Why is the maximum volume so low?

  • 26 February 2014
  • 62 replies
  • 45513 views

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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62 replies

I have this issue of no low volume with the sonos 5, to say I am disappointed is an under statement!
I have the playbar, sub, connect (B&O speakers) and 3 play 1's but this is really poor in comparision
As John said, what you're describing is quite unusual as the PLAY:5 can get very loud. Local iTunes music could be encoded quieter, and at times Pandora tracks might be low as well. Sonos players don't edit the volume encoded in the tracks themselves, so you could have a few that are digitally set lower than others. This shouldn't be the case will all of your Pandora or local songs however.

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


Hello Ryan,

I am playing music on spotify and purchased the Sonos play 5 yesterday. I have the Sonos play 5 and the Bose Soundtouch 30 next to eachother for further testing and I can agree the Sonos is not loud at all. The Bose so far is much louder, we pay a premium price for a loudness you can get out of a JBL Xtreme (minus the sound being much better on the Sonos) is there any way I can tweak the volume on this before returning it and making my decision?
I have had this problem, don't know why but the volume used to be to loud at 50 to 60% now it's only just loud enough at 100%. I have set the app to 10 for the audio line in and haven't changed any other settings. Really disappointed.
I also have this issue. It started perhaps a month ago or so. I thought a software update caused it, and then I thought a software update fixed it, but now every source and every controller makes it incredibly quiet. The volume control does change the volume, but the available range is silent to nearly-silent. When I plug in headphones they volume seems reasonable, but that's hardly a reassurance.
I am having the same issue. Both my play 5 used to work perfectly but now I can barely hear anything even at the highest volume.

Diagnostic: 8159506

Please help to look into this.

Thanks!
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Interesting to see the comments regarding lack of volume from the Play5 2Gen. I’ve had mine (in stereo configuration) for nearly a year now and though I do love them there are occasions when I wish they went louder. I have them on Aracama stands in a room approx 4m wide x 8m long x 2.4m high, and 95% of the time they are fine. The problem tends to crop up on those albums which are really high quality recordings such as ‘Flying Cowboys’ by Rickie Lee Jones. Maximum volume is simply not adequate to do justice to the music whether it’s from Spotify extreme, Flac or cd via line in. Is there any way round this?
Is there any way round this?

If we assume that the Play:5's internal amp delivers its' actual maximum volume when volume in the Sonos app is set to 100/100, I wouldn't think so. Line-in sources could obviously differ due to higher source audio than 'internal' sources.
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Interesting to see the comments regarding lack of volume from the Play5 2Gen. I’ve had mine (in stereo configuration) for nearly a year now and though I do love them there are occasions when I wish they went louder. I have them on Aracama stands in a room approx 4m wide x 8m long x 2.4m high, and 95% of the time they are fine. The problem tends to crop up on those albums which are really high quality recordings such as ‘Flying Cowboys’ by Rickie Lee Jones. Maximum volume is simply not adequate to do justice to the music whether it’s from Spotify extreme, Flac or cd via line in. Is there any way round this?
Might be worth getting a SUB on a returnable basis. I’m skeptical it would fix your issue, but it may be worth a try because it will offload the low frequency heavy lifting from the 5s.

I have a pair of 5s in a room of similar dimensions to yours (my kitchen) and I’ve never used full volume because it would be intolerably loud. Room acoustics will make a difference.
Same issue, only when using the line in from my TV. Volume on all speakers is almost full to get to a normal level. There was a link in an earlier post on how to adjust the line in, but now the link doesn’t work. Any thoughts?
Just to update this thread -- Sonos didn't stand by their product. After 18 months of ownership (crucially, 6 months after the warranty!) they offered a token coupon to the more expensive version and refused any alternative. If you've found this thread, I hope you're still in warranty!
I have this issue of no low volume with the sonos 5, to say I am disappointed is an under statement!
I have the 2 play 5's and 3 play 1's. This is so sad. I wish I could take them back. Diagnostic code is 8488772
I solved the problem! My turntable used to be connected to a receiver but now that I connected it to my Pay 5 the sound was too low. I remember now that when I had to fix the elastic band on my turntable last week, I noticed a small switch under the plate where the vinyl sits on. I didn’t pay much attention to it then. Well, I was curious today and removed the plate again and I turned the switch to the opposite site it was originally set to. I connected my turntable again to my Play 5 and Voila! It worked and the sound is just beautiful!
I set my line-in source: portable player and it automatically got set to level (8). Perfect!
Please share this fix with everyone!