Sonos Beam Now Available - Setup and Useful information

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Sonos Beam, the smart, compact soundbar for your TV is now available. Play music, TV, movies, podcasts, radio, audiobooks and video games with rich, detailed sound that fills the entire room. We've collected some of the best resources for the Beam in this thread so that it'll help you find the answers you might be looking for. Find out more on our announcement post here.







Setting up, Requirements, and Basics of Beam



For full details on our setup, HDMI-ARC, how to control your TV with Alexa. and check out our page here.



In short, Beam connects to your TV’s HDMI-ARC port. Most TVs have two to four HDMI ports, so make sure you're using the one labeled ARC, which stands for Audio Return Channel. This connection syncs audio and picture, plus automatically pairs your TV remote to Beam. If you’re unsure if your TV has the right connections, consult your TV manufacturer’s specs.



If your TV is older than 5 years, or otherwise doesn't have an HDMI-ARC port, you can use the included optical audio adapter to connect Beam to the optical port on your TV. Note, Amazon Alexa TV voice commands will not work when connected via the optical adapter.



Beam plays audio from PCM stereo and Dolby Digital sources. When using HDMI-ARC, Beam will automatically request Dolby Digital 5.1 from the device it's connected to, which should convert Dolby formats for the best sound.



Wall mounting Beam

You can easily and securely mount Sonos Beam using our custom designed wall mount. The wall mount comes in all white or black and is designed with 1 inch/2.5 cm of clearance from the wall to achieve the best acoustics. Sonos Beam also supports a range of certified third-party accessories that you can find on Sonos.com.



How does Sonos Beam differ from Playbar and Playbase?



Sonos Beam is the first Sonos speaker for home theater that supports voice control and AirPlay 2. It uses HDMI-ARC to connect to your television and supports CEC to work with your existing remote. Sonos Beam is a more compact speaker and can fit almost anywhere. Playbar and Playbase have more drivers, so they produce a louder sound with more width and bass. Beam is optimized for small to mid-sized rooms, whereas Playbar and Playbase are capable of filling large spaces.



The Playbar does not support AirPlay 2.



Sonos Beam with Alexa



Sonos Beam has Alexa built-in. Beam listens for commands to start music and content with Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio and Audible; commands to control music from other services started with the Sonos app, plus requests for popular Alexa features like “What’s my Flash Briefing?” or “What’s the weather?” or “Play Song Quiz.”

Sonos Beam can also control devices through Alexa skills. In addition, Sonos has certified partnerships with smart home systems like Wink and Lutron. Based on your setup, commands to control various smart devices throughout your home will work. Possibilities include “Set temperature to 68,” and “Turn Living Room lights on.”



Controlling your TV and home with Alexa and Beam

For compatible TV’s, Sonos Beam introduces commands specific to TV use, including “Turn on the TV” and “Turn off the TV”. Sonos Beam also takes commands such as “Turn it up” and “Mute” and applies them to the TV volume.



Sonos Beam must be connected to your TV’s HDMI-ARC input and your TV has to support these CEC features. You can check which CEC features your TV supports with the manufacturer. Amazon Alexa voice control for your TV will not work if Sonos Beam is connected via the optical adapter.



Where available, you can use Sonos Beam with Alexa-enabled video streaming devices such as Fire TV. Once linked, you can control those services with Sonos Beam by saying “Play Catastrophe,” “Switch to ESPN,” or “Tune to channel 500”. If you’ve logged into Netflix or added HBO shows on your Fire TV, you’ll be able to play shows by name, e.g. “Play Stranger Things” or “Play Game of Thrones”. For steps to set up the Amazon Fire TV with Sonos, check out the article here.



If you're playing music and you need Beam to start playing the TV input, just ask "Alexa, switch to TV," and the source will change on the Beam.



TV requirements, recommendations for Sonos Beam?



Sonos Beam was designed primarily to be used with televisions via HDMI-ARC but will also connect with TVs that do not support HDMI-ARC by using an included optical adapter. For the best overall experience with Sonos Beam, we recommend pairing with a TV that supports HDMI-ARC and has full CEC capabilities. We don't have any official recommendations but feel free to make your own.

See our article here on television compatibility for Sonos home theater speakers.



If you're seeing a message about receiving unsupported audio on your home theater speaker, this thread is a great starting point.



Using Beam with your television remote

Beam has an IR receiver to pick up commands directly from remotes. When connected with HDMI-ARC supporting CEC, Sonos Beam automatically connects with your existing remotes - TV, cable box, and universal remotes - by sending and receiving commands over HDMI. If you're using the optical adapter to connect Sonos Beam to your television, you may need to program your remote to work with Sonos Beam.
CEC is something completely different from ARC - CEC allows you to command and control other CEC enabled devices connected through HDMI - like your DVD player to turn on TV and change its output over HDMI, or PlayStation to power and change inputs on AV receiver. I guess Sonos assumes that you have just one audio output, what is wrong in case of bluetooth headphones. I disagree with that turning on/off simplink is a not big deal - it is like recommendation that when you want to connect to Internet through Ethernet cable you should turn off whole wifi on a router. This issue is analogous to network problem where one device is not listening to DHCP protocol to get its IP address and it ignores it and sets IP address to whatever it wants, creating conflicts on network.





ARC is just Audio Return Channel (you need enabled CEC to use it) - TV may have one HDMI-ARC which acts for splitting audio, but all other HDMI are using CEC. I can control audio on TV through volume control on bluetooth headset, so probably TV is including as another CEC audio device.





