Why is the maximum volume so low?
I just purchased a single Play:5. I have to turn it about 3/4 of the way up to hear it much at all, and at max volume, it is not nearly what one would expect from a speaker of this quality. I have the volume setting all the way up, plus the bass and treble at max. Nothing seems to help. Is there another setting I'm missing? Thank you.
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One should never reset to factory settings unless instructed to by a Sonos tech or a forum veteran. Not only does it erase all your information including playlists and service account info, it gets rid of valuable diagnostic information.
I was having the same problem. Reseting the speaker to factory settings helped a lot.
Exactly. The thing to remember is there's no danger in turning them all the way up. Well, no danger to the play:5 itself at least, there might be to your hearing...
This sounds familiar, pun intended. I've got two new Sonos Play 5 Gen II speakers and at 25% volume you can just barely start to hear them and at 50% they are just loud enough to listen to in a quiet room. If there is general noise in the room ie kids, pets, dishwasher then I've got to go to at least 75% for comfortable listening. All other speakers in the house including Play 1's, Play 3's, Soundbar and SUB are loud enough to hear fine at 25% and probably nearing ear damaging at 50% volume. When the whole house is grouped together the 5's are set almost double to attain the same sound output. A little strange that the new Play 5's are so different in the volume range but they still sound great and I have just learned to turn them up more than I do with the other speakers.
In the past there have numerous complaints that Sonos speakers don't get quiet enough at the lowest levels (for people that like to listen to music while sleeping for example), given the play:5 is the newest Sonos device I wouldn't be surprised if Sonos recalibrated the volume control to give more adjustability at the lower levels. Fact is though if the maximum volume is too loud for you then it goes loud enough, just keep turning it up until you find the level you're happy with.
Userlevel 7
+22
I suggest you read the replies above.
But in a nutshell it's very unlikely there is a problem with the speaker.
Forget where the slider is or the number. Just turn up the volume to suit your tastes.
Hello, I buy my first Sonos product, a Play 5. I'm really happy with sound quality but not really impressed by volume. Even at 2/3, not really loud. In Sonos app on my iPhone 6S, I have 30 steps for volume, and it starts have good sound at 20 (careful, when you are at half of the trigger in Sonos app, you have already reached 2/3 of max volume). Is there an issue with my speaker? Do I need to send diagnostic? Many thanks for your help.
mattstilwell5,
There is no industry standard regarding the correlation between "10", "20", "30", or "100" and the sound pressure level in the room. Also, "10" in a small room and "10" in a large room will result in a much higher sound pressure level in the small room -- all things being equal.
If I can make any generalization it is that lower quality equipment plays louder at a low control setting than higher quality equipment. In the big box stores I watch customers trying out boom boxes and such. The common comment is that "this is a powerful unit because you only need to crack the volume control before is blows you out of the room." In fact, the high quality units have a lot more power and play louder. You could make a similar comparison with the accelerator in a car. If a small press results in rapid acceleration and high speed, the car seems "peppy", but it is also difficult to control in traffic.
The real question is: "Does the unit get loud enough for your purposes?" If so, ignore the numbers.
There is no industry standard regarding the correlation between "10", "20", "30", or "100" and the sound pressure level in the room. Also, "10" in a small room and "10" in a large room will result in a much higher sound pressure level in the small room -- all things being equal.
If I can make any generalization it is that lower quality equipment plays louder at a low control setting than higher quality equipment. In the big box stores I watch customers trying out boom boxes and such. The common comment is that "this is a powerful unit because you only need to crack the volume control before is blows you out of the room." In fact, the high quality units have a lot more power and play louder. You could make a similar comparison with the accelerator in a car. If a small press results in rapid acceleration and high speed, the car seems "peppy", but it is also difficult to control in traffic.
The real question is: "Does the unit get loud enough for your purposes?" If so, ignore the numbers.
I just purchased the Play 5 speaker, I have noticed the volume goes from 1-40 on my Iphone S. Speaker sounds really quiet at volume 10 (quarter of the way up)and you can start to hear it better at volume 20 or "half way up". Half way to full volume is a huge difference in loudness, is this normal?? I went into settings and turned treble up and loudness is "On". I also have purchased the sound bar, sub, along with 2 Play 3's which I have not yet setup or taken out of the box.
What's wrong with just turning it up?
Same issue. I have a sound bar, 3 play 1s, sub, and just purchased a play 5. I've been comparing the sound with each individual speaker- same source, same volume level (50%) and the play 5 is considerably quieter than all of them. This is really disappointing. Has anyone had this fixed by submitting diagnostics?
