Sonos Sub Gen 3 crackling/static sound

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246 replies

O

Hi,

I have experienced the same issue with the Gen3 Sub, getting an electrical buzz/hum. 

I have just received my replacement, and unfortunately they have sent me a ‘Certified Refurb’ and this is also the A200 build. Hence I still have the same issue. 

When I contacted Sonos they told me replacements are issued automatically by the system and they have no bearing over which build model will be shipped. I find this hard to believe personally. 

So chances are I’m going to get a third Sub with the same issue. 

Has anyone managed to speak to an advisor at Sonos and specifically request the A202 build?

R

I have a A202 and it’s making that electric noise from the Dropbox link!

Very annoying when watching quiet horror movies.

 

Hello everyone,

I have also just received a brand new A202 (in Germany) as well and was frankly shocked by the high-frequency whirring that it emits throughout the room. Granted, one can only hear it with quiet music or light conversations on TV but this certainly does not sound “right”. It also emits the aforementioned crackling when you put your head close to the sub.

 

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/c0077398557b8372cded0840d19f028520220105171945/654b67159529db056462486a65d3fcdf20220105171945/8536ab

 

I didn’t know about this problem before I experienced this myself and I am honestly appalled by the extent of it. This seriously diminishes my trust in Sonos as a company, even though I am very happy with the rest of my Arc surround set.

Sonos Support was quick to dispatch a brand new replacement, but I am curious to see whether it won’t show the same issues. If it does, I’ll just return the sub for good and wait a couple of months and hope they’ll iron it out. Moreover, one could keep the sub and return it before the 100 day period ends.


Just to follow up: obviously it is very admirable to manage transport from the Netherlands to Southern Germany in a day, but that’s about it.

The new sub is making the noise at a much quieter level and without any of the previous crackling. Now all I can hear is a quiet humming, but now it seems it is even doing it all the time as the standard “white noise” standby-noise. And I can hear it, when it is quiet in the house, in the whole room.

I mean, I want to love the system, because it is awesome, but at 850 Euros it is a very bitter pill to swallow.

R

Unfortunately I still haven’t heard back from Sonos support. I reached out about 2 times earlier this year and I was told that as soon as the new model becomes available, they will reach out to process the replacement and ensure that I receive it in time.

So I was quite surprised that other people are starting to receive the new model and no one from Sonos tried to get in touch with me. I don’t want to go through another exchange and get another unit with the same problem.

 

No need to be sad, as it does not seem to have been fixed. ;) The customer support agent told me that only the batches A200-201 were affected and that A202 should have fixed it, but from my experience and from other reports, that doesn’t seem to be true. Again: this does not engender trust in the competence of Sonos or its engineers.

R

I have a A202 and it’s making that electric noise from the Dropbox link!

Very annoying when watching quiet horror movies.

 

Hello everyone,

I have also just received a brand new A202 (in Germany) as well and was frankly shocked by the high-frequency whirring that it emits throughout the room. Granted, one can only hear it with quiet music or light conversations on TV but this certainly does not sound “right”. It also emits the aforementioned crackling when you put your head close to the sub.

 

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/c0077398557b8372cded0840d19f028520220105171945/654b67159529db056462486a65d3fcdf20220105171945/8536ab

 

I didn’t know about this problem before I experienced this myself and I am honestly appalled by the extent of it. This seriously diminishes my trust in Sonos as a company, even though I am very happy with the rest of my Arc surround set.

Sonos Support was quick to dispatch a brand new replacement, but I am curious to see whether it won’t show the same issues. If it does, I’ll just return the sub for good and wait a couple of months and hope they’ll iron it out. Moreover, one could keep the sub and return it before the 100 day period ends.

G

Hi to everyone,
I’m about to pull the trigger for a sub gen3. I’ve ordered a refurbished gen2, but I didn’t knew I came with only one year of warranty. The gen3 would be only 100 euros more. From what I‘ve read, it looks like the issue only occurs in wifi. Can someone confirm this is the case?

Thanks.

C

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in responding. I returned my Sub Gen 3 back in October, when I saw that the issue wasn’t fixed with the newer models. I’m not willing to spend 850€+ on a flawed product. Might buy the Sub Gen 4 when the issue is finally fixed. 

B

Original launch unit (with Arc preorder) A200 1.32.1.4-1.1 chirps, hisses, and humms very audibly/loudly.

Just received an advance unit that looked BNIB (sealed retail packaging) RMA A201 1.32.1.6-1.1 and have them side by side.

Noted that both had fingerprints on the woofers (from factory/packaging as I did not touch the insides at all).

During setup/update of the new unit the wifi/processing activity chirping was still audible but significantly muted. 60 Hz buzz is more muted, activity chirping is significantly less frequent and less audible but still present, and the constant hissing is significantly less/almost eliminated.  Am mostly satisfied after a quick 30 min test, but will need to give it some more time to see if it’s still noticeable during movies.

L
Userlevel 2
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Ouch. 😔

 

I don’t want to sound too pessimistic but that kind of feedback from @andrewchiu1st and @ghflow does not sound that good in my HiFi ears.
 

I would have hoped for a solution from Sonos especially for those initial cases from a long long time ago …

 

@Corry P Any new wisdom for us?

andrewchiu1st
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Unfortunately I still haven’t heard back from Sonos support. I reached out about 2 times earlier this year and I was told that as soon as the new model becomes available, they will reach out to process the replacement and ensure that I receive it in time.

So I was quite surprised that other people are starting to receive the new model and no one from Sonos tried to get in touch with me. I don’t want to go through another exchange and get another unit with the same problem.

G
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

So helpful to read about other cases and share all our experiences regarding this Sub topic here. 
 

