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Fred Jones
Contributor I
November 15, 2017
Answered

TV Volume via Amazon Echo Plus and PLAYBASE

  • November 15, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 1605 views
I know you can use Alexa voice control to alter any sonos as it streams music, but can you use it (probably via Echo Plus) to adjust the volume when watching TV? i.e. "Alexa, turn down the TV" once you've established with Alexa you are using the PLAYBASE for the TV sound?

This is pretty much all I want Alexa for because as much as I love my playbase, having to:

-get my phone out,
-unlock it,
-open the app,
-make sure I'm on the right room,
-then turn down the TV

Is not ideal.
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Best answer by melvimbe
I think there are some TVs out there, Sony I think, that can be setup as smart devices with Alexa. Then you can turn on the tv, and such. I would guess you could control volume on the tv, but that's just the tv. The better sonos setup with the tv is to have fixed volume sent to the playbar. Therefore, the Sony smart skill woudn't help you much.

That said though, if you have the Sonos skill enabled, you should be able to say "Alexa, turn down the volume on , where room name is the name of the Sonos zone for your playbar. You couldn't tell it to turn down the tv, because Alexa doesn't know what 'tv' is, or that your playbar zone is connected to it. Then again, maybe you could name your zone 'TV'. Don't know if that would work.

Regardless, I would bet you'll find using your tv/cable remote for volume much more convient then the app or voice control 90% of the time.

4 replies

jgatie
jgatie
November 15, 2017
Not sure of the answer, but did you know you can setup your Playbase so you can control volume via your regular TV/Cable remote?

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4033
Fred JonesAuthor
Contributor I
November 15, 2017
Thanks jgatie, I will definitely try that.
Fred JonesAuthor
Contributor I
November 15, 2017
I tried this, and it looked promising, when setting it up, it recognised the first time, but then asked me to press the volume up button 3 times, I could see the light on the playbase react but the app said it "no button press has been detected." 😞
melvimbe
melvimbeAnswer
November 15, 2017
I think there are some TVs out there, Sony I think, that can be setup as smart devices with Alexa. Then you can turn on the tv, and such. I would guess you could control volume on the tv, but that's just the tv. The better sonos setup with the tv is to have fixed volume sent to the playbar. Therefore, the Sony smart skill woudn't help you much.

That said though, if you have the Sonos skill enabled, you should be able to say "Alexa, turn down the volume on , where room name is the name of the Sonos zone for your playbar. You couldn't tell it to turn down the tv, because Alexa doesn't know what 'tv' is, or that your playbar zone is connected to it. Then again, maybe you could name your zone 'TV'. Don't know if that would work.

Regardless, I would bet you'll find using your tv/cable remote for volume much more convient then the app or voice control 90% of the time.
Danny
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