Contributor I

Sonos Amp and 3rd party subwoofer issue

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
February 11, 2019
121 replies
44176 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

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Show previous replies

R

ripcordaff

Trending 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...

Can anyone confirm this resolves the issue? This would seem to a ridiculous oversight by Sonos if true.

alrostad

Lyricist II

I can confirm after upgrading my Connect:AMP to a new AMP (Black) that the subwoofer output is so low (even when turned all the way up in the sub settings) that you pretty much can’t hear it. It’s very obvious that the line out voltage on this new AMP’s subwoofer output isn’t even close to what the previous model was. I’m going to start the return process today. What a complete waste of time this upgrade was..

alrostad

Lyricist II

For anyone that wants to remedy this major flaw in the AMP, you can go to amazon and search for “MCM Stereo LINE PRE-Amplifier, 15DB, 12VDC” and add that unit between your 3rd party sub and your AMP’s sub output. There’s no need for Y cables when using this with a mono (single RCA) connection, as you are able to use just use one side of the pre-amp.

A

agd2

Trending Lyricist I

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.

AudioControl Rialto 600 with a Sonos Port.

M

Mike M B

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.

Hi Kalorama,

The wonderful Sonos engineers have decided that you do no need the sub out when setting up your AMP as surrounds. In other words, they have purposefully disabled the subwoofer signal instead of giving you the option to turn it on/off as you like.

I can only speculate why they did this, but hopefully this will save someone else the many lost hours of troubleshooting why your 3rd party sub wont work with the AMP.

Details here: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/2237?language=en_US

Anyone else reading this needs to email Sonos and request a new feature to toggle the AMP’s sub on/off from the app.

J

John B

Hi Kalorama,

The wonderful Sonos engineers have decided that you do no need the sub out when setting up your AMP as surrounds. In other words, they have purposefully disabled the subwoofer signal instead of giving you the option to turn it on/off as you like.

I can only speculate why they did this,

Oh dear, how misguided is it possible to be? This has not been ‘deliberately disabled’. Why on Earth would Sonos do that? The nature of the connection of surrounds in Sonos is that they take their data in a passive way from the device running the HT setup (Playbar, Playbase, Beam or another Amp), and in this role it has not been possible to control the Sub output The lines-in on surround speakers are similarly affected and cannot be used. For similar reasons you cannot play Airplay 2 to surround speakers.

So do you really believe that Sonos have decided deliberately to deny their customers a whole range of features that might be useful to some of them?

You can use the third party subwoofer where an Amp is used as the main ‘room’, i.e. for the front speakers.

M

Mike M B

Lyricist I

No worries, I just returned the AMP. It’s false advertising or at least lack of full disclosure on how it operates.

I will be happy to repurchase it when Sonos makes the sub out available during surround setup.

Otherwise some customers might think this is a ploy to get you to purchase the Sonos sub. I think it’s just a feature overlooked by Sonos engineers.

jgatie

No worries, I just returned the AMP. It’s false advertising or at least lack of full disclosure on how it operates.

I will be happy to repurchase it when Sonos makes the sub out available during surround setup.

Otherwise some customers might think this is a ploy to get you to purchase the Sonos sub. I think it’s just a feature overlooked by Sonos engineers.

No it is not “just a feature overlooked by Sonos engineers” or a ploy to sell you a Sonos Sub. It was explained quite plainly why it isn’t possible, it’s because the surrounds only get a surrounds signal from the HT decoding unit. Otherwise, why would they take the time to make it possible when the Amp is used as front speakers, and not possible when used as surrounds (or even give you a sub output at all)?

alrostad

Lyricist II

well, back on topic.. the new sonos amp (black) doesn’t have a sub output that functions the same way as their previous model. It has a very LOW line level/voltage that sonos themselves doesn’t know how to fix as of yet. Just a warning to any prospective buyers.

M

mescol

Lyricist II

Same issue here, quite pissed off because I paid a lot of money to integrate my HT to Sonos. No bass at all. Don’t know what to do.

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community