Hi!
I am having issues connecting my Sonos Amp (Black) to my Klipsch SW-311 10-Inch Subwoofer (or vice-versa). I currently have two Klipsch speakers and the Klipsch Subwoofer connected to the Sonos Amp. Both speakers play but I am getting no sound from the subwoofer. The subwoofer is connected to the sub port on the Sonos Amp and the LFE port on the sub. The sub plays when connected to my Yamaha system but doesn't play when connected to the Sonos Amp.
Is my sub's connection wrong? Will a sub with a built-in amp not work with the Sonos Amp? What am I doing wrong?
Help please...
Jale01
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Doing research on Sonos Arc with non Sonos rear surrounds and 3rd party sub and came across this thread. So just to clarify, if I have 2 rear surrounds that are non Sonos along with a 3rd party sub connected to the amp, the sub will not work? Does anyone have 2 speakers and a sub connected to the amp to get a surround sound setup with the arc? If I can keep my sub and rear speakers, I’d consider the amp since my current HT setup is decent.
Thx! 😊
Sorry for my stupid question… Do I need a passive or an active sub using an amp with two normal (Bose 251) speakers?
It’s an active sub, or you can use a Sonos sub - just to add the Amp user-guide/manual is available here too, if you need further information:
https://www.sonos.com/support/en-us/sonos-user-guide/index.html#t=sonos-user-guide%2Famp%2Famp.htm
Sorry for my stupid question… Do I need a passive or an active sub using an amp with two normal (Bose 251) speakers?
Hey guys … Im starting to have the exact same issue described here w/ my Sonos Amp. my Sonos amp w/ 3rd party sub was working perfectly up until a few weeks ago. All of a sudden, I can’t hear anything. My sub just won’t output anything unless I jack the sub volume all the way up and and increase the sub level to +15 in the sonos app.. and even then, its muffled and not impressive at all. Sub is good … wires are good. Everyone says update 11.1 fixed the issue, but I’m running 11.2.6 (S1) and having the issue. Tested another sonos amp I have, same deal.
For those that now have the issue resolved, are you using the S2 platform or S1?
If you want a sub in a Sonos ‘room’ with an Arc, then the Sonos Sub is the only option.
Beyond the extra cost, it’s a good performing sub, imho. I’ve got two of them. I’ve considered a third, bonded with a pair of Sonos PLAY:5s, but haven’t pulled that particular trigger yet.
Thanks.
So if I want to use a sub with this set up(arc in front, third party speakers in rear) I would need to get a Sonos sub?
Sonos arc may have enough base for movies and I may not need an additional sub, but I also like to listen to music and my REL sub helps.
I’m not sure what you mean by ‘group the rear speakers and subwoofer’. In the Sonos ecosystem, there is a single ‘room’ which contains the front and rear speakers, so there is no way to add a sub to the rears.
Grouping an additional Amp driving an extra subwoofer would be challenging, due to the addition of the 75 ms delay between the Arc’s room and any grouped room.
Essentially, using a third party sub in a sound bar driven room in the Sonos ecosystem is a non starter. In order to use a third party sub, you have to be using the Amp with two third party speakers up front, which allows the sub port to be active, but forces you into a ‘faux’ center channel.
Thank you for that info. It seems I am not alone in this and as long as I want to use my own subwoofer I won't be able to in surround config.
Another possible option the Sonos tech brought up was not to use the surround but rather group the rear speakers and subwoofer and use it this way, but once the surround is implemented the sub”out “ will be automatically disabled. I don't know if the “grouping” option would work or not, and if would be able to tell the difference but I imagine if it is not in surround set up I am just getting left and right channels split between the Sonos Arc and rear speaker. What is your view on this?
Thanks.
That information you were given is incorrect, as I understand it. The Sonos system is only sending the surround information across the link to the Amp supplying power to those speakers, and has never included the LFE channel in addition.
The feature has been requested since the initial release of using a CONNECT:AMP to drive surrounds, and has yet to be included. One doesn’t know if there is a technical, financial, or marketing reason as to why it hasn’t been changed.
Naturally, I have the same issue. Sonos has disabled the sub out if you are using the Amp as a surround configuration. After talking to someone at Sonos(somewhere in a foreign land) they have informed me that the sub “out” has been disabled since they can't guarantee the quality of the sound when using a third-party subwoofer, however, the same concern does not seem to apply to third party speakers. I am using the REL sub now on my Amp, and it works perfectly so, I don't believe this is the true reason. Any sub will work fine, but Sonos wants you to purchase their own sub.
Mine is working properly now. I had forgotten about the issue and was using my setup in the room with the AMP and noticed way too much subwoofer volume. At first I thought it was where I was sitting so I moved and it was still incredibly high. I went into the settings and adjusted it down to around +5 and it could still use a bit more adjustment. I remembered this thread and came back to see if there was an update. Glad to see this issue resolved.
I can confirm this as well - the latest update to version 11.1 seems to have solved the sub output level problem with the Amp. I’m not sure why this went unacknowledged so long, nor do I understand why the fix went out so quietly. Regardless, the Amp now seems to be functioning up to the high standards of the other Sonos devices. A big thank you to whomever was able to identify and resolve the software issue!
Userlevel 7
+26
Hi everyone, we’ve been working on this issue and the most recent Sonos update, version 11.1, should have resolved any low sub output issues that you were seeing. If you haven’t updated already, you may notice that the sub level is much higher after the update, needing it to be turned down. Once you’ve got your sub output tuned in again, you should be all set to enjoy.
