Speakers intermittently cut out when grouped with Soundbar and playing TV

The original poster's problem is probably NOT because he's done something wrong deploying his Sonos. The Playbar has a definite issue when using TV as input and grouped with other speakers. There are numerous threads on this board about it. His description of the situation doesn't look like he's using surround - but maybe he is.

I had Sonos working without issues for years until I got a Playbar.

My tv has a cable box and an Apple TV as its only two inputs. It doesn't matter which of those inputs I use, the Playbar can't work with grouped speakers without dropping out.

It's not about wireless - the same thing happens if the speakers I'm trying to group are connected via wired ethernet.

If the Player is playing anything other than TV it's not an issue.

I also have a Sub paired with the Playerbar.
I've already submitted diagnostics. But here's another. 7787844

May I ask a question, MurphyM?

Are your PLAY:1s bonded as surround speakers, or a stereo pair that is grouped as a room to the room that is the PLAYBAR?

Thanks MurphyM. I'm not crazy after all. Sonos refuses to acknowledge the issue and I wound up spending $100 on a boost based on their "diagnostics" after spending $1,000 on speakers and it didn't fix the problem. They asked for diagnostics so many times that I gave up and don't even bother contacting them. Nothing but a bunch of idiots who won't admit there's an issue. They can go out of business for all I care at this point. I'm packing up my 4 speakers and the worthless bridge and putting them on EBay this coming weekend and will buy a competitor's product because I'm so fed up with them.

I'm having the same issue.

I have a Boost and this only happens with the grouped speakers while I'm using the TV audio. Things I haven't tried:

1. Checking the wifi channel to make sure it matches my wifi network
2. Moving my Boost (currently next to the router and wireless camera hub)
3. Checking the audio type from my TV. I'm using an optical cable, but I'm not sure of the format of the audio signal.

Hopefully Sonos will solve this for me!

I doubt they will be of any help. Your WiFI channel is probably fine as is and changing it won't matter anyway as I found out. I hardwired my boost into my Verizon Fios modem and that didn't change a thing. Using the optical cable is perfectly fine. They will continually ask you to send diagnostics. At one point they told me that the new LG LED TV I had purchased a couple of months earlier had old firmware and that I needed to contact LG for an upgrade. At that point I stopped contacting them. For all the money we spend on SONOS equipment, shouldn't this be plug & play? See MurphyM's comments a couple of strings above this. I have already packed up my 4 speakers and sound bar and listed them on Ebay. I'm going to Best Buy this afternoon and am buying a competitive product. While I'm quite certain SONOS doesn't care about the individual, I think that once enough people start doing what I do, the message will eventually be heard.

Hi everyone, we're happy to help.

I've taken a look at your three systems and it looks like you're all good candidates for a beta software that's currently in testing which helps a lot with PLAYBAR audio processing. It's not specifically for grouping that audio across other rooms, but it may help out. I've flagged your systems already, so you're welcome to check for updates and get that software to try out. If you have any issues with PLAYBAR audio after that update, please send a new diagnostic for us and post it here. Steps for submitting a diagnostic are here.

When it comes to streaming PLAYBAR audio to other players, that is probably one of the top uses of data on the Sonos system. The PLAYBAR data stream is a really high-quality stream, which means network transmission issues are the most likely cause of audio issues. There can be other trouble to be sure, but that's usually the number one place to look.

When you guys have trouble playing in other rooms, do you know if the audio cuts out on the PLAYBAR too, or just in the rooms that are grouped? That's a really good way to know if you're looking at a transmission issue, or an issue with the PLAYBAR getting or processing the audio.

@Michaelj205, one but thing stood out I want to bring up, you mentioned that you'd checked the wireless on your system and I just wanted to confirm, if you're using Sonos with a player, BRIDGE, or BOOST wired into the network, you should have the SONOS wireless channel as far from the house wireless channel as possible. For example, if your Sonos is set to channel 11, you should probably put your house wireless on channel 1. They are both on the 2.4 GHz spectrum and will cause interference with each other the closer they are together.

Ryan, I’m having the exact same problem with my Play3 grouped with my Playbar. The Play3 keeps cutting out while watching TV. I installed a boost but it didn’t help. My diagnostic is 8046099.

@Ryan s can I have some step by step instructions on how to resolve this very annoying problem .... very very frustrating problem

As mentioned above, I installed the boost but it didn't help. I called support, and they had me move the Play3 to a different location in the kitchen. That didn't help. What finally worked is the support guy had me log into my internet router and had me change the channels used for my wifi and the Sonos boost. We did several trial and error configurations, and I sent fresh diagnostics after each attempt. Finally we hit upon a good configuration, the diagnostics passed muster, the problem went away, and I haven't had the problem since.