Feature Request: Allow Sonos Move to pair with Sub

Your response to “frustrating that this isn’t printed in gigantic letters when you buy the Move with the Sub together, as it must be relatively obvious what the intention is.  So, do I just return the whole shebang and buy random wired speakers?” is to explain that it is buried in an FAQ?  And to be clear, the answer in the FAQ is extremely weak.  I am now having an inferior listening experience because I can’t use my $700 Sub.

Good to at least see you have the option to put them in a 5.1 setup.  That does help some, particularly if you are trying to de-clutter the living room and only get the surrounds out on Movie Nights. Though l find my Move so useful around the house, it’s always on charge ready to go on its journey to the bathroom, garage, utility room or wherever l want good music. 
 

Michael

I bought two Moves and a Sub, and they arrived yesterday and today, respectively.  Much to my chagrin the Sub can’t pair with the Moves.  This is strange as hell, and completely unnecessary. It’s also frustrating that this isn’t printed in gigantic letters when you buy the Move with the Sub together, as it must be relatively obvious what the intention is.  So, do I just return the whole shebang and buy random wired speakers?

I feel your frustration.  I again come back to the point that Sonos shouldn’t be dictating HOW we use our products.  If I want to bond a Sub to a pair of Moves, figure out a way to let me without having to buy more unnecessary equipment.  In the meantime, they should absolutely call out in big, bold, red text that the Sub is not bondable to Moves when you’re cart contains both.

I ended up returning the Moves and going with an Amp/Sub combo.  I’m not saying you should do the same but is an option.  Another option, but requires a little more $, is to buy a One or One SL and bond that to the Sub. Then, just group the Moves and One/Sub.  You can leave the One in a permanent place and unplug/plug-in the Sub near your Moves, group the “rooms” and rock out.  Just know that wherever you place the One is going to also be playing.

A suggestion Sonos if you’re paying attention - it would be so nice if Sub didn’t require a “master” at all and was just available to group with any room or rooms.  The grouping already handles the sync between devices so it really isn’t that different.  You’d just need to let us control the level, crossover and phase (like now), just optionally independent of a master device.

I like  Sonos products but I’m really disappointed that the move doesn’t  work with the Sub. I had the Move already and purchased the Sub  I  was going to purchase the ARC sound bar and try to pair the 3 devices together. I think I’m going to hold off  purchasing the ARC and  return the Sub. I will probably buy the AMP  and use my existing speakers.

Posted this Feature Request.  Please help further it along by liking and replying.

I don’t personally think this would work with current hardware - take for example the Sonos Amp being used for TV surround audio - to keep the TV audio in sync with the video on screen the Amp has to use the faster 5ghz WiFi band in a ‘bonded’ setup with its surround speakers.. if the Amp and surrounds were then ‘grouped’ with the sub, it would use the slower 2.4ghz WiFi band (this is what Sonos uses for grouped players - 2.4ghz WiFi has better penetration) and to make them sync over distance there is a (required) minimum 75ms audio buffer .. so in this instance you would either have the following potential problems:

1. Due to grouping over 2.4ghz The sub would become out of sync by 75ms, or so, with the Amp TV audio-out to itself and it’s surrounds.

2. If you were to buffer all the TV audio to make the players play in sync, there will be lip-sync issues with the video on the TV. 
    
3. Bonding with a sub over 5ghz in another location of the home will ‘most probably’ suffer audio dropouts/interference due to the poor penetration through walls etc. 

This is why ‘bonded’ surrounds and sub need to be in the same room, or at least in close proximity, to the main Sonos Home Theatre device, as those with slightly larger homes, who have their Sonos Amp located in a central server area, have discovered to their detriment and have complained about in several other threads in this community.

I personally think we may need to see improvements in WiFi penetration and speed for this to become a viable suggestion. We would need new Sonos Hardware (perhaps with two 5ghz WiFi adapters) too.

At least those are my ‘initial’ thoughts on this idea.