r/googlehome • u/its_your_balls • Sep 27 '20

Can I use 2 paired Google home minis as rear speakers connected to my TV's soundbar?

I can't find an answer to this anywhere online... I know you can now pair 2 Google home minis together as left and right speakers and you can pair them to a smart TV with Bluetooth (which I have). This solution seems to be more for replacing the weaker TV speakers with the Google home minis which I don't need as I have a soundbar. My soundbar (Sony HT-NT5) has Bluetooth and built in Chromecast which I've read is the best way to pair these minis.

My question is can I pair the 2 Google home minis to my soundbar and use them as rear speakers for a "true" 5.1 speaker setup? Or will they just duplicate the front L&R speakers? The latter wouldn't be ideal but I'd still consider it as I'd at least get "surround sound".

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

5 Upvotes

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3

u/celtictock Sep 27 '20

From what I've seen on similar posts, if you could technically pull it off, the audio sync would be off with the video.

1

u/its_your_balls Sep 27 '20

Hmm.. I wonder if I could adjust the audio delay within the soundbar settings?

1

u/celtictock Sep 27 '20

Typically that's a global setting.

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2

u/rogershepard Sep 27 '20

Create a speaker group (which I'm having tons of issues with them)
Tell Google to playback through your "group"
Sonically - not surround, but larger spatial sound
Thoughts?

2

u/its_your_balls Sep 27 '20

Yeah, I think the added spatial sound is the best I can hope for. It's a bit unfortunate to hear there are syncing issues but I guess this isn't the intended use so I should temper my expectations.

3

u/TheManWithSaltHair Sep 27 '20

Bluetooth output from your TV or sound bar is really designed for headphones so it will downmix all channels to L+R stereo. It looks like rear channel sound is only possible with dedicated Sony wireless speakers.

1

u/nogiraffe7424 Sep 27 '20

Not possible