Sonos Amp and 3rd party subwoofer issue

I am glad I found this post about the sub issues. I can’t believe someone posted if you buy MCM Stereo LINE PRE-Amplifier, 15DB, 12VDC” it will resolve your issue. That’s like if you change your Tv you might get better audio out support.  For such premium price products  doesn’t  this stuff get tested before it is out the door.  All those high end artist that they advertise must have had the issue, wouldn’t you think.  Since it is a system depended on wires I don’t understand why people don’t use a new traditional amp. Amps today can connect to many different steaming platforms including airplay/2 without these types of issues/frustrations. They connect with alexa or google and some even allow power control from those. Better yet Nov /Dec is the time to look at buying those at a fraction of the cost. Yet another sonos product that I won’t buy and that makes this very disappointing again. QOS turns out to POS. As a consumer do we really ask for that much? 

Just received my Sonos Amp, and have the exact same problem (w/a Pioneer Elite subwoofer). If I crank the “Sub Level” all the way up (to 15) in the Sonos App I “barely” get the subwoofer to trigger. Insult to injury, if I try to use the “Recalibrate Sub” option in the Sonos App, I don’t hear anything during their “A-B” test, and then the app freezes up on the next screen.

Really disappointing that Sonos won’t own their problem here. Sonos enticed me to retire my ZP100 (which by the way drove the subwoofer perfectly) with their 30% discount promotion. I now regret it (but in my defense I thought the new product would actually work).

You really have to question quality of product and why any of the professionals they use in advertising ( which makes users believe they are active users and listeners)  did not pick up on this issue up. You decide on why, I won’t say what I think.

All, wanted to update my posting above because my Amp is now working well with my third party subwoofer!

The catch is I have no idea why it started working well, but here are the things I did in the iOS Sonos App that *may* have helped. Again, I have no idea what exactly caused my system to start working - just listing the things I played around with in case it helps someone else.

iOS Sonos App v10.5.2

Settings->System->[Room]

   (as a reminder, before I did any of the below I had already gone under “Sub Audio” and turned the Sub Level all the way up to +15)

   *under the “Home Theater” section made sure that TV Autoplay was off, and also turned off “Use IR”

   *under the “Products” section, pressed “Detect Sonos Architectural” (it failed b/c I don’t have architectural speakers

   *under Sound->EQ, bumped up the Bass to +3

Anyway, hope the above helps someone else. Also, I happened to see on another thread that the “Recalibrate Sub” option (under Sub Audio) that caused my iOS Sonos App to hang is only intended to control the Sonos Sub (which I don’t have in this room). I don’t know if that’s accurate, but in any case even w/o a Sonos Sub (in the room w/the Amp, I do have one in another room) I wouldn’t think that the app should allow me to select the option, let alone hang the app.

All in all though, am happy that my Pioneer subwoofer is working now with the Sonos Amp.

So is bass still set to 15 GDaz?

What brand and model of sub is everyone using and how do you like it? How low can your sub go?

Yes, I still find that I have to keep Sub Level high in the Sonos App (currently at 14 out of 15). Then also need to bump the bass up a bit in the EQ (+3). These settings are both on the Sonos Amp side. Then on my Pioneer subwoofer I have the volume turned way up (I remember when driving it from other sources the bass can be overwhelming). So my guess is that the subwoofer level output by the Sonos Amp is low (even relative to their old ZP100). My subwoofer is able to compensate, but how well it works will likely depend on the third party subwoofer’s ability to provide enough bass from a weak signal. (At least this is my theory - I haven’t measured the subwoofer signal directly.)

I’m about to buy the AMP to connect a 3rd party Subwoofer with a pair of Play:5 - Nothing else will be connected to the AMP.  Would I have the same issue as mentioned in this thread?

Even if this works, it will involve clunky workarounds. Why bother? Why not just get a Sonos Sub?

True, but was hoping to save $100 and use my more powerful subwoofer (svs ultra). Having one less bulky device in my house would also make it easier with wife approval 😛

My issue is that the amp sometimes takes a bit to triggger my sub after my sub goes into standby.  Unfortunately my Kef sub doesn’t have a force on feature.  I’m not sure if this is related to the low levels everyone’s talking about.  For instance my children watched a show today and sub wouldn’t kick on.  I switched to Amazon music played a song, finally my sub turned on.  Then I went back and watched the show.  I just increased the sub levels to see if that helps with the triggering.