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how does alexa work on sonos one with sonos amp in group mode

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
December 3, 2018
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If I buy a sonos one to control a sonos amp and I put them in group mode and I ask alexa a question, will alexa answer in both the sonos one and the sonos amp? Ideally, I would like to put them in group mode, turn the sonos one volume all the way down (so that the sonos one sound doesn't confuse the sound in the room coming from amp and my main speakers), and then be able to control what the sonos amp plays (or says) by using alexa in the sonos one? Effectively, this would be the same thing as having alexa built into the sonos amp (rather than merely having alexa "work with" the sonos amp). Does this work? Any downside to doing this other than cost?

Alan

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Best answer by melvimbe

If I buy a sonos one to control a sonos amp and I put them in group mode and I ask alexa a question, will alexa answer in both the sonos one and the sonos amp?

No, only the Sonos One (or whatever alexa enabled device you use) will respond to your question.

Ideally, I would like to put them in group mode, turn the sonos one volume all the way down (so that the sonos one sound doesn't confuse the sound in the room coming from amp and my main speakers), and then be able to control what the sonos amp plays (or says) by using alexa in the sonos one?

If you don't intend to use the Sonos One to play music, you're better off getting an echo or an echo dot. As far as Alexa control of your Sonos Amp goes, there is no difference. Whatever you use, only that speaker can respond to you, but one is just cheaper than the other.

There is a new feature recently rolled out so that you would be able to set your Amp as the preferred speaker for your Echo. In this way, any music request would automatically play through the amp with out specifying your Amp by name.

melvimbeAnswer

If I buy a sonos one to control a sonos amp and I put them in group mode and I ask alexa a question, will alexa answer in both the sonos one and the sonos amp?

No, only the Sonos One (or whatever alexa enabled device you use) will respond to your question.

Ideally, I would like to put them in group mode, turn the sonos one volume all the way down (so that the sonos one sound doesn't confuse the sound in the room coming from amp and my main speakers), and then be able to control what the sonos amp plays (or says) by using alexa in the sonos one?

If you don't intend to use the Sonos One to play music, you're better off getting an echo or an echo dot. As far as Alexa control of your Sonos Amp goes, there is no difference. Whatever you use, only that speaker can respond to you, but one is just cheaper than the other.

There is a new feature recently rolled out so that you would be able to set your Amp as the preferred speaker for your Echo. In this way, any music request would automatically play through the amp with out specifying your Amp by name.

Danny

A

asinshAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Ah, that new feature is exactly what I was looking for, thanks! I already have an old echo (first generation)...is the new feature available for all echoes or just newer ones? Is it a feature enabled in the alexa app or in the sonos app?

Now if only I didn't have to specify Pandora in order to avoid Alexa assuming I mean amazon prime music 😉

jgatie

Ah, that new feature is exactly what I was looking for, thanks! I already have an old echo (first generation)...is the new feature available for all echoes or just newer ones? Is it a feature enabled in the alexa app or in the sonos app?

Now if only I didn't have to specify Pandora in order to avoid Alexa assuming I mean amazon prime music ;)

Available on all Echos, set via the Alexa app.

You can also set Pandora as the default stations service, and if you have Pandora Premium, you can set it as the default library service. Then you will not have to specify Pandora in the Alexa request.

A

asinshAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Wonderful. Thanks to both of you!

melvimbe

Ah, that new feature is exactly what I was looking for, thanks! I already have an old echo (first generation)...is the new feature available for all echoes or just newer ones? Is it a feature enabled in the alexa app or in the sonos app?

Now if only I didn't have to specify Pandora in order to avoid Alexa assuming I mean amazon prime music ;)

It should be on all echos, as I think the software change is in the cloud. In the Alexa app, create/update an Alexa group (the icon is on the buttom right to see all your smart devices and groups.). When you have a specific group in setup, you'll have a section for specify the echo(s) for the group, and down a the bottom, you can specify preferred speaker. You'll see your Sons speakers list there. The app lets you select multiple speakers, which seems to work for some users but not others. It's very new, so perhaps it's not all worked out yet.

Danny

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asinshAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Thanks. Last question (I think): Is there any drawback to using echo to control in this way? For example, will streaming become less dependable or somehow lower quality (or take noticeably longer to react) if I use echo in this way since I assume that echo rather than sonos will be responsible for streaming from the outside (and that means two streams rather than one)? Or will it be pretty seamless?

jgatie

Thanks. Last question (I think): Is there any drawback to using echo to control in this way? For example, will streaming become less dependable or somehow lower quality (or take noticeably longer to react) if I use echo in this way since I assume that echo rather than sonos will be responsible for streaming from the outside (and that means two streams rather than one)? Or will it be pretty seamless?

Actually, the Sonos is still streaming directly from the source. So no problem there. The Echo is just telling it what to stream, just like any other Sonos controller. There are times when the default Alexa radio station link may not be the same as the default Sonos one, but they are few and far between, and the quality differences may better or worse for each. But this is a TuneIn thing.

The only true drawback may be only the music is played over the Connect:Amp. All Alexa replies, answers, reports, etc., will come out of the Echo. That is a drawback for some (I happen to prefer it that way).

A

asinshAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Got it, thanks. Personally, I would prefer that alexa answers come out of the amp (not just music) but it's not a big deal, so this is a pretty good setup for me.

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