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Hidden Mic in Playbar?

  • November 18, 2022
  • 13 replies
  • 288 views

Hi, due to some stalker issues, I’ve had to locate and disable all the microphones lurking in my home.  A recent sweep of the whole house lit up my old-fashioned Sonos Playbar as having a hidden microphone in the front right area.  The technician was adamant that his microphone-hunting device was keying on a mic hidden behind the fabric of the Playbar.  I did’t feel like destroying the front of the Playbar to uncover the mic, so we just unplugged it until I could get some feedback on this.  Any ideas?

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13 replies

The Playbar doesn’t have a microphone.


Ken_Griffiths

I don’t see one…

 


Airgetlam
  • November 18, 2022

The PLAYBAR was designed and manufactured long before the concept of putting a microphone into a speaker was even a twinkle in anyone’s eye. 


jgatie
  • November 18, 2022

I concur with @GuitarSuperstar.


buzz
  • November 18, 2022

Some of the PLAY:5’s have a microphone, but it has never been used.


buzz
  • November 18, 2022

Note that, if the microphone detector is measuring radio emissions, PLAYBAR uses both the 2.4 and 5GHz WiFi bands. You could turn OFF the PLAYBAR radios, but the speaker will no longer be a “wireless” speaker and, depending on your system configuration, may no longer support surrounds or SUB.


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • November 20, 2022

Thank all of you for replying.  My entire Sonos system is CAT 6 connected (wired).  I’m going to tinker around with the last note from Buzz about tweaking the Playbar radios.  Also, I took the diagram posted by Ken_Griffiths, and added a yellow area where the microphone signal is coming from.  If I figure out anything worthy of writing about, I will come back to this post and note it here.  Thanks again to you all.

Yellow area is where “microphone” signature is being detected.

 

 


Ken_Griffiths

You might also find some teardowns of the old speaker on YouTube, I’ve never seen a mic mentioned in relation to the PlayBar - so if there is one, it’s likely been added by a third-party. The only way to be sure would be to open it up and look.


  • November 20, 2022

The wireless radios in the Playbar would still be active even if the device is Cat6 wired.


Ken_Griffiths

Yes, as @John B mentions, the Playbar WiFi adapter needs to stay enabled, even when the Playbar is wired to the LAN, as an ad-hoc 5Ghz wireless connection is used with any surrounds/sub that maybe added to the setup.


buzz
  • November 20, 2022

Look for signs that PLAYBAR has been disassembled.


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • November 21, 2022

You all have been great.  I think the signal must be the 5Ghz wifi doing its thing rather than a microphone.  I’m not convinced, but this has given me a few ideas on how to proceed.  As anything beyond this point would certainly not be recommended by Support, I’m going to call this issue settled, and take it from here offline.  Thank you all for throwing some brain power toward this one.   On the very slim chance that I actually discover a mic in there (once/if) I commit to opening the unit up, I will definitely note it here along with a few photos.  (No indication it has ever been disassembled).

 

Regards, R


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  • Virtuoso
  • November 21, 2022

More chance of Potting Fog than finding a microphone in a Playbar imho..