Have a good one!
+1
2 hours of TV later - no turn off!
I've halved the gain on the sub, and increased back to about +8 on the app. Keeps the sub alive.
Puuurfect.
Means I can now spend money on some new KEF LS50s to go with my Amp!
+1
Your mileage may vary but the bug seems fixed on the latest firmware 11.1.
I had to turn the in-app sub level down from +14 to +2 
Me too!
I'm not sure yet if it has fixed the “auto-sleep” issue with my sub. But it's definitely fixed the gain issue! It's very loud now!! I've got from +15 to +3, and may go down further yet!
+1
Your mileage may vary but the bug seems fixed on the latest firmware 11.1.
I had to turn the in-app sub level down from +14 to +2
Same issue here - weak signal from the Sonos Amp’s subwoofer output makes it basically useless. I have to set the Sonos Amp to +15 and turn the sub’s amp all the way up to get audible sound from the sub. When I use this exact same sub setup with other sources it literally shakes the house with the sub level at 1/4. There are lots of threads and discussions about this; I find it infuriating that Sonos won’t at least acknowledge the issue. It’s also disappointing the product has such an obvious flaw when all the other Sonos stuff I’ve had has been quite good. I really wish I had come across these discussions before I purchased the Amp so I could have avoided it.
Is there going to be any valid responses from SONOS in regards to this? I find this type of customer service to be deceptive from a technology company.
I've read that the sub out is only 2 volts (personally I feel it's outdated voltage coming from a car audio guy) , but I would think that is plenty for 90% of the powered subs on the market.
I am looking at purchasing the Sonos Outdoor set with Sonos Amp to start my Sonos journey, but this doesn't appear to be a positive start. I would go to Best Buy and have them connect it all in store, but with Covid closures, that cannot happen anytime soon.
What is the status of this? I am looking at using the Sonos Amp with either a Rythmik or SVS subwoofer. Does the subwoofer out provide a high enough signal level to drive subwoofers like these?
+1
They have helpfully concluded that it is the fault of my sub, despite my sub working perfectly with my previous setup of a Sonos Connect into a hifi amp. Whenever that amp turned on the sub was instantly on. Why can't the Sonos Amp do this even with it set to +15?
They have an issue. But they won't admit it.
Same issue with my sub and the just bought Sonos amp. Reading this thread makes me wonder if it works with any sub apart from their own brand one.
+1
Hi everyone, thanks for sharing your experiences with different devices and the Sonos Amp. We’re always interested in seeing what you have to say, and are eager to investigate any issues that might come up. Our engineering team has been looking into this issue and would love some more information. Currently, there isn't a major trend that has been identified, but they'd like to see some more cases where subwoofers and the Amp aren’t behaving as expected.
If you’re having trouble with the Amp outputting low or no audio to a subwoofer and haven’t worked with our support team yet, please feel free to reach out to us using the contact details here. The support team will help sort out issues where possible, and if needed, they’ll gather the right information and get it up to the engineering teams for investigation.
Hi Ryan and others,
I have been following this thread with interest.
I have replaced an old Onkyo amp and Sonos Connect, running an Onkyo SKW-501 active Subwoofer with the new Sonos Amp.
Similar to others I have to have my subwoofer output set to +15 to get a reasonable signal. This in itself is not a problem the majority of the time.
The thing that IS annoying is that the Amp does not trigger the subwoofer to wake from standby whenever it is active. For example I am currently watching the News on TV and the subwoofer is in standby mode. When a bass note plays the subwoofer will kick in but usually with a ~1s delay which is noticeable. When watching a Film/playing a Game this is rarely an issue as there are enough bass notes that the subwoofer wakes from standby and stays on, otherwise after about 15 minutes it returns to standby. There is unfortunately no switch to disable standby mode on the subwoofer. The Onkyo FAQ recommends increasing the output from the Amp, but unfortunately as already at +15 this is not possible. When the sub was running from the Onkyo amp, the second the amp turned on the sub would come on and stay on.
Clearly this is an issue with the Sonos amp outputting a very low subwoofer pre-out signal.
I spoke to Enos at Customer Support and submitted a diagnostic (403792976). I referenced this article. He could not see a fault with the Amp and suggested this was an issue with the Onkyo Sub standby circuitry being “overly sensitive”. Although this may be true, it’s clearly not an ideal situation, and although the plan will be to upgrade the sub in the future that is not feasible right now (the Amp is expensive!).
He did say he would pass my experience onto your Engineers.
Hopefully if enough people report such an issue a solution will be found.
Thanks,
Oliver
Hey Ryan S,
Don’t the comments here warrant a closer look at these connections? Do you really need more people to report in order to escalate the issue? You can count me in as one of the many people who are experiencing little to no output from our 3rd party amps. When I put my hand to my amp with it cranked (both in the amp settings and physically on my subwoofer), I can barely feel a vibration. Also, hasn’t Sonos tested this themselves? Sounds like it would be a really easy test to perform: drag in a third party sub, plut it in to sonos, and voila, problem recreated.
Any help would be greatly appreciated (especially considering that I dropped $600 on this product)!
I’ll be in the same situation - has anyone used a sub that has just a single input with the AMP - I’ll end up with two subs so I’ll have to split the sub out which sounds like it will be a problem.
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