Hi @Busterbrown77, welcome to the Sonos Community!
You’re right that this has been requested before, but the more people that do ask for it means it’s more likely to become a feature. I’d be happy to forward this to the relevant teams as a feature request for their consideration.
If you have any more suggestions or ideas, please let us know!
I’m sure this has been talked about many times, but I’m making my voice heard on it as well.
Sonos, you guys need some good PR, so how about adding some more flexibility to your products? Please consider adding additional functionality to Move 2 when it detects it is in the cradle.
There really is no technical reason for the Move 2 to not support a sub when it is stationary and in the dock. In fact, in a runabout way I am running this exact setup by pairing a sub mini to a dead symfonisk speaker as a gateway, which then gets grouped with my moves in stereo. It sounds great! Consider that many people tailgate and do outdoor events with large batteries, who would love to plug in a sub mini by their camp for a bit of extra oomph. Maybe you could consider a portable sub for this exact purpose.
There are two significant issues with this. One is that the sub mini is not rated for outdoor use. The other is that subs are bonded to speakers via wifi, which would not be present when you’re away from home and your wifi network. It would definitely have to be a new product for a portable sub, I’d rather see an ‘all-in-one’ speaker that includes the Sound Motion tech to cover bass. Add the ability to pair these speakers over bluetooth and I think you have a real improvement there.
It shouldn’t be difficult to make a “docked only” setting, and make it clear to users it will disconnect when the speaker is removed.
I don’t know that it’s not difficult. I would guess that the Move can detect that it’s being charged, on a wifi network, and that it’s bonded sub is also on the network. I’m not sure if it knows it’s charging from the dock ring vs the USB port. I also think a lot of customers would want this functionality regardless of charging status. If you are on WiFi and can communicate with the sub, then do so. But again though, the Move 2 wasn’t designed for this, so not sure it can be done as easily as we imagine.
And while we’re on it, you should extend this to surround support as well. I like products that are dual purpose. I am reluctant to buy two surrounds when I already have two Move 2s which would do great as surrounds with the two tweeters. Having moves to carry around the house or outside, which could re-link as surrounds when placed in the dock would be so slick.
There isn’t a way to quickly re-link portable speakers, or any speakers, as surround speakers. That would require redesigning the process or mechanism in which speakers are bonded as surrounds. That may not be possible with existing hardware. I’m not saying I’m against the idea, as I see where it would have value, but there is definite technical issues to overcome.
Hi, just saw this
There are two significant issues with this. One is that the sub mini is not rated for outdoor use. The other is that subs are bonded to speakers via wifi, which would not be present when you’re away from home and your wifi network. It would definitely have to be a new product for a portable sub, I’d rather see an ‘all-in-one’ speaker that includes the Sound Motion tech to cover bass. Add the ability to pair these speakers over bluetooth and I think you have a real improvement there.
To be clear, I am mostly looking for paired sub mini support for in house, but I posit that there is a market for a speaker that can handle low frequencies in a portable format. I don’t believe the wifi requirement is as big a sticking point with people bringing portable hotspots to camps/tailgates these days. I know of a few people who are running some B&O and JBL speakers over wifi when tailgating, for example.
I don’t know that it’s not difficult. I would guess that the Move can detect that it’s being charged, on a wifi network, and that it’s bonded sub is also on the network. I’m not sure if it knows it’s charging from the dock ring vs the USB port. I also think a lot of customers would want this functionality regardless of charging status. If you are on WiFi and can communicate with the sub, then do so. But again though, the Move 2 wasn’t designed for this, so not sure it can be done as easily as we imagine.
So, I was wondering about this myself. If it comes about that this becomes a ‘move 3’ thing, where there is a NFC transmitter in the base, so be it. I’d upgrade for the additional functionality that it enables. I would think it is possible to know the source of power though.
And while we’re on it, you should extend this to surround support as well. I like products that are dual purpose. I am reluctant to buy two surrounds when I already have two Move 2s which would do great as surrounds with the two tweeters. Having moves to carry around the house or outside, which could re-link as surrounds when placed in the dock would be so slick.
There isn’t a way to quickly re-link portable speakers, or any speakers, as surround speakers. That would require redesigning the process or mechanism in which speakers are bonded as surrounds. That may not be possible with existing hardware. I’m not saying I’m against the idea, as I see where it would have value, but there is definite technical issues to overcome.
The thing is, Sonos is already doing some dynamic pairing / unpairing. When my stereo pair of move 2s, if one is dead or turned off, the host speaker knows this and plays stereo. Then, when the other speaker turns on, it switches back to left channel. As an engineer I am aware (not fully, I’m sure) of the technical hurdles involved, but It should be possible.
As far as using the Move as surrounds goes, I would think the biggest issue is actually reconfiguring the DSP to meet Sonos’ bar of quality for surround, and to ensure it can handle whatever formats the current surround capable speakers do. Not that it isn’t possible, but this could be a bit of an undertaking. Though… if they did go add surround support to the DSP, I bet they could pretty easily add Atmos audio support for music.
I understand Sonos doesn’t want to enable bad experiences, but with some usability tweaks they can really tighten the integration of the Move and make it an even more compelling product.
Just wanted to get my voice out there.
