Question

Playbar and two Play.1 surround sound not working while watching tv

  • 2 December 2014
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82 replies

Start the TV on the Playbar. Go to the Rooms screen and tap the Group button in the Playbar section. This will allow you to group other rooms to what is playing on the Playbar. Check the Room you wish to group with the Playbar and tap Done.

I can't get there on my controller. IPone 5. I can't get back to groups at all, which I think is the problem.


To get to the Rooms screen, tap the Room name at the top of the Now Playing screen.


That turned off the play bar with the tv on. Then, if I go to music both play. Can I delete a room and just put both speakers in one group so that I can hear the tv thru both speakers?
BTW - Thank you for helping.

WAIT! I turned the tv off and back on and now both are working.
Thank you again for helping!
I have the same problem
Your confirmation number is: 5457409. No surround sound while playing tv. Works fine with online music streaming service.
Userlevel 7
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Your confirmation number is: 5457409. No surround sound while playing tv. Works fine with online music streaming service.

Thanks Kushal, first off the diagnostic is showing that the PLAYBAR is getting a stereo signal currently right now, which means the surround speakers might not be playing noticeable audio, depending on what's happening. If you check under Settings > About Sonos the PLAYBAR entry will show what audio format is coming in.

This page has a lot of useful information on making sure you're getting the best possible experience. If you have a 5.1 audio source coming in, do your surrounds come on more noticeably?
Hey Ryan now I have connected a sound extracter but still no sound 5467788. It is showing Dolby 5.1 on the app now
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Hey Ryan now I have connected a sound extracter but still no sound 5467788. It is showing Dolby 5.1 on the app now

Thanks, can you start with running a re-calibration on your surround players? Go to Room Settings > PLAYBAR > Surrounds and re-calibrate. When you do this, set the surrounds to be more than 10 feet away and then bring their volume up in surround settings?

If you're still not hearing any audio from the surrounds, can you send another diagnostic?

Please keep in mind, if the original source of the audio is in stereo, even if it gets converted to Dolby Digital 5.1 along the line somewhere, the starting audio doesn't have unique channels for surrounds and you may not get any sound out of them. The new Dolby Digital 5.1 signal out of that surround signal may have left and right channels only, with no audio playing out of the center and surrounds. The format would still say DD5.1, but there'd be no content in those missing channels.
6100033
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6100033

What are the issues you're experiencing?
Same here 6304738 is mine. Two play 1s no sound on movies or tv.
Ive got my Soundbar hooked up to my boost with the cable going into the tv. Play 1's as surround with a sub. Get great sound out of playbar and sub only. Played with audio, tried changing channels and turning off autoplay tv....still notta.
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Having the same problem and submitted a diagnostic. can anyone explain the issue and what was done to fix it?
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Having the same problem and submitted a diagnostic. can anyone explain the issue and what was done to fix it?
Hi, we'd be happy to have a look. Can you reply with the diagnostic number?
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6448191, thanks Max
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6448191, thanks Max
The diagnostics looks fine, try adjusting the volume of the surround speakers. Since we are receiving 5.1 DD on the PLAYBAR, the surrounds will only produce effect sounds when receiving such a signal.
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No difference
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No difference, adjusting that volume increases the volume on my playbar only
So I have had the Sonos for a year and get nothing but sporadic blips out of the surrounds when regular tv is on. I have 4 play, a soundbar, bass unit and connect. Yah.....LOTS of investment for what amounts to high tech and completely useless gear.

It is really annoying. The surrounds disconnected completely at this point and now I cannot connect them. Well....let me rephrase that....I can connect them easily. It says so on my phone. They do not test nor doesa any sound come out of them.

I see a LOT of people having the same issue and a LOT of Sonos 'experts' asking for diagnostics but no solution. Everyone....keep sending in those diagnostics, that way you actually feel like you are doing something constructive to fix a problem that can't be fixed.

