Apple says we can have surround sound with the Apple 4kTV I would like to use the Apple Products as my sound output! I do not want to add a receiver with 3rd party products. I have two HomePod minis and a homePod how do I connect to have surround sound?
With an Apple TV 4k you can set up the big HomePod to home theatre using the default audio setting. You cannot set the minis to stay as the default audio at this time. See: Set up home theater audio with HomePod and Apple TV 4K - Apple Support (CA)
However you can still use all of them to AirPlay to:
You can send audio from Apple TV to one or more AirPlay 2–enabled devices (such as HomePod and other smart speakers and TVs) connected to the same network in your home. You can also send audio from AirPlay 2 speakers like HomePod to Apple TV.
Before you start, make sure you’ve set up your devices in the Home app on an iOS, iPadOS, or macOS (Catalina or later) device. For more information, see the iPhone User Guide.
button on the Siri Remote to open Control Center, then select the Audio Controls button 
. in an app, select it.
So look at this article https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/how-to-pair-homepod-mini-with-apple-tv/ it seems we might all be using differing terminology. It seems it's possible to set up a stereo pair, but not full fledged Dolby Atmosphere, using HomePod mini.
The page here https://www.apple.com/homepod-mini/ also notes setting up a stereo pair. I guess I'm not sure of the difference between that and the HomePod Dolby pair outside of perhaps sound "quality" or "immersiveness."
User guide at https://support.apple.com/guide/homepod/use-homepod-with-apple-tv-4k-apdd878f126c/homepod
You can still find big HomePods in other stores like Best Buy and as I said above you can still use the minis with your Apple TV, it’s just not the home theatre set up. You would need to manually select them each time you go on Apple TV. I use my mini and big HomePods on Apple TV. I’ve also done home theatre on just the big ones and quite frankly it sounded the same as AirPlaying to me, It’s possible (maybe) home theatre will be featured with the minis in the future. We don’t know and Apple doesn’t release such info.
Apple stopped selling HomePod and when I called sales the person told me minis would give me surround sound. Why would Apple take that option away from someone after innately offering it. So what you are saying is Apple once offered surround sound but when they the HomePod minis came out suddlny no offer for surround on their Apple TV . Just so everyone knows I first bought the HomePod to see if I liked the sound. I enjoyed the sound tremendously and my wife gave me the ok to buy another HomePod I was so excited! But then when I called several weeks ago I found out they discontinued the HomePod. So I started looking for an option and to my surprise a sales person said I could use the Minis in conjunction with my HomePod. For the first time Apple has really let me down in over 30 years of doing business with Apple. I just want a simple solution to have all apple surround sound. in my small Living room!
To me it’s more of a convenience setting to use default audio. People complained they had to select the HomePods each time they went on Apple TV. To a true audiophile perhaps it’s superior but to me I couldn’t tell the difference . If you’re just looking to enhance the sound of your tv volume and run it through HomePods, the AirPlay method works. IMO
Having said that, the big HomePods are far superior to the minis! I bought another at Best Buy before they we’re all gone.
You cannot; well, not with your setup. You would need two HomePods (HomePod minis will not work).
Visit https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207705 for details
How to get surround sound with 2 HomePod minis and A HOMEPOD