What about all the US or North American customers with this problem? Everything solved or did you give up? :-) 

@andrewchiu1st

@ChetBaker

@cstyow

@ghflow

 

Yeah I’ve pretty much given up. Went through 4 exchanges last year and the the one I ended up with still has the same problem. It was better than the other ones though, and I couldn’t hear the noise unless I place my ear very close to the opening. 

I still think Sonos’s lack of response is unacceptable. Based on your experiences seems like this problem is very wide-spread and haven’t been fixed yet. Sonos is charging 50 dollars more for the sub this year, and it refused to even acknowledge the problem.

L
Userlevel 2
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So helpful to read about other cases and share all our experiences regarding this Sub topic here. 
 

What about all the US or North American customers with this problem? Everything solved or did you give up? :-) 

@andrewchiu1st

@ChetBaker

@cstyow

@ghflow

 

M
Userlevel 1

Honestly I am thinking about returning it and buying it again on Black Friday for less…

J

For me it is sadly not solved, I need to replace mine again…

Annoying to you, no doubt. But the good thing is: there seems to be a technical solution in general…  

M
Userlevel 1

For me it is sadly not solved, I need to replace mine again…

J

Hi @Livius21, @Mansfield46 and all the others,

just got the 2nd exchange device today (remember: 1st one was a brand new Sub Gen. 3 A202, 1.32.1.6-2.1, 2nd one was a refurbed A200, 1.32.1.5-2.1). It is again a refurbed model (A200, 1.32.1.5-2.1). 

So, what should I say? The annoying “crackling” noise in idle now is gone! Cheers, Sonos! 

But as @Mansfield46 mentioned above: a “refurbished certified”-labeled product is fairly not a brand new one (which could be even relevant in case of reselling it in future) as ordered and paid for… will talk about that with local Sonos support. I’m confident that a solution will be found for this either. 

Wish you all the best!

 

 

M
Userlevel 1

Hi @Livius21,

thats what I call timing. 😂 

 

Let me give you the current status of my story:

Just for your information I am from Germany. Ordered my Sub Gen 3 with my ARC 24.9 on the Sonos Website. All fine. Compared it to a Bose 900 with Sub and found the Sonos ARC way better. Cheers Sonos.

I then started to watch some quiet horror/thriller movies. There I realized there was some buzzing noise…Sitting 3 meters away from the sub. Found this thread. Exactly the sound from the dropbox link above. Checked I had a A202, which should have solved the problem.

Then I reached out to the Sonos the support as @Corry P advised me to. Exchanged it and received the replacement unit today. The sticker said “refurbished certified” and A201. I was instantly like nice I order a full price product something is not working and then I get a refurbished one for full price… 

I instantly called the Sonos Support. The guy on the phone was really nice, checked the serial number and told me it is labeled refurbished, because the Sonos team checked the Sub internally and it was never sold to a customer. So if thats true, then its not a problem for me, otherwise it definitely would be.

Right now, I just added it to my ARC, turned it on put my ear near the sub and what do I hear, yes you are right the buzzing, it seems a little higher in tone. I will check it this evening with some horror movie and if its the same volume as the A202 and I hear it from 3m away, I will have to call the support again. For a product worth 849€ I am not accepting this, since the Bose Sub did no noise at all.

 

Thats all for now,

Mansfield46

L
Userlevel 2
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Hi @Mansfield46 & @Judge_Cookie 
 

would be great to hear if your issue could have been solved before others start the process. 
 

Thank you very much!!!

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @Mansfield46 & @Judge_Cookie 

In that case, I would ask you both to please get back in touch with our technical support team - we are committed to resolving this issue, but it is our current understanding that A202 did so. If this is not the case, we’d very much like to investigate for you.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
L
Userlevel 2
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@Sonos  @Sonosmangementteam

ceo@sonos.com

patrick.spence@sonos.com
Ted.Dworkin@sonos.com

matthew.siegel@sonos.com


After Sonos-Software-Gate S1/S2 you are forcing your Sub-Hardware-Gate???

Please advise to your fellow customers! Or don’t you care - again???

 

 

M
Userlevel 1

I have a A202 and it’s making that electric noise from the Dropbox link!

Very annoying when watching quiet horror movies.

J

Hi @Livius21 

Dear Corry P., 

after all the hassle we have gone through with this “premium HiFi product”, would you mind to give the name or number of this “latest hardware revision” that solves all our problems?

We all have heard or read so many different explanations along the last 12 months from Sonos that I would highly appreciate some proofs to rebuilt our trust!

Thank you in advance!
 

That would be A202.

Hi there from Germany,

btw: same “crackling”-Problem here with A202 by using Wifi-connection… have a look at my post above… annoying… Got a refurb-model as exchange-device. Sonos support here told me, the problem was resolved, but it is not. Same Problem with the refurb-sub… very disappointing…. 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Livius21 

Dear Corry P., 

after all the hassle we have gone through with this “premium HiFi product”, would you mind to give the name or number of this “latest hardware revision” that solves all our problems?

We all have heard or read so many different explanations along the last 12 months from Sonos that I would highly appreciate some proofs to rebuilt our trust!

Thank you in advance!
 

That would be A202.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
L
Userlevel 2
Badge

Dear Corry P., 

after all the hassle we have gone through with this “premium HiFi product”, would you mind to give the name or number of this “latest hardware revision” that solves all our problems?

We all have heard or read so many different explanations along the last 12 months from Sonos that I would highly appreciate some proofs to rebuilt our trust!

Thank you in advance!
 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi all.

If your Sonos Sub is making a ticking noise, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team, who will verify the issue and replace the unit for you. The latest hardware revision fixed this issue. Thanks.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
C
Userlevel 2
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Any updates here, Sonos team? We have all been patiently waiting for well over a year at this point.

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