Amazon Alexa: Backwards compatible with existing Sonos speakers

  • 5 October 2017
  • 11 replies
  • 4471 views

When it was first mentioned last year that Sonos was going to team up with Amazon to allow Alexa your music, it was stated that it would be backwards compatible with existing Sonos speakers. This was also re-iterated when there was a sale of Sonos speakers earlier in the year. So could someone advise me on how I upgrade my existing speakers to understand Alexa's commands. Thanks

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11 replies

https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/new-to-sonos-or-alexa-how-to-set-up-6791327


It's one of the threads at the top of this forum.

And to be clear, and maybe I'm misreading what your saying, but Sonos speakers don't understand Alexa's commands directly. You speak the command to an Alexa enabled device, then the command goes through the cloud to sonos.
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You'll need an Echo device of some kind. Simply add the Sonos skill in the Alexa app on your smartphone and your Sonos devices will appear as devices for Alexa — this allows you to redirect commands such as "Play ... in the Kitchen".
What if I want to hear Alexa's responses (such as to my shopping requests, to-do lists, timers, alarm clock, weather) through my Sonos?

Impossible?

I think this integration really has been fraudulently marketed.
What if I want to hear Alexa's responses (such as to my shopping requests, to-do lists, timers, alarm clock, weather) through my Sonos?

Impossible?

I think this integration really has been fraudulently marketed.


Where was it marketed that "voice control" of Sonos speakers meant "Alexa voice responses" through Sonos speakers?
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They said Alexa will be able to control all Sonos speakers and t is 100% true. Alexa controls the speakers. You have to have an alexa device though. Alexa speaks through the speaker within the Alexa not via the Sonos speaker.

Everything Sonos has said has been 100% accurate. You speak to Alexa and control all your Sonos speakers - every Sonos speaker works with going back to the companies founding. NOT SURE what more you expect. No one said the Sonos unit will become Alexa. Although the new play actually is for the most part.
Haha. It wasn't marketed, in any substantial part, as mere "voice control" of Sonos speakers. It was marketed as Alexa integration with Sonos. The alleged complexity of the engineering here makes no sense if it's just Alexa devices, on my wifi network, interpreting a short and discrete list of commands to ship over to Sonos on the same network. THAT should have been done YEARS ago. What THIS should have been is: your Sonos speakers are useful again because you can dialogue with Alexa with them. (Subject to the fair limitation that you'll need some mic within hearing distance.)

You have to admit that this is a joke, man. Please don't sacrifice your integrity by defending this. You think it's satisfactory to have little Echo Dot pucks dotting a home, with their own tinny speakers, and if I ask about the weather I hear the response on a little tinny speaker, but if I ask for a music cue, it cues my Sonos speaker?
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You are just trying to be difficult for difficulty sake. I have dots throughout my house and use them every day. The speaker on dots are more than adequate to hear alexa voice responses and actually very loud for their size. They don’t do music but that is where the Sonos ability comes to play. I wouldn’t want Alexa responses coming out of my Sonos speaker. Coming out of the dot is fine. And Sonos ducks it’s volume when you are speaking commands to the dot so you can better be understood and you can best hear the alexa units response.

Your credibility is the one being sacrificed here. Best of luck to you.
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It was marketed as Alexa integration with Sonos.

That is voice control. Your interpretation is not reality.

The alleged complexity of the engineering here makes no sense if it's just Alexa devices, on my wifi network, interpreting a short and discrete list of commands to ship over to Sonos on the same network. THAT should have been done YEARS ago.

Heck yea, years ago. It should've shipped before the Echo came out in 2015.

your Sonos speakers are useful again because you can dialogue with Alexa with them.

This is such a bizarre and trivial complaint. First, Sonos One will allow this, and I expect it's going to be built in to most if not all new speakers. Second, the idea that you want to talk toward one device and listen from another is more cumbersome than what it actually does.

Please don't sacrifice your integrity by defending this.

Your lack of comprehension around voice control is rivaled only by your grandstanding.
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Well said Skelton
Wow, I kicked off something here 😉 I haven't logged in for a couple of days, & so hadn't seen the replies. At the time, Sonos hadn't published a how to guide. Yes, I've got an Echo Dot, so hopefully the set up should be plain sailing.
Your question was a good one. Nothing wrong with it all.

@235ca....the kind of integration you want was available the day Echo came out. You can always take the line out from an echo to the line in on Sonos devices that have a line in.

Also, the Alexa device itself does not interpret any commands, other then the wake words. It sends everything to the cloud for interpretation, and then back down to the echo device, or some other companies cloud in the case of smart home devices, for execution. There are a few smart things that an echo can talk to directly, but it's rather limited...which is the reason they are coming out with the Echo Plus. In the case of integrating to Sonos, it definitely is going the 'cloud route'.