AMP - So stoked, but underwelmed by sound quality ;-(

  • 24 August 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 957 views
J

 

Hi All.

I have been a very happy Sonos user for about 13 year.

  • Playbar for my TV - flawless and nice (would be nice if the RF remote to my Samsung could control volume on the Playbar, but I can live with using the IR remote for that)

For Hifi I have been running:

  • Sonos Connect with optical/toslink to
  • Denon AVR-2800
  • KEF XQ20 (great compact speakers)
  • B&W ASW610 Sub

Now I decided it was time to go one step the Sonos ladder, so last week I got myself a Sonos AMP.

That meant cutting away the Denon+ Connect, and going max on user friendliness, something my wife would highly appreciate, while maintaining (what I expected to be) great sound quality coming off the AMPs Class-D amplifier.

When first time powering up the system, my jaw dropped. What a poor experience in terms of sound harmony. The calm and collected, firm, harmonic music experience I have be enjoying the past 2-3 years in our new house with an impressively efficient ceiling was gone. Now I felt something like harsh sounding vocals in nearly all the tunes I played. Being a guitar aficionado I love a good riff from artists like Santana, Gary More, Jeff Golub etc. Now most guitars sound itchy and harsh!

I did loads of reading here on the forum, and the internet In general. I mean - the userbase of Sonos is HUGE. There must be a crowd of people that face the same problem or have at least similar experiences.

This thread was the closest I found someone putting qualified word on what I experienced.

https://en.community.sonos.com/components-228996/sonos-amp-ear-pain-6817649

Especially the part about the DSP signature sounding like it’s tuned towards voices and home theatre. Is that a fact? Did anyone confirm? Does any other firmware exist, that is tuned for Neutral/Hifi?

I would really love to love the Sonos AMP, but right now having used it heavily for 1 week, it just hurts my ears ;-(

Thanks for feedback

Jesper

 

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7 replies

Bumper
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

Have you checked the EQ and adjusted, also toggled the loudness?

The amp has voice enhancement feature that lifts frequencies of people's voice,  that would possibly fit your description but it's only supposed to be applied to the HDMI input when turned on. Might want to check that anyway.

If you can't resolve this I would exchange it as it isn't normal.

J

Hi Bumper

I played with the EQ and loudness settings. It can partly hide the artefacts, but still its quite a bit from my previous older system which sounded more harmonic and pleasing to my ears. Right now I quickly look for the remote, to drop the volume, as the sound is tiering.

It sounds like the software switch for voice enhancement could well be turned on. I have not, and most likely will never, use it for Home theatre. So no HDMI input is used.

Though a bit of a hassle, I could exchange the unit, if I happen to have received a faulty one. But right now I am unfortunately not convinced it is the case, as other seem to have similar experiences - at least based on some reviews, and the thread I made a link for.

Bumper
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

Have you looked at any of the arc sound threads? You seem to be describing the sound issues they are having. I don't see how it could be related but 🤷‍♀️

Another thought, there was a subwoofer output bug that was fixed recently. You've fully updated the amp? I would try disconnecting the sub cable from the amp and try your kef speakers only. 

Call support? But tbh I wouldn't waste my time if you are within your return window.

I am grasping at straws as they say. Hopefully someone else jumps in with some better suggestions.

I really love my amp, hope you get yours fixes.

J

Have you looked at any of the arc sound threads? You seem to be describing the sound issues they are having. I don't see how it could be related but 🤷‍♀️

Another thought, there was a subwoofer output bug that was fixed recently. You've fully updated the amp? I would try disconnecting the sub cable from the amp and try your kef speakers only. 

Call support? But tbh I wouldn't waste my time if you are within your return window.

I am grasping at straws as they say. Hopefully someone else jumps in with some better suggestions.

I really love my amp, hope you get yours fixes.

Hey Bumper

I really appreciate your inputs and the effort you have taken to try to get my AMP experience back on track. 

I hope more Sono-thusiasts will chime in and add their take on the situation. Especially if they have been/are having similar experiences. Perhaps solved the issue either through tweaking or gone for the exchange option?

On the same note, I read somewhere that users that were playing their AMP through speakers fitted with metal-dome-type tweeters, were prone to encounter the harshness issue. Anyone?

Thanks

Jesper

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Class D amps require break-in of about 100 hours.  I have posted on this topic before.

K

Have you checked the EQ and adjusted, also toggled the loudness?

The amp has voice enhancement feature that lifts frequencies of people's voice,  that would possibly fit your description but it's only supposed to be applied to the HDMI input when turned on. Might want to check that anyway.

If you can't resolve this I would exchange it as it isn't normal.

Make sure EQ is flat. And I assume that the Sonos amp is being used as a drop in for Connect+Denon with no other changes up or downstream of it. Make sure that speaker wires are correctly terminated at the amp, using the same logic as used for wiring them to the Denon.

If this does not work, exchange to rule out a defective unit is the next step. In using all kinds of amps for over thirty years, I have not found that any needed break in, so waiting for that to happen and having the return window expire seems to me like a bad call.

S
Userlevel 5
Badge +10

I have no sound quality issues with the Amp and can listen to it all day long.  I’m using Revel M16 speakers and Sonos sub with one rears.  I did knock down the treble a bit but it does seem like break in helps but that could just be my imagination.

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