My TV is louder than my playbase

  • 1 December 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 169 views
D

I don’t know when it started to happen but I only started realizing 1-2 months ago that the playbase’s sound is lower than my Samsung TV speaker at max volume by 1 or 2 clicks(using clicks as measurement. Each clicks represents you tapping the volume up or down on the playbase physically).

 

I don’t think my TV is supposed to be louder than my playbase at max volume… can someone please tell me what I should do?

 

I tried AirPlay on my phone too see if it was the TV’s fault and the playbase produced the same level of volume as when I test it through the TV… I am not sure

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7 replies

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Sonos don’t publish an output watts power rating for their amp/speaker sets so there’s no specification to compare the two. Are you comparing subjectively or using a sound meter? 
 

Even if the tv is louder, does it matter? Is the Playbase loud enough at max volume? How often do you play stuff at max volume? What about sound quality - which do you prefer? 

D

Sonos don’t publish an output watts power rating for their amp/speaker sets so there’s no specification to compare the two. Are you comparing subjectively or using a sound meter? 

I compared it subjectively and used an app on my phone to measure the decibels(which is probably inaccurate because it is a phone app) on a music video and a white sound.

 

Even if the tv is louder, does it matter? Is the Playbase loud enough at max volume? How often do you play stuff at max volume? What about sound quality - which do you prefer? 

It does matter I guess. It is not loud enough at max volume. Recent videos I try to play at max volume has inherently lower volume than usual so it is usually really frustrating when playing at max volume doesn’t work as I thought.

I have the intention of playing loud music once every 15-30 days.

 

As for sound quality, they feel the same. I don’t feel a different between the tv and the playbase.

 

Thank you for the reply!

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

It might be worth sending a Diagnostics to Sonos to check all is well with the Playbase. Also ask them if the “max volume” has been reduced in a recent update.

D

Oh alright, thanks nik9669a!

Airgetlam

Might be worth checking the TV’s settings, too, to ensure there’s not a ‘fixed/variable output’ flag mis-set. This is possible for optical outputs, but not, I believe, for ARC outputs. Which is why the fact that we’re talking about a PLAYBASE is significant. 

Bruce
N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Might be worth checking the TV’s settings, too, to ensure there’s not a ‘fixed/variable output’ flag mis-set. This is possible for optical outputs, but not, I believe, for ARC outputs. Which is why the fact that we’re talking about a PLAYBASE is significant. 

And check you’ve not got a Volume Limit set by mistake. 

D

I couldn’t find fixed/variable setting on my TV unfortunately. I don’t know why but I can’t find it under the sound setting…

 

Oh, I just upgraded to Sonos S2 and my volume limit is at 100%

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