Waste of money

I find it strange that you join this forum just to mention your sale and have not thought to seek the advice of the other experienced users here beforehand.

The Beam will only ever play the audio when your TV passes the 'processed' audio to it... it’s clearly the TV that you should be selling, as it’s not doing the audio processing and passing it out the HDMI-ARC/Optical Port in a timely manner. A couple of TV models can lack in the audio processing area and there are quite a few different workaround methods talked about in the various threads here in the community.

Anyhow, I’m quite sure you will sell your Beam at the right price, but you could at least have mentioned the make/model of the TV and it’s firmware/software versions, so that others would know to perhaps avoid it, or you may have even discovered a user here who had resolved the problem.

Anyhow good luck with your sale.?

I am using my Beam with a pretty old Sony TV (kdl40ex500), bought in 2010 but still works flawlessly. I connected with the optical adapter at first and no lag, later discovered that the TV has HDMI ARC and connected on that port, no audio sync issues whatsoever

I am using my Beam with a pretty old Sony TV (kdl40ex500), bought in 2010 but still works flawlessly. I connected with the optical adapter at first and no lag, later discovered that the TV has HDMI ARC and connected on that port, no audio sync issues whatsoeverYes my Beam works fine in my Dining Room with a 2013 LG TV-28MT48S. Despite being a few years old, it even has an audio lip-sync feature for HDMI/Optical output built into its settings... not that I have had any need to use that. The Beam works fine in my case and it’s even better now that I have added the two Play:1 surrounds.

Yeah using Beam in the living area and combined with 2 existing play 3s the sound is really great. Playbar and playbase are bit too big for the area, price is expensive too, Beam is just right,.hope Sonos make a smaller sub to go with Beam

Thanks Ken_Griffiths. Sorry I didn't realize I needed your blessing before joining a forum.... you live and learn. Also my post is there to warn others that my user experience has not been good, if you are happy with Sonos products it's not for me to question that and nor would I.

Despite your limited knowledge of situation and wholly based on your assumption, you have managed to a) diagnose the problem and b) come up with a solution. Sonos with all the details of the products I have and the diagnostic report haven't managed to do that. In fact they have just gone silent hence my frustration.

If I sell the TV, the Beam becomes no more useful to me than when I was a TV owner.....

As a matter of interest, does 'Audio synch is a joke' mean that the picture and sound actually go out of step?

If the issue is that audio from the Beam simply doesn't work sometimes then it's likely to be a CEC problem. Samsung TVs feature quite a bit in related user reports. There are potential solutions/workarounds.

Ratty, yes the audio and video are out of step. It’s like watching an old Bruce Lee movie with the ‘dubbing’ (as it used to be known) out. You use the app to correct the problem and 10 minutes later you are having the same problem.

The frustration from my end is that everyone says there are loads of work rounds, why haven’t Sonos provided me any? I’ve just unplugged it now.

my post is there to warn others that my user experience has not been good

Hmmm....you want to warn others about your user experience. I don't believe...no...I know that anyone with 1/2 a brain is not going to scuttle their buying decision based upon your original post nor your sarcastic reply to Ken_Griffiths. Not that it would matter to you; but I own a Beam and will admit that it's a unique product and works best in its intended environment....but sell it??? See my comments on the Beam at the link below.

The issues that you describe IMO have nothing to do with the Beam but are most likely as result of your TV and/or the signal you are receiving. I watch a variety of programing such as cable, YouTube, AppleTV, Hulu and a few others and have not experienced the issues to the degree you have. Every once in a great while I may have to adjust for sync but it's not something that makes me want to sell my Beam.

Granted the Beam nor Sonos in general is for everyone. There will continue to be customers like yourself who are dissatisfied with the Sonos experience. However, to say that you are issuing a "Warning"...well that's a bit much.

Good luck and I hope you find a speaker system more to your liking. Cheers!

https://en.community.sonos.com/wireless-speakers-228992/beam-vs-playbar-playbase-my-opinion-6814520

Ratty, yes the audio and video are out of step. It’s like watching an old Bruce Lee movie with the ‘dubbing’ (as it used to be known) out. You use the app to correct the problem and 10 minutes later you are having the same problem.That does rather suggest that the TV could be the problem. You say that you tried to correct the sync, with some temporary success, by increasing Sonos' lip-sync delay setting? It sounds as though the TV has been autonomously cancelling some or all of its own audio buffering. Such buffering is required in a TV to compensate for the video processing delay. The TV's optical output may behave differently from its HDMI-ARC.

The frustration from my end is that everyone says there are loads of work rounds, why haven’t Sonos provided me any?

My reference to workarounds was in the context of CEC issues.

Is the delay problem an 'audio before video' type, or 'video before audio' type? The possible solutions are different depending on the type. Are you using the HDMI-ARC or optical connection?

I love it when users lecture the poster who has spent thousands of dollars, pounds or euros for a system that doesn’t work. Apparently they have never experienced frustration

This is a consumer product. It should not take a complex set of 18 secret steps to get it to work. So for those expressing their patronizing superiority to the poster, good for you.

I love it when users lecture the poster who has spent thousands of dollars, pounds or euros for a system that doesn’t work. Apparently they have never experienced frustration

It's not thousands, it's $400. Frustration is understandable, but isn't it also understandable that people who have seen it all before would be frustrated to see people use their first post to complain without giving much details or looking for advice. Most of the time, the community is able to help people, even sometimes after support is not. And you can see from above, even when people 'lecture' they are asking for details so that they can possibly help.


This is a consumer product. It should not take a complex set of 18 secret steps to get it to work. So for those expressing their patronizing superiority to the poster, good for you.

It's a complex consumer product that integrates with your router, TV, music and music services. It is flawless and easy to setup in most scenarios, but does run into issues when integrating with some products. Even if were not complex, you'd still find cases where things don't exactly work as they should.

People on here are trying to help. The Beam plays what it receives at the time it receives it. But I think the forum should now respect your decision to sell and move on.

In my own experience, lip sync is not so great straight out of the cable box or TV. I don't need a 3rd party device, such as SONOS or an A/V receiver, to wreck the sync. Overall, I don't think that the video industry cares much about lip sync. I've also been in TV station control rooms and the sync is already wrecked prior to being sent to the transmitter.