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hi all



i'm trying to add a Sonos One to my existing system, for 2 reasons: 1) first and foremost, to add a device that is compatible with alexa (all my other existing devices are not), and 2) to add an additional speaker to my system (why not?).



The problem is that when i added the sonos one and tried to add it to an existing room, all other rooms other than the one i wanted to add it to appeared as choices. The existing room (my living room) has two existing play 3s (paired together i think), a subwoofer and a playbar. does any of this preclude me adding the new speaker alongside these devices? (and is therefore a reason why this room did not appear?).



i know that i can group rooms so the advice of 'just call it x and then group it with your living room' is (partly) valid. But this workaround causes some additional problems - for example, when i use alexa to play a song in the living room, i then have to manually group it with the room the sonos one has been allocated to each time; or when i play the television - again i need to manually group them, otherwise i don't hear sound through my new speaker (the sonos one).



i've tried turning the sonos one on and off so that i can have another go at adding it to the living room but unfortunately because it has already been recognised it doesn't give me the green flashing light needed.



apologies if i am missing something really obvious, or trying to achieve something not possible.



many thanks in advance.



ps - alexa works really well.
The answer is still call it something different and group. This is not a workaround, it is fundamental to the system's design. Rooms are labels for certain specified combinations of speakers (or individual speakers, of course).



As of very recently you can use Alexa groups with Sonos to achieve what you want without manual grouping.
thanks. do i do that in the alexa app? i can see something called sonos groups. at present all my speakers are in there, not just the ones we are talking about. apologies if i'm making an obvious mistake.
This really helpful contribution from a fellow user should set you on the right path.



https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/an-overview-and-explanation-of-the-new-support-for-alexa-grouping-6817788/index1.html
really helpful in the loosest sense of the expression. i guess it failing to work by line one might be considered a shortcoming. anyone else?
If you cannot set the controlling device (i.e. the Alexa enabled device for the group), then the newest release has not been rolled out to you yet. Amazon rolls things out in batches.



But that won't stop you from creating the group. Name it "Living Room" or something unique.



Then edit the group and add the Sonos speakers you wish to be in the group. They will be the little speaker icons with names matching your Sonos Rooms.



Now set the same Sonos speakers to be "Preferred Speakers" at the bottom of the group edit screen.



Save and exit.



Now say "Alexa play (music selection) on (group name)". Sonos will group all the speakers you added in the Preferred Speakers section and begin playing.



Later, when Amazon rolls out the newest functions, you can set the Sonos One as the "Alexa enabled device" for the group. That way, you can just say "Alexa, play (music selection)" and it will play on the group.
that worked a treat, thanks. i'm really impressed that you worked out why it wasn't working for me. very, very smart thinking - thanks again.
Glad to be of help. Also, it wasn't me who figured it out. Another user was hip to the partial rollout and filled us all in.



Enjoy your Sonos!
Can I just follow up on this please? Is it the case that an Alexa enabled device can only be used in one group? In other words this is the reason why I can’t then set up another group to include the same device? Also, if I have a group called ‘everyone’, which includes speakers based outside of the room in which the Alexa enabled speaker resides, should I be able to use this to ‘intercom’ downstairs (where there are no Alexa enabled speakers but there are Sonos speakers)? I’m currently not getting any sound through these downstairs speakers when I try to do this. Is it because I need a separate Alexa enabled device for each room? Thanks in advance.
You can only assign each Alexa enabled device to a single room. However, not every room needs to have an Alexa enabled device assigned.
thx - so is it possible to have a voice 'intercom' come through my sonos speakers in a room where there is no assigned alexa device?
Sonos one can't be used for intercom the same way echos can. The feature is not supported. However, you can do 'announcements', which is just recording a message and having it play back on all the alexa devices in the house. It's not two way communication. I have not tested it, but I don't think that will work with Alexa group/preferred speakers...and it looks like it doesn't work for you.



If this is important enough to you, I'd look at adding echo dots to your rooms. You can pair them with a Sonos room pretty seamlessly now. And you can have the volume dip on the Sonos speakers so that your announcements will be heard on the echo dots.
yes, that's what i was thinking too. they are on offer on amazon at the moment. though delivery is not until mid march. but i wanted to check first that's what i'd need. yes, 'announcements' are a better term than 'intercom'. i want to be able to tell my wife that dinner is ready (and more than happy for her not to be able to reply to me!)
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