Contributor I

Sonos Amp and 3rd party subwoofer issue

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
February 11, 2019
121 replies
44174 views

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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Justin Greenwald

Lyricist II

Just bought a Sonos Amp today. I have the same problem as other recent posts. The Sub output is too weak, even at max volume and highest crossover setting. This output needs to be recalibrated. Sonos should err on the “hot” side, as the output can be adjusted on the the connected 3rd party sub. A hotter signal would also improve the signal to noise ratio.

If anyone at Sonos can address this ... I thank you in advance. C’mon bruh, I want some BASS!!!!

A

amill

Lyricist II

Just to update everyone. I was on the phone with support who took over an hour to understand what I was asking and tbh, at the end of call really didn't address my issue. They wanted me to hook up the sub to my old connect amp and switch back and forth between that and the Sonos Amp while playing the same source to see if there was a volume difference. There is, which I stated within 1 minute of the beginning of the phone call. She put me on hold a few times and basically told me I need to contact the manufacturer of the subwoofer and ask them about level adjustment. It's not their product that is the problem, it's the Sonos Amp. She was also asking me to make level and XO adjustments on the old connect amp. Ummmm, it doesn't have seperate subwoofer adjustments like the Sonos Amp does. Anyone know how to skip the flow chart readers and get to a support agent that is knowledgeable about the product they are supposed to support?

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Espen Olafsen

Contributor I

I had the same problem as everyone else her.
I had to set the settings in the sonos app all the way up, and use the "force on" setting on the subwoofer.

Works nicely now. 🙂👌

R

ripcordaff

Trending Lyricist I

I am about to purchase an SVS sub to replace my Sonos Sub for my Sonos Amp 2.1 set up. Has this issue been resolved?

S

Scalptrash

Lyricist III

I have the same issue. Sub turned on in app set to maximum output level and it is barely audible. My sub only has an LFE input and no level adjustment, it is line level and relies on the source. The Amp sub output is way to low and does match the L and R line level, not even close. This is manufacturing defect and will hopefully be acknowledged and fixed in a firmware update very soon. I am shocked that the Amp has been out for months already and this has not been addressed.
This is an obvious known issue that is being widely reported here and really, all over the Internet, just search Sonos. Trying to troubleshoot and fix one customer at a time is not the right approach.
My return window just started, but I hope you take this seriously and get the engineers involved right away. Not sure how this ever made it out if the factory, let alone not already rectified after being widely reported.

K

kalorama

Lyricist I

I have the same issue and reported it to Sonos. My setup includes two Q Acoustics 3020 bookshelf speakers, a Pioneer SW-8MK2, and an HDMI connection to my TV. I got the following troubleshooting steps from a Sonos engineer:

1) Connect your Subwoofer to the Sonos Amp.
2) Disconnect your bookshelf speakers from the Amp (please disconnect the speakers from the Amp side by removing the speaker wire adapter).
3) Now test playback with only the Subwoofer. Does this work properly?
4) Regardless of the result, please submit a diagnostics while it is playing in this mode.
5) Next, re-attach only the speaker adapters to the Amp but without the speaker wires. You should effectively only have the Sub and adapters plugged.
6) Once again, please test playback and provide a second diagnostics.
7) Lastly, re-attach the speaker wires to the adapters and test one more time along with submitting a diagnostics after completing the test

Unfortunately, I received these tips after I returned my subwoofer (Sonos was taking a while to get back to me, and this thread didn't leave me with much hope that this issue would be resolved). The bookshelf speakers are serving me fine for the time being, but here's to hoping that the steps above will help someone else with this issue.

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Scalptrash

Lyricist III

Those steps appear to be a test to ensure the subwoofer output is working at all. I think everyone with the issue can confirm the sub out is working, just at a greatly reduced level from what the speakers are outputting (easy fix in firmware for them, just increase the starting sub output level)
I can't believe their engineers can't pull one off the shelf and test this, it would literally take two minutes. Maybe they don't have a 3rd party sub and have only used the Sonos sub, which connects differently and I'm sure works perfectly.

Can anyone suggest an alternative box that provides the same functionality and similar power? Will have to replace the Sonos Amp if they won't address this. I replaced my Pioneer XC-HM86 with the Sonos Amp. The only thing that was lacking was power, otherwise a great device and even has a color display screen.

C

cooffeeee

Lyricist I

I am having the same issue. I have a sonos amp connected to two standard stereo speakers and a wrs subwoofer. No sound coming out of the sub...

S

SonosAmpOwner

Lyricist I

I am having the same issue with a Sonos Amp and a third party sub. I have started the tech support route, but am not encouraged.

Has anyone made headway on this issue? Or does anyone know the target specs on the LFE output signal amplitude? For most amplifiers this number can be dug up, but I can’t find it anywhere online. All I find is “Auto-detecting RCA type, adjustable crossover” which isn’t helpful.

This seems to be a problem affecting many users. I’d like to know if there is a batch of faulty amps, or their target spec for this output is way too low.

If the target spec is low, this would violate the spirit of their manual, which states, “Connect a powered subwoofer to this output using a standard RCA cable. The system will detect when a cable is connected to the subwoofer output and adjust the crossover frequency automatically.” as RCAs typically carry line-level signals, which have a fairly agreed-upon amplitude.

H

honeyman

Lyricist I

I had the same problem when I got my amp and connected my subwoofer with a simple rca cable: the sub output was very low and I had to crank up the sub level in the Sonos app. Everything was fine after I switched to a y-cable (1-male to 2-male), now connecting both (L+R) inputs of my sub. These cables are available for around $10. Maybe worth a try...

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