After shelling out thousands of dollars for crap Sonos that will not work I know what the answer is...get rid of them and buy something that actually works.

Sonos has been nothing but a disappointing and costly experience. Completely useless. Throwing them in the canal if I can't find someone who absolutely loves these pieces of crap.
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So I have had the Sonos for a year and get nothing but sporadic blips out of the surrounds when regular tv is on. I have 4 play, a soundbar, bass unit and connect. Yah.....LOTS of investment for what amounts to high tech and completely useless gear.

It is really annoying. The surrounds disconnected completely at this point and now I cannot connect them. Well....let me rephrase that....I can connect them easily. It says so on my phone. They do not test nor doesa any sound come out of them.

I see a LOT of people having the same issue and a LOT of Sonos 'experts' asking for diagnostics but no solution. Everyone....keep sending in those diagnostics, that way you actually feel like you are doing something constructive to fix a problem that can't be fixed.

After shelling out thousands of dollars for crap Sonos that will not work I know what the answer is...get rid of them and buy something that actually works.

Sonos has been nothing but a disappointing and costly experience. Completely useless. Throwing them in the canal if I can't find someone who absolutely loves these pieces of crap.


My Playbar, Sub and 2 x Play 1s as surrounds are awesome. Been watching the Olypics with them and sometimes is like I'm in the arena with the athletes.

But guess what? If I only feed them Stereo I get virtually nothing from the surrounds - I expect that is what you are doing - Either your TV isn't passing the DD 5.1 signal or your source isn't supplying DD 5.1.

Here's a good idea for your future tech purchases:-

- As soon as you find out they don't do what you thought they did bury your head in the sand, wait until the warranty period is up and then start whining like a baby. It worked with this problem didn't it?
To all the people on this forum who've experienced the mysterious phenomenon of the LS and RS surrounds suddenly stop working, check your TV settings! I combed through these forums and was convinced there was something wrong with the Playbar pairing, so I reset the entire system multiple times, I verified that the red light was coming out of the optical cable, I confirmed in the Sonos app that the Playbar showed it was receiving a Dolby input signal while I was watching TV, all to no avail.

I was about ready to call it quits when I read a post on AV Forums that mentioned that newer TV's are capable of outputting different types of audio. Sure enough, I checked my Samsung F8000 smart tv while I had a tv show playing and tried accessing the MENU > AUDIO > ADDITIONAL SETTINGS > AUDIO FORMAT section and changing it between DTS and Dolby Digital to PCM.... and PCM worked! The rear Play 1 speakers were finally working again.

I'm not sure how the audio format changed itself on my TV, maybe I reset it after unplugging it, but hopefully this will be useful for other people to try.
May I suggest you go with Dolby Digital, which will give you true 5.1? If I recall correctly, PCM is a stereo signal, which the Playbar is decoding into a "fake" (although pretty good) 5.1 signal. Just be sure you're doing only Dolby Digital, and not any extra like Dolby Digital Plus, which the Playbar can't deal with.

And yes, I share your frustration with TVs that reset their sound settings when they're off for a period of time. This is one of those suggestions that I post frequently as a potential solution, due to what you're saying. And no, I've no idea how it happens, but it seems to occur fairly frequently. I've had the same issue recently, when I moved, and lost the settings on my TV. I was pretty frustrated for 10 or 15 minutes, until I pulled up the TV's audio menu, and then started cursing (someone....maybe myself?) as it had changed.

Good post!
I´ve got Playbar with 2 Play1 as surround and today I get no sound from my Play1 speakers
Sorry to hear that. Have you checked the two standard things?

1) Make sure that the TV is set to pass through Dolby Digital

2) Make sure that the source is also sending a Dolby Digital signal?
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Same issue here.

Had a playbase for a week. Played music earlier in day through subs, not tv. Now sibs are no longer having any sound as surrounds. Joke . They were working fine unutl today for a week. It is D5.1. Pathetic
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Also tried disconnecting and reconnecting surrounds. Not working. Pathetic