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Having to submit this question is a matter of frustration and embarrassing at the same time.  Frustrating because I haven’t been able to figure out a fix on my own and because supposed solutions vary depending on whether the Sonos device is a Beam, Playbar or Arc.  Embarrassing because I haven’t been able to determine whether the problem I’m actually trouble-shooting is the same as the multitudinous solutions I’ve seen.

Specifically, I’ve connected my LG CX77 to my Beam (Gen 1) and surrounds (Play 1s) via HDMI using eARC.  The LG Magic Remote properly controls audio sent over HDMI to the Beam.  But, the LG Remote will not control the volume of my Sonos system for any audio source other than the TV, i.e., Tidal, Spotify, Tunein, etc.  Is there an actual fix, or am I condemned to using at least two remotes?

It is not an adequate solution to try and fool the remote to send IR to the Sonos.  The sound quality transmitted via HDMI in a surround configuration is far superior to that available for the same setup using optical.  Maybe I’m looking through the wrong end of the telescope and the fault is not with Sonos but with LG for making it so difficult to use a “Magic Remote” to send IR.

Having said that, I am much less sanguine about my ability to motivate LG to update/upgrade/reconfigure the Magic Remote than I am of the power Sonos users have to persuade their chosen audio vendor to provide a comprehensive solution.  Once again, assuming that is something Sonos is able to do.  But, consider, LG and Sonos are both selling complementary “high-end” and pricey home entertainment equipment, likely to appeal to a similar cross-section of consumers.  Can’t they work this out to their - and our - mutual benefit?

Thanks.  Please help.

Any TV remote, LG or otherwise, will only control the home theater room, and never any ‘grouped’ speakers. IR has zero impact on that fact. Sonos has always been this way. You need to use either the controller to do the rest of the speaker’s volume, or the individual speaker’s volume buttons. 

If you do a search in these forums, you can read scores of past threads from people asking for the ability to use a TV remote to control all speakers in a Sonos system. So far, Sonos hasn’t implemented this, for reasons we don’t know. I assume that there are technical issues, as if it were ‘simple’, it is likely they would have already done so. 

My Harmony remote “knows” whether the tv is turned on or off. If it’s off, it won’t send volume up/down commands. Your LG remote may be the same? Turn on the tv/system. Then use the app on your phone to select a streamed source. Does the volume now work on the LG? 
I simply added a new Sonos device on my Harmony; then when tv is off and music is streaming I select the Sonos device on my remote and volume controls work for me. 
Does the LG offer that capability, to implement as a solution?

Prior to acquiring the LG TV, I was using a Samsung plasma television, sending sound out from the TV to my Sonos Beam via optical cable.  I was able to use a Logitech Harmony 700 remote to control both the television and my Sonos surround setup because the Logitech remote communicated with both the Samsung television and Beam via IR.  Control of the Beam volume gave me control of the surround configuration.  Furthermore, I could control my Sonos independently of the TV by choosing an alternate audio source in the Sonos app, and then use the Logitech for volume control.  As I understand it, the LG Magic Remote transmits instructions to the LG TV by RF, so the Logitech remote is useless for controlling the LG TV.

Once again, I think that the lack of compatibility between the Magic Remote and Sonos audio control is a business decision by LG to lock their customers into the LG “walled garden.”  Buy an LG TV and an LG soundbar and LG surrounds, and you can use a Magic Remote with all of your home theater devices -- audio and video.  You don’t buy all LG, you’re relegated to the multi-control, TV and audio remote chaos.

I know, first-world problems! :-P

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