Userlevel 7
+20
Hi Dr.Sah,
There isn't a universal issue with Sonos speakers and their maximum volume. If your system is too quiet, please let us know. Also, let us know what kind of Sonos units you have and what other hardware you may be using, such as third party speakers connected to a CONNECT:AMP.
It may also help us to see a diagnostic report from your system. Please send in a report and reply with the confirmation number, here's how.
Is this problem still not resolved?
Userlevel 3
+2
I reviewed the diagnostic and will send you an PM in a moment.
Yup. Will do so soon. Thanks!
Userlevel 7
+22
Open a support ticket with Sonos. Maybe worth submitting a diagnostic and giving Sonos a call
No. All wireless.
Are you listening to the line-in by any chance?
I did factory reset and still same issue. My diagnostics # is: 6010066
Wife got one Play 5 as a gift from a friend to add to our entire Sonos setup. Having same issue as OP. Have to turn up volume 50-75% to hear well. All other Sonos components are working fine.
I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer. Too bad Sonos only made the Play:5 capable of doing this. Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1.
Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level. My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed. I've had the system for a little over a year. I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose. Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out. Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)
Wish I'd known this before.
Good luck, all.
I have a Bridge, Playbar and two Play 5's as a Stereo pair. Almost all music is stored on a Netgear ReadyNAS 314 and I must say this works very well.
Normally my volume doesn't go over about one third, because that is loud enough for me. But then, I can turn it up very, very loud, so that works fine here. Great sound too!
I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer. Too bad Sonos only made the Play:5 capable of doing this. Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1.
Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level. My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed. I've had the system for a little over a year. I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose. Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out. Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)
Wish I'd known this before.
Good luck, all.
Thanks for your suggestions. I will call Sonos again and have them work with me on it, then. I have a Bridge (since the beginning) and am using it. And now, more and more, music directly off my computer (through a Sonos folder) isn't working very well, either, and I am getting more drop-outs with YouTube, etc. as well, than I used to. So, I'm beginning to agree with you that the problem isn't necessarily the Seagate NAS drive. But Sonos has worked with me extensively to try and figure out the problem, and that's the only thing they could come up with, in the end. My furthest speaker is in the garage, and that may be causing problems, too. But I have a 1200 SF house, all on one level, and the garage speaker is less than 30 feet away from the NAS/Bridge/Router. So, doubtful again. I just need to devote some serious time to this (again), when I can, and hopefully will figure it out eventually.
Thank you for writing. I'll keep trying!
I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer. Too bad Sonos only made the Play:5 capable of doing this. Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1.
Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level. My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed. I've had the system for a little over a year. I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose. Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out. Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)
Wish I'd known this before.
Good luck, all.
Interesting post. I agree the Play:1s are amazing for their size, but wouldn't personally be so hard on the Play:5. Just personal opinion though.
I am extremely sceptical about the suggestion that a Seagate NAS would not work OK with Sonos, unless is the Mirra Personal Server, which does not support the type of file sharing that Sonos needs - but I would then expect it not to work at all, rather than work badly. Before you ditch the NAS I would make sure your problems aren't caused by wireless interference or IP address conflicts first.
Do you only have problems when streaming from the NAS?
If you are running in wifi mode consider getting a Bridge or a Boost and using SonosNet. As a short-term experiment first, you could wire one of your speakers to the router to see if using SonosNet helps.
I have not been happy with my Play:5. I bought two to use as a stereo set in my main room, and took them both back in favor of two--wait for it--Play1s. They sound much, much better! Sound not as muddy, and I can crank them up higher. I never did try a Play3, but no need to now.
I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer. Too bad Sonos only made the Play:5 capable of doing this. Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1.
Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level. My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed. I've had the system for a little over a year. I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose. Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out. Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)
Wish I'd known this before.
Good luck, all.
I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer. Too bad Sonos only made the Play:5 capable of doing this. Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1.
Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level. My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed. I've had the system for a little over a year. I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose. Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out. Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)
Wish I'd known this before.
Good luck, all.
If you're using the Line-In on your PLAY:5 will want to adjust the Line-In level as shown on this page. This adjusts the gain level on the Line-In connection to be louder when you have the cable plugged in from your iPad (for example) to the PLAY:5. The higher the value, the higher the volume.
You can also turn on the Loudness setting inside the Equalization settings. Tracks usually are louder with the Loudness turned on.
If the PLAY:5 still seems low on multiple Sonos sources, can you please submit a diagnostic from your system and reply back here with your confirmation number?
Thanks
Hi. The Play:5 sound is really good so you may have a faulty unit. It may (or may not) take Sonos a while to pick up a diagnostic number buried in an old thread like this. If convenient for you, I'd give them a call if you don't hear anything today. They are very helpful.
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