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I am looking to add a sound bar to my TV.  I was going to order the playbar.  I have been told that my TV remote will not work properly with any sound bar but the ARC.  Is that true? 

Where are you ordering a PLAYBAR? They haven’t been manufactured for years.

The PLAYBAR requires an infrared (IR) remote, since it connects to a TV via optical. You haven’t told us what TV or associated remote you have, but I’ve never seen a TV remote that can’t use an IR signal, there are still lots of devices out there that don’t work off of CEC. There may be some out there, but it would be extremely unusual. Usually, the TV’s manual will tell you how to turn on IR on the remote.


It’s a Samsung TV newer smart one.  It’s a used playbar.  I’m just not sure what to buy.  I have others Sonos speakers that I would like to connect with my TV.  The Arc is way to expensive for just connecting other speakers to the TV


I don’t think you have to ‘buy’ anything, just follow the instructions from the FAQ


The Playbar is an old soundbar and it has its limitations, however it is still a fantastic soundbar and I use mine every day..
My setup (Playbar, sub, 2x play1) I am completely satisfied with the sound from movies and when I listen to music I have nothing to complain about.

You will only be able to get dolby 5.1 (no atmos) Era 100 & 300 will not work with a playbar. New updates to Playbar will stop very soon as the product has been discontinued several years ago.

If you can buy a playbar very cheaply then I would do it, otherwise you should save up a bit and buy an Arc when it comes on sale.


While I mostly agree, the Sonos PLAYBAR runs S2 just fine, I don’t see support / new updates stopping ‘very soon’. 


Hi @JTatum 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

You should find one of the two following pages of help when configuring your Samsung Smart TV remote to work with a Playbar (you will of course need to configure the Playbar too, so instructions are in the third link - you will be given the chance during setup though).

Use a Samsung F Series Smart Remote with Sonos

Use a Samsung One Remote with Sonos home theater speakers

And Playbar configuration - Control Sonos home theater with your TV remote

I hope this helps.


Hey folks .. After months (years?) using my Playbar with a Samsung TV but without being able to control volume from the Samsung Universal One remote, I finally took the time to configure the remote and the Playbar. Sadly it took me a while because I found many of the advice posts on this topic didn’t work for me. 

But I did find one that worked: https://www.techsolutions.support.com/how-to/program-a-samsung-remote-to-control-a-sonos-speaker-12733

The key for me was this procedure:
In the TV settings,

  1. select Source/Universal Remote,
  2. New Device,
  3. Home Theatre System,
  4. type “Sonos” into the search and then select it,
  5. Optical,
  6. Power Test,
  7. select “yes” when asked if it worked, then “done” to complete the process.

This part ensures the remote is sending its commands to the Playbar via Infrared (IR). 

Then use the Sonos app to configure the Playbar to get its commands via IR. 

  1. Settings, System, Products, Select the room your Sonos device is located
  2. Under TV Setup.
  3. Use IR and IR Signal Light
  4. Then click “Remote Control Setup”

This was the way I had to do it. Hope it helps you.

:-)