Playbase optical cable

It should just pop out. It may require a little force to get it to "unlatch", but it's just exactly the same connector at both ends of the cable. Make sure that you're pulling straight out, with no up, down or side to side vector.

I have the same issue. It "should" come out but it won't. And I don't want to damage my TV or Playbase. Do I have to pull it with pliers!?

I'm wondering if you have to pull it with pliers if it wasn't inserted in the correct orientation originally. There's definitely an up and down to that connection.

It was installed correctly. It just won't release with finger pressure - I couldn't get any movement from either end of the cable.
I've been experiencing sound from the playbase just stopping - I have to pause & play to get it to come back on. Only happened on TV so I wanted to test it with a regilular set of optical speakers to see if it is the playbase, or the tv. Without being able to remove the cable I couldn't test it.
I have read that the playbase has sound cut out issues too - or I would definitely suspect the tv. But if I use regular audio cables I have no sound cut out issues from the tv.
I really like the playbase sound and being able to ply music etc - so I'm hoping a sonos software update will relieve the sound cut outs (assuming it is the sonos in the first place). I'll be patient.

Sorry - meant to say playbar has had reports of sound cut-outs.

Hmm. That connection should really, really pull out with just finger pressure, IMHO. It's just a standard optical connector, there's nothing special about it. Same thing as what goes in to the TV. Perhaps remove the end that goes into the TV, grab a spare optical cable, and do your test that way?

I've had 2 Playbars for a couple of years, and the only issue I've seen is that occasionally the TV doesn't initialize the data stream going out of the optical properly. This happens mostly when I first turn on the TV, or switch from a non-HD to HD channel....on one of my TVs. The other one doesn't show this behaviour.

To my knowledge, the playbar/playbase is a "dumb" device, i.e. it plays whatever is fed to it. So when I hear about dropouts, etc, my first inclination is to suspect the data stream being fed to it through the optical cable, or the optical cable itself. In the case of Samsung, in particular, I think the fact that they've had a firmware update to some of their TVs indicates that they weren't sending a "pure" dolby digital signal to the Playbar. That being said, I also think that the Sonos firmware/interpreter isn't terribly tolerant of errors, which may cause some issues.

Not sure any of this really helps you, but thanks for the discussion. And I'd be tempted, once that optical cable is pulled out of the TV and give you better access to the back of the Playbase, to grab it with a pair of pliers, and just pull it straight out, without any sideways motion so that you don't destroy the jack in the playbase. Then I'd use a different optical cable.

As an aside, I'm not a fan of expensive optical cables. It's a digital signal, so either it will get through, or not. I tend to buy RCA optical cables, when I have to. Certainly never, ever Monster Cables. But that's just me. 🙂

Thank you. Your reply makes sense. I have a Sony TV just fyi. I've decided to just roll with it for now, until it gets so annoying that I tackle the removal and replacement of the optical cable. Will follow your advice on replacement. Since the Playbase only has the optical feed, I don't think there are any other connectivity paths I could use alternatively. But I'll look into that. I appreciate your comments and expect if there is a firmware issue that might resolve the cut-outs that Sonos will be working on it.

Ah, yes. Back many years ago, I had several Sony TVs (used to work for them, got an employee discount!) and in a couple of cases, I had to update the firmware on them. Back then, it was before "connected" TVs, so it required downloading the data onto a USB, and then plugging the USB into the TV. I may not be remembering correctly, but I think I had to stand on my head, too. In any case, it's much easier to do these days. :)

I'd certainly recommend checking to see if there are any updates available for your TV, it's always a safe and relatively easy thing to do. And if you do continue to have issues, I'd submit a system diagnostic and post the number here, or call in to talk to someone on the phone.

Best of luck!