wireless Speakers behind the primary listening area. This placement is designed to deliver an immersive surround sound experience, enhancing audio enjoyment. 

    With this configuration, referred to as a 3.0 or 3.1, two wireless speakers are installed as rear left and rear proper channels, and your Streambar or Smart Soundbar outputs sound for the front left, center, and front proper channels.

    • To create sound separation, Place one speaker slightly behind your couch to the left and the other slightly behind your couch to the right. Try spacing each speaker an even distance from where you sit.

    This allows you to hear sounds moving from the left and right behind you, helping to create an immersive surround-sound experience.

    • Measure the listening position: For ideal surround separation, the distance from your listening position to each speaker should closely match the distance between your Streambar or Smart Soundbar and your listening position. This helps you to hear sounds from all speakers at the same level, regardless of the overall volume.
    • Experiment: Watch a few action scenes from a movie or TV show and listen for sound coming from the rear left and right speakers. Move each speaker closer or farther away from where you sit until sounds distinctly move between the left and right speakers, giving the illusion of movement. Continue experimenting with locations until you like how the surround effects sound.

    Check here for more tips on the best placement for my Roku wireless speakers.

    We hope this helps with your concern. Please get back to us if you need more assistance. 

    Regards,
    Emman

6 Replies

  • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
    RokuEmmanuel-D
    Community Moderator
    10 months ago

    Hi, Judy43.

    Welcome aboard to the Roku Community!

    We understand that your Roku Streambar's audio will not work when you place your Roku Wireless Speakers on its side. We're here to provide the information that you need. 

    For the optimal experience, it is recommended that you place your Roku Wireless Speakers behind the primary listening area. This placement is designed to deliver an immersive surround sound experience, enhancing audio enjoyment. 

    With this configuration, referred to as a 3.0 or 3.1, two wireless speakers are installed as rear left and rear proper channels, and your Streambar or Smart Soundbar outputs sound for the front left, center, and front proper channels.

    • To create sound separation, Place one speaker slightly behind your couch to the left and the other slightly behind your couch to the right. Try spacing each speaker an even distance from where you sit.

    This allows you to hear sounds moving from the left and right behind you, helping to create an immersive surround-sound experience.

    • Measure the listening position: For ideal surround separation, the distance from your listening position to each speaker should closely match the distance between your Streambar or Smart Soundbar and your listening position. This helps you to hear sounds from all speakers at the same level, regardless of the overall volume.
    • Experiment: Watch a few action scenes from a movie or TV show and listen for sound coming from the rear left and right speakers. Move each speaker closer or farther away from where you sit until sounds distinctly move between the left and right speakers, giving the illusion of movement. Continue experimenting with locations until you like how the surround effects sound.

    Check here for more tips on the best placement for my Roku wireless speakers.

    We hope this helps with your concern. Please get back to us if you need more assistance. 

    Regards,
    Emman

    • mistermarcy's avatar
      mistermarcy
      Newbie
      10 months ago

      This is not at all what the user was describing. When you fix the issues that prevent 90% of sound coming from the L and R speakers, eg. once they are re-added as Front speakers and not Rear and you've messed around with the Music vs. Standard and Stereo vs. Passthrough and ALL THAT, the actual Roku Streambar that previous issued 90% of all sound and served as subwoofer, now puts out NOTHING. It's just a BIG Roku unit, not using its speaker.

      This isn't a difficult question or ask from customers: we want to place the Streambar near the TV as the main sound. IDENTICAL SOUND should pump through EACH SPEAKER, using MONO sound, which allows the user to set up their own MONO surround sound speakers. This isn't the product nor the forum for audiophiles; we want sound, throughout the place so we don't have to crank the sound and bass up to ungodly levels just to Kind Of get what we paid for. 

    • Judy43's avatar
      Judy43
      Reel Rookie
      10 months ago

      This response is not to the question asked.  Neither the bar or the speakers are "on their side". 

      Repro:

      1). set up sound bar. 

      2). add 2 speakers

      3). Set speakers to "Front" 

      Expected behavior:  soundbar and both speakers PLAY identical "front" sound (full sound, not the background sounds).

      Actual behavior:  soundbar does not play (no sound),  2 speakers play "front" found. 

       

      There is no reason to have 2 speakers for background sound in my scenario. 

      I need them to play FRONT sound ... and ... have the sound bar ALSO play FRONT sound. 

      Is there a workaround?  

      Do I just return the 2 speakers? 

      • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
        RokuEmmanuel-D
        Community Moderator
        10 months ago

        Hi, Judy43 and mistermarcy.

        Thanks for stopping by here in the Roku Community!

        We apologize for the misinformation about the setup with the Roku Wireless Speakers and Roku Streambar. No worries; we'll let the team know about this and conduct an investigation to provide you with an accurate resolution.

        To proceed with the investigation, we need additional information about the devices involved in this problem: 

        • Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and OS version. (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
        • Tracker ID (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button five times, followed by the Back button five times, and provide us with this ID)
        • Wireless speaker model and serial number

        We are anticipating your prompt response.

        All the best,
        Emman

    • Nail1940's avatar
      Nail1940
      Channel Surfer
      5 months ago

      That doesn’t solve the problem he is talking about!!!