Is your setup connected to the Apple TV over AirPlay? How exactly did you have it connected over ethernet? How close is the base station to the Sonos devices? How exactly are your Sonos Amps being used? Is one Amp set up as surrounds for the other Amp?

No, one of the Sonos Amp is connected to the Apple TV with an HDMI cord. The Apple TV is also connected to the Ethernet with an Ethernet cord. The base station and Sonos device is within 10 feet of each other and using Speedtest.net, it shows >300Mbps speed where the Sonos is at.

The first Sonos Amp is used for front 2 ceiling speakers. The second Amp is used for back 2 ceiling speakers. I also have a Sub that is connected wirelessly.

The strange thing is that I get the most cut outs when I use Ethernet to connect the front speaker Sonos Amp to the Nest Wifi. When I unplug the Ethernet to use wifi for the Sonos, the cut outs are less frequent (although still happens from time to time). I have factory reset both Sonos Amps which has not fixed the problem.

Thank you.

Are you saying that you are connecting an Apple TV directly to the Sonos Amp’s HDMI ARC port without using a TV? Usually in a home theater setup, the TV connects to the first Amp’s HDMI ARC port and the Apple TV is connected to one of the TV’s HDMI ports.

Is the second Amp bonded to the first Amp as surrounds in a home theater setup or are you just grouping the two Amps together in the Sonos app?

Do you experience any audio cut outs when streaming music to the Amps from the Sonos app?

When you are connecting the first Amp with an ethernet cable, is it connected to the main Nest Wifi router or one of the Nest Wifi points?

Is there any difference if the Apple TV is connected wirelessly?

Yes, the Sonos Amp HDMI port is actually connected directly to my Samsung TV. That TV is then connected to my Apple TV thru the HDMI port.

The 2 Amps are grouped together in the Sonos app. It is not linked together directly.

We don’t play too much music on our Sonos Amp ceiling speakers, but I can’t recall having any cut outs with music.

Yes, the Amp is connected to the main Nest Wifi (not one of the points) by Ethernet.

I have not tried connecting the Apple TV wirelessly.

Thanks

Hi @Chucky K 

Grouping for TV audio via HDMI is not supported - it may work, but rarely flawlessly.

Normally, when playing music, the room in charge of the group (listed first) will pre-buffer the stream (even if it’s from Line In) prior to playing and sharing it on the network for other rooms. This allows the grouped rooms to be told at what exact moment they should play data they already have (due to the buffer) and so everything plays together and in sync.

When you group to play an HDMI/Optical source, the Sonos device getting the stream from the TV will play it immediately, this time to stay in sync with the TV picture. Thus, there is no pre-buffering done before transmitting on the network and grouped rooms are at the mercy of network performance from moment to moment. Reducing traffic from other devices will help matters, but by how much is impossible for me to say. I would expect an ethernet connection for both rooms to give the best results.

What to take away from of all this is that if you can play a music stream that you’d normally play on Apple TV from the Sonos app instead, you will get much better results doing so. As for video content, telling the Apple TV to AirPlay audio to the two rooms may yield better results than HDMI as the Apple TV will delay the picture enough that buffering of the audio can be performed. Do the buffering at the source, essentially.

I hope this helps but even if not, you will at least have a better understanding of what’s happening and why.