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Contributor I
January 5, 2026

Sonos AMP Intermittent HDMI ARC Choppy Audio Fixed

I’ve been suffering for 2 years with intermittent choppy audio via HDMI ARC on my Sonos AMP.  Swapped cables, tried short cable extenders nothing helped.  Sometime it would go for weeks and then start - I’d power cycle TV and Amp no joy.

Came across this post: 
https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-229129/arc-loose-hdmi-6877144

 

I thought what the hell I’ll try it.  Well it worked.  I sliced 3 mm of the shell around the HDMI connector - plugged it back in and BAM - problem solved.

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    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    January 8, 2026

    No not using Sonos cable - I would use the supplied cable if it was plenum rated and 50ft long.

    The long length of your 3rd party cable is probably not ideal due to attenuation. I wonder if ​@caroline-harper can comment, as per the previous helpful comments with their knowledge?

     

    hard to be sure but it appears they are using a hybrid, wire and optical, cable. With the fiber covering much of the distance length shouldn’t matter if under a couple thousand feet.

    Made itAuthor
    Contributor I
    January 16, 2026

    Quick update - I’ve not tried the Sonos cable as the performance with the existing cable and sugru has been so good (only had to adjust cable position once in 2 weeks).  Not perfect but waaay better.  Afraid that if I mess with it I’ll break it! 
     

    yes the cable I’m using is optical hybrid.

    Made itAuthor
    Contributor I
    February 1, 2026

    Final update!

    So after another couple of weeks of no issues choppy audio returned - subtle cable position changes fixed it again but was enough to trigger the sonos cable check.

    Sonos cable definitely feels mechanically more stable when plugged into amp.  Had to use a female female adapter (8k rated) to connect sonos cable to existing cable from TV.

    Good news zero issue - no choppy audio (day 1).  Will give status in a week or so.

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