How to use a Sonos Beam AND a Sennheiser headset with a new LG Smart TV.
Many hard-of-hearing people use a Sennheiser wireless headset when they watch TV. (I use a Sennheiser RS 120-W.) These headsets allow a hard-of-hearing person to have their TV volume turned up high, while other people in the room can listen through regular speakers at a lower volume.
A problem arises when a Sonos Beam user purchases a LG Smart TV (one of the most popular Smart TVs on the market). When a Sennheiser headset is plugged into a LG TV’s optical port (or any other LG TV audio port), the Sonos Beam simply stops working; other people in the room can no longer hear sound from the Beam. (They can only hear sound from the inferior LG Smart TV speakers.)
(There’s a quick solution for cable subscribers, but I found it to be unacceptable. The earphone jack on the back of cable boxes has a place where headphones may be plugged in. This creates a real delay in sound (lip-sync issues) which I found to be supremely annoying.
I bought a new LG Smart TV, and I could no longer hear sound through my beloved Sennheiser headset unless I forced others in the room to hear through the LG TV’s speakers (inferior to the Beam or Arc).
I posted my problem on this community message board, and alex4buba gave me a fine solution. Now, I want to post Alex’s solution as a “Topic” so others will be able to find it. It’s an expensive solution (the Port costs a lot), but this solution has worked for me for over a year.
Solution: Buy a Sonos Port. Although the Port is not actually designed to be used with a TV, this still works perfectly. On the back of the Port, there are analog audio outputs (red/white RCA ports labeled “OUT”). Plug your Sennheiser RCA red/white jacks into those ports. The Port can be connected to your TV, but mine is connected to a Sonos Boost.
I looked for a solution for this problem for many months and tried many things, but this was the only solution that worked for me. Thank you Alex.
Moderator edit: changed “inputs” to “outputs”
