soundbar grouped to amp changes "group volume" without changing amp volume

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I have a Sonos Beam Soundbar conected to a TV via HTMI eARC, in a room with (4) in-ceiling speakers connected to a single Sonos AMP.

When I group the two zones, the TV audio will mirror onto the ceiling speakers, like I want…

However, the when I push volume buttons on my AppleTV remote (fed to the Sonos Beam via HDMI-CEC), it only changes the soundbar volume, not the group volume and grouped zones volume.

Is there any way to the soundbar volume to have control over grouped zones, so these speakers can be just an “extension of the TV”?

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buzzAnswer

Grand Maestro

If your Orange Pi 5 can access pin 13 on it’s HDMI port you can monitor the CEC bus and deal with the ceiling speaker AMP Volume using the SONOS API. Note that there will be a time skew between AMP audio output and the Soundbar output. At the potential expense of some voice sync you can adjust the Soundbar’s delay and moderate the skew.

If you use iPhone/iPad you may be interested in Touch Control. Mostly you will be limited by your own imagination.

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Airgetlam

Or your network…

Bruce

melvimbe

Note that there will be a time skew between AMP audio output and the Soundbar output. At the potential expense of some voice sync you can adjust the Soundbar’s delay and moderate the skew.

I didn’t notice any time skew between the soundbar and a grouped amp when I tested it today. Though I wasn’t really listening for it. If it was a problem, I would be happy to stick a Sonos AMP with HDMI-ARC sound input on the TV, but with no speakers connected, and then just group that with the zone for output to come out of the AMPS in the remote closet. (I tried doing something like this with Sonos Port, but the TV → port → AMP delay using line-in on the port was horriffic, over 800ms)

Using a ‘dummy’ amp connected to TV won’t resolve the latency issue. When playing audio to multiple Sonos rooms, 2.4 Ghz wifi is used with a bit of a buffer so that the different rooms have time to get the data and play in proper sync with other rooms. This buffer isn’t noticable for music playback. When you setup a rooom with a soundbar or amp connected to a TV, the TV audio is played in that room without the large buffer so that it can still be in sync with video. Any surround speakers or sub bonded to the soundbar/amp are connected via 5.0 GHz for faster transmission, without the need to penetrate multiple walls and reach every room in your house.

So your setup of connecting a soundbar or amp to the TV and separate Sonos room (ceiling speakers by amp) is grouping and will be delayed for TV audio. The fact that the speakers are physically located in the same room isn’t relevant. Unfortunately, Sonos doesn’t have an option for you to bond speakers and amps in whatever way you wish to form a unique combination for a room. Your best bet, as Buzz stated, is to try and adjust the delay in settings.

Danny

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