To be honest, I don't know exactly what the problem is, but if others say, that other soundbars work fine and it has problem with multiple TV manufactures, Sonos needs to revise its assumptions, fix it or write in technical spec that Beam doesn't work with bluetooth headphones - "the workaround" currently is to disconnect Beam (either pulling out HDMI cable out, or turning off CEC which disables Beam) and that is not a proper solution.





I wouldn't say its huge issue, but CEC is protocol for multiple devices and Sonos cannot just bend it to its own liking assuming it's the only connected device. If I switch HDMI input from Playstation to Apple TV, Playstation is also not switching back assuming that it is the only device connected to TV.
VeeTee,





Would connecting the Beam via the TV Optical-out perhaps resolve the Bluetooth headphone issue for you? Is that perhaps another answer here?... like I say mine is fine because I use a Bluetooth base station to my headphone socket, so that’s also a way to resolve this matter easily. It’s not really a matter to advise people to not purchase a Beam as your original post suggested. I own an LG TV and Beam and mine is working fine with my type of Bluetooth headphones.
I have tried optical and its not working for me - I can't control volume with apple TV remote or LG remote through optical (I have no idea why). Turning off Simplink is not ideal, but I can live it - I just think I am not the only one with this problem, a lot of people are living in flats and with rising number of bluetooth headsets that connect to phones, a lot of them will also like to use headphones in night and won't be happy with this current situation.





I think if Sonos team looks into it, they'll find some solution...
I’m not sure what I am doing wrong but I cannot control the voice volume of Alexa, when I say Alexa it is very loud I have tried several times to tell her to set her volume or ask her what volume she is set at which she answers I’m sorry I couldn’t get volume information. I know you are suppose to be able to set her volume between 1-10 but nothing happens when I say Alexa set volume to 2 ..
Hi, I have just bought an nvidia shield and run into the issue with it not converting netflix dolby digital plus to dolby digital. This means that my old sony home theater in a box which only receives optical from the tv will only get stereo from the shield (connection is shield over hdmi to tv > tv optical out sony amp). The TV has no issue passing 5.1 on the optical and does so for dolby digital and dts.





So... I was looking at options to upgrade my old home theater. Was considering playbar but as optical only it would hit the same issue. However the beam with hdmi arc suggests that it may get around this and provide 5.1 from the shield. Has anyone tried this and can confirm if the beam requests dolby digital instead of just failing to decode dd+ from netflix?
I am having issues using Beam with my Samsung QE49Q7C. After following various bits of advice on here I managed to get it all working. I had to pull the power plug on the TV and power up with just the Beam connected to get it to recognise the Sonos as an HDMI Home Theatre. Once connected it works fine for a day or so through several power up and downs, and then for no obvious reason the Beam will no longer see the TV and the TV doesn't recognise the Beam on power up - all the other connected CEC devices are recognised and work perfectly. If I pull the HDMI on the Beam and reconnect the TV searches and finds it as a Home Theatre, but the Beam will not connect to the TV over CEC/ARC and won't play TV audio. I have to pull the power plug on the TV and pull the Beam HDMI, power up and turn on the TV and then replug the Beam HDMI for it to be recognised on both devices. This is really frustrating! Why does it work one day but not the next?
The TV is losing the handshake on CEC. I'd be checking to see if there was some sort of firmware/software update for the TV set. You'd be losing any other device, not just the Sonos, that's connected via CEC.
That is the thing. I am only losing handshake with the Sonos. All other devices are working fine.
Nigel F,





Perhaps try removing, or turning off CEC control, on any of your other connected devices. I have seen that suggested by other users, just leave it enabled for the Beam. Other devices I’ve seen mentioned that have caused issues are Amazon Firestick, PlayStation etc.
I have a volume level problem between TV and music audio. TV is a Samsung ks8000 55.


TV is low so I have to increase volume.


Then I switch off TV.


Later I want to listen to music... Start music.... And boom!


Music is very loud compared to TV sound.


Any ideas?


Thank you


Camillo
Thanks @Ken_Griffiths - it seems it was the PlayStation 4. Turned off HDMI control in the PS4 settings and no issues since.





Nigel F,





Perhaps try removing, or turning off CEC control, on any of your other connected devices. I have seen that suggested by other users, just leave it enabled for the Beam. Other devices I’ve seen mentioned that have caused issues are Amazon Firestick, PlayStation etc.

I have a volume level problem between TV and music audio. TV is a Samsung ks8000 55.


TV is low so I have to increase volume.


Then I switch off TV.


Later I want to listen to music... Start music.... And boom!


Music is very loud compared to TV sound.


Any ideas?


Thank you


Camillo






Hi,





Did you ever get this sorted?





Thanks in advance





Geoff
I just purchased the beam and I am having trouble getting any sound from from the beam to my Samsung tv. I have tried the optical connection with no luck, when I Plug into the HDMI/ARC all sound goes off on the tv and no sound on the beam. I have been a sonos owner for several years and have never had any issue setting up and connecting my sound bar, base or speakers. Any suggestions?
Folkessr,





Did you turn on anynet+ on your TV and check the sound output was set to Dolby Digital rather than DTS.? You may need to check your TV manual and/or audio settings.
Yes, I went to anynet+ and it started searching and in its search, tuner and Sonos beam came up but when it finished it said nothing was connected.
Yes, I went to anynet+ and it started searching and in its search, tuner and Sonos beam came up but when it finished it said nothing was connected.What TV model is it, or do you have a link to its online user-manual?