Line-in and Standby Power Consumption

  • 2 October 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 786 views

I've just bought the PLAY:5 and needless to say it sounds absolutely brilliant. I am also using an old LG TV (LB580V) that I have now connected to this speaker using the line-in (apparently the only option available). I have also seen a post on power consumption (https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/260/kw/power) which defines sleep (or idle) mode as when there's no music streaming and NO line-in cable connected. I do not wish to have to unplug the line-in everytime I put my TV into standby - it's just not accessible.

My question is - if I leave the line-in connected but switch off my TV (on standby; not completely powered off), will my Sonos PLAY:5 eventually go into sleep mode or not? And if not, how much power is the PLAY:5 likely to consume when there's no audio being output?

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3 replies

The physical presence of a line in shouldn't keep your P5 'awake' if there is no audio signal coming in. I don't own a P5, so couldn't confirm this, but it's my understanding that you won't even see 'line in' as an audio source in the app if there is nothing coming across it.

Looking at it from a different angle, both the PLAYBAR and PLAYBASE also have an idle power consumption, and both products specifically designed to always be connected with optical. Not sure why they would even have an idle mode if it wasn't designed to go idle if there was anything plugged in, live or otherwise.

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/260/kw/power%20consumption/session/L3RpbWUvMTUwNjk1MDYxMy9zaWQvZlVDTHF5QmxOVzFVN1BWdzc2aEpoWXpoRmhTSHNDZFpwbUh3UV9Ud280RGU1VTBnVFJWQ2dTVWlCelV3VzFaeUlnM1hhZE41V3FPYXpsOFVQbjI3eVhjM2xWZDZVYXhwZUNodmk1SGd6TkRPemZwbFljVHE3NEFBJTIxJTIx
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The physical presence of a line in shouldn't keep your P5 'awake' if there is no audio signal coming in. I don't own a P5, so couldn't confirm this, but it's my understanding that you won't even see 'line in' as an audio source in the app if there is nothing coming across it.


You will see the Line In source listed in the app if there's a cable attached to the P5 input, even if there's nothing at the other end. However, with no active input signal I'd expect no power usage over and above the normal idle consumption.
Thanks both, the general consensus is that the absence of an audio stream is sufficient for the speaker to go into power saving sleep mode even if a line-in is plugged in but powered down.