how to: bond rooms


I have read that a "permanent group" can be achieved through "Bonding" a group.

The article below instructs on what bonding is, but offers no clues on how to achieve.  I cannot find a simple explanation for how to turn on bonding, only posts regarding problems with already bonded devices.

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1966/~/grouping,-pairing,-and-bonding-players

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10 replies

Userlevel 5
Badge +2
User906542, following this article i believe bonding cannot be selectively chosen and is automatically performed when a sub or pair of Play:1/Play:3 are added to a PlayBar.
Thank you for the replies.  I've been trying to find articles on how to edit the relationship between a room/device, to just place all of my speakers in a single room.  I mistakenly added my new play5 to an additional room, and not my original living room.  Since doing this, I've had to manually set the group every time I turn the device on.

Based on what I see in settings, I could create an audio pair if I had another play5.  However, I don't see how to simply place the single play5 out of the room "livingroom2" and in to the room "livingroom."

This would also provide a workaround.   
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
or are you saying you are unplugging them.  I don't unplug mine so didn't think about that actually causing them to ungroup.
or are you saying you are unplugging them. 
Like Chris, I am puzzled as to what you mean, but it sounds like you may be confusing the labels you attach to each speaker, like "Livingroom" or "Livingroom2", with physical rooms.  You could call them "Fred" or "Mildred" if you liked, but each speaker has a unique room name.  If you want two speakers in a physical room just put them in there and group them.  If you leave them plugged in (as I think most Sonos users do) the group will remain until you ungroup them.

A stereo pair is a slightly different animal.  In your controller the pair appear as a single item, such as, say, "Living Room (L+R)", but the unique labels are still there in the background and will reappear if you separate the pair.

John
Userlevel 5
Badge +2
As just stated every speaker has a room name associated, and grouping simply synchronizes different rooms and its subsequent speaker.

As and example I use a Playbar with the room name "Bedroom TV" and a paired Play5 set with Room name "Bedroom". To have them play together I group Bedroom TV and Bedroom.
Userlevel 5
Badge +9
To help explain what the enhancement is being described here is my example. I have a stereo bonded pair of Play1s in my MasterBath. and a Play5 in my MasterBedroom. 99% of the time I have them playing the together. Yes, I can group them, but that's no the issue. 50% of the time they are part of a bigger group basically using most of the speakers in my house. This group often consist of other similar speaker "groupings". LivingRoomTV Playbar and Kitchen Play3 are basically in the same area so work together 99% of the time also. Patio ConnectAmp and Pool ConnectAmp are used 99% of the time together also. So every morning I come out to start my day, I select these 6 and a few others for most of the day. That's selecting 10 or so speakers. Then when I go back at night, I group/play just the two MasterRoom speakers. If I was to be able to have a Master(MasterBedroom and MasterBath), LivingRoom (LivingRoomTV and kitchen), and Outdoor(Patio and Pool) grouping would be simplified from picking 10+ speakers every morning down below 5. Its a simplification of my speakers from 13 down to maybe 5 or so. Mornings I pick LivingRoom, Outdoor done. Wife gets up, boom I had Master. 3 speaker selections not 6 or more. These speakers play together 99% of the time, but usually are part of bigger groupings. So just grouping MasterBedroom and MasterBath isn't usually their only grouping. Once you start getting over 10 speakers or so and you have multiples in close proximity the need starts to come into view.
Userlevel 1
+1. I own 13 Sonos speakers, including Connect and Connect Amps. Some are always played together (e.g., bath and shower), but they are also sometimes grouped with additional rooms. Having an ability to "bond" them into permanent groups would be great -- especially for those of us who have paid Sonos thousands of dollars to standardize on their products
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
If you're an iOS user, you may want to look at an inexpensive third-party app called SonoSequencr. It allows you to set up 'scenes' that will group speakers in your chosen configurations:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sonosequencr/id967043604?mt=8
An issue with simply grouping speakers in one physical room arises when you are using the audio in on a play5. Whenever an audio signal starts it automatically allocates itself to the play5 only, cancelling any existing grouping involving the play5.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
An issue with simply grouping speakers in one physical room arises when you are using the audio in on a play5. Whenever an audio signal starts it automatically allocates itself to the play5 only, cancelling any existing grouping involving the play5.
Only if you have an 'Autoplay Room' selected for the that Line-In source. Cancel that, and select the Line-In source manually, and it can be directed to whatever existing group you require.