> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.somosincontrol.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Speaker Setup: Home Theater Bonding and Stereo Pairs

> Bond surrounds, separate front speakers and up to two Subs to a soundbar, or create and separate stereo pairs — all from inside Somos InControl.

Somos InControl can build your rooms as well as control them. Press and hold the room diagram on any room page to open the setup sheet for that room: **Home Theater Setup** on a soundbar, or the **Stereo Pair** sheet on a single speaker or an existing pair.

<Warning>
  Before assigning a speaker, make sure it is completely standalone — not in a group, not in a stereo pair, and not bonded to another soundbar. Sonos® refuses to bond a speaker that is still attached to something else. If a configuration fails, the app automatically returns your system to its previous setup.
</Warning>

## Home Theater Setup (soundbars)

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the sheet">
    On the soundbar's page, press and hold the room diagram.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill the slots you have">
    The sheet lists six slots: **Front Left**, **Front Right**, **Surround Left**, **Surround Right**, **Subwoofer** and **Subwoofer 2**. Tap a slot and choose from the standalone speakers on your network. Sub slots only offer Subs. The **flash** button beside each candidate pulses that speaker's status light so you can tell which is which; by default it also plays a short identify tone, which you can turn off with **Play a tone when identifying**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mind the front-speaker rule">
    Fronts must be assigned as a pair — both or neither — and the app checks this when you apply. Surrounds and Subs can be assigned on their own. Tapping **×** on an assignment clears just that slot.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Apply and wait">
    Tap **Apply**. The app sends the configuration and waits roughly 75 seconds while the firmware rebonds the speakers — the sheet shows the countdown. The room diagram updates when it settles.
  </Step>
</Steps>

To take everything off the bar, tap **Remove All Speakers**, or remove speakers one at a time with **×** and then **Apply**. Released speakers reappear as their own rooms (Sonos® can take up to a minute), and the app offers to rename them as they come back.

### Separate front speakers

Somos InControl lets you bond separate front left and right speakers to a soundbar — something the official Sonos® app doesn't offer. Know the trade-off before you do: the soundbar becomes the centre channel and some of its own drivers go quiet, the fronts receive steered channels rather than their own Atmos feed, and **Trueplay becomes unavailable** while fronts are bonded. The app shows a **Before You Add Fronts** warning the first time; you can tick *don't show again*.

## Stereo pairs

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Create a pair">
    On a single speaker's page, press and hold the diagram. The **Stereo Pair** sheet seeds the held speaker and lets you pick a partner from the standalone speakers of the **same model** on your network. The two appear as cards — the top card is the **left** channel; drag to swap them. Tap **Apply** to pair.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Separate a pair">
    On a stereo pair's page, press and hold the diagram and tap **Separate stereo pair**. Both speakers come back as their own rooms, and the app offers to rename them.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Note>
  The hold does nothing on a single speaker that has no same-model partner available on the network — there's nothing to pair it with.
</Note>

## Things to know

* **Trueplay after bonding.** Sonos® firmware blocks Trueplay on a bar with separate fronts. Run Trueplay in the official Sonos® app before adding fronts if you want it, and expect it to read *Unavailable* afterwards.
* **A released speaker doesn't come back.** Sonos® can hold a stale bond until the speaker restarts. Unplug it for 10 seconds and plug it back in.
* **The diagram didn't update.** Pull down on the room page; the app also resyncs every 30 seconds or so.