Sonos Sub pops when turning on

J

Hello everyone,

 

So I recently got into the Sonos ecosystem and I enjoy it a lot. I started off with a Playbar but I soon got a Sub as well. One weird thing I notice is when the Sub turns on (so receives a signal when idle), it softly pops. 

This isn’t a very deep popping sound or crackle. I think the pop is in between 100 and 120 hz. It happens when I turn the TV on and when I start to play music through the Sonos app or Samsung music.

My question is: Is this normal when the sub turns on after being idle? Or is this not common and should I worry? When it has turned on it delivers great quality and rich bass. The Playbar does not pop when it turns on (not with or without the sub enabled). 

I want this system to last since the price tag was through the roof, so can somebody help me out? I don't want my Sub to break in the near future or worse, when the warranty expires, because I did not sort this out.

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11 replies

Airgetlam

Not common at all. I’m wondering if your TV is sending an errant signal to the PLAYBAR, which is passing it to the SUB. Does it happen if you don’t turn in the TV, but instead send a music stream to your PLAYBAR? That would be one way to define if it was an issue with Sonos.

It might be worth double checking your TV for any software updates, too.

Bruce
J

Hello,

Thanks for the quick reply. I cannot find a lot about it (so maybe there’s a lot of people who don’t seem to mind it, or either do not experience it). I have found two threads:

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/sub-noises-6764394

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/subwoofer-pop-6739898

This makes me believe I am far from the only one and there are some people saying that it’s the amps that are turning on. This might be the case but I am not sure. And I cannot go back to my retailer here in Belgium because they’re closed because of Covid-19. 

The sub works great and sounds good. The only thing I seem to come across is the pop when it goes from idle to active (it doesn’t pop when pausing/resuming/playing music or watching tv or anything of the sort). It’s only when turning from idle to active. 

Airgetlam

How old are those threads? If it was a lot of people, there would be hundreds of thousands of posts, including from people like me, who have two PLAYBARs, both with a connected SUB. 

If it isn’t happening when you start streaming music, that’s an excellent indicator that the issue is that the noise is being sent by pay the TV to the Sonos, which of course is ‘playing‘ the sound it is told to.

However, if you prefer, you can always contact Sonos Support directly to discuss it, rather than listening to random people on a community forum. 

I usually suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available because they're on the phone with you, but they are available Monday through Friday during business hours. The Twitter support folks are available 24/7. 

Bruce
J

But that’s the thing, it does always pop when going from idle to active… 

It doesn’t matter whether it’s my tv that turns the sub on, sonos app or my Samsung music app (streaming from a Galaxy s10)

But, when it is active, this does not reoccur. So when I play start playing music and then leave the system alone, but then an hour later, I play music again, it pops again. This only occurs when I send input to the sonos sub for the first time after being idle, regardless of the source. 

I have reached out to Sonos via Facebook and already have a reply. I’ll see what this brings me, but static and popping sounds are exactly why I replaced my JBL 5.1 setup for Sonos. 

Airgetlam

Ah, then I misunderstood, my apologies. If it is popping when you start ‘fresh’ music, then it sure could be a problem with the hardware, and yes, that’s not normal. But you’re doing the right thing by talking directly to Sonos support, if there’s an issue with the hardware, they’ll be able to help you much more efficiently. 

Good luck!

Bruce
J

Thanks Bruce,

So I contacted Sonos via Facebook and also submitted a video. They have consulted on this and told me that if it’s only happening when the SUB goes from idle to active (and not inbetween songs or popping when watching tv or all that stuff), that this is fairly normal behaviour. (which is the case for me). It doesn’t pop more than once, so just like a little thud when it starts to play something. 

 

So, I have been comforted a bit since I want to be assured that this is normal. If Sonos tells me that this is normal, then I do not worry too much. Also, because I live in Europe, we have 2 years of warranty, and they told me that if anything goes south with any of the players, this will be fixed under warranty or even replaced. So it’s like I said, some people might not really notice it or do not experience it. Anyways, since it only occurs when I start to play any signal, I don’t worry too much. 

Thank you though for your thoughts and replies!

A

Hi @JenneVC . Do you mind if I send you a DM?

A  “popping sound” with a Sonos Sub is not what I would consider normal behavior. 

I would like to personally evaluate this further.

J

Thank you Adam, for your personal help, much appreciated!

M
Userlevel 4
Badge +7

Thank you Adam, for your personal help, much appreciated!

Did I miss something?  What did Adam figure out?  What was the solution?

Michael
A

Hi @MSterling .

I have looked over the system and the sound could be attributed to triggering different states of functionality.

As a precaution, I am monitoring the issue and will proceed as needed.

D

Hi All,

Was there any solution to this? I have been using my playbar and sub for 9 months now and suddenly within the last month, I started to hear the “pop” noise from the sub when turning on my TV also. If I unplug the sub and plug back in, it also “pops” when turning on.

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