Sonos 1 Linking to a TV

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lost in espace

Original Poster:

6,294 posts

214 months

Sunday 3rd November
quotequote all
We have just moved into a house with nice ceiling speakers in the lounge and kitchen which link to a Sonos amp and a Connect/Amp.

Although it is a bit limited in terms of what you can link to, the Sonos 1 app is OK for our needs.

However I am about to buy a telly for the lounge, and want to link it to the speakers. Not so easy it seems!

Am I correct to say I need to take the audio from ARC/HDMI and then I can somehow connect this to the Cat 5 in the wall that goes back to the amps, and hook it up to the direct input? I can't see an easier way to do it.


JD

2,893 posts

235 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
What are you using for the sound output from the TV?

If you use a Sonos sound bar it will all link via its own network, no cables required.

lost in espace

Original Poster:

6,294 posts

214 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
JD said:
What are you using for the sound output from the TV?

If you use a Sonos sound bar it will all link via its own network, no cables required.
I don't have the TV yet, going to pick one up in the next week.

I did see you could link with a soundbar, the previous occupants who left me the amps must have used something else as they didn't have a soundbar. Maybe a soundbar is the way to go then.

The Sonos app did complain about my range extender this morning, I suppose this is because of latency.

sparkyhx

4,193 posts

211 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
JD said:
What are you using for the sound output from the TV?

If you use a Sonos sound bar it will all link via its own network, no cables required.
Be careful about Gen 1 and Gen 2 compatibility - you may have to delve into the second hand soundbar market. No a bad thing

I'm really p'd off with Sonos recently, my favourite radio station is no longer accessible due to the slow deprecation of functionality with Sonos Gen 1 app. To the point where I am seriously investigating replacing stuff with Alexa's. Already replaced a play:5 with a pair of Alexa Echo's bought in October sale at half price.............with black friday coming I can see another Play:5 being replaced.
I can genuinely see everything I have except the Connect which is connected to my hifi being replaced. Even then, that might go in favour of some kind of streamer.

I

phil4

1,322 posts

245 months

Tuesday 5th November
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If you plug into the input of a Sonos Connect you can then use that as a source for the whole house.

For example, I have a connect i nthe tv stack, with input to and from the AV Amp. I watch F1, put the Sonos into "use the input mode", and it's then playing that. Which you can group to the other speakers in the house, and they'll then play the F1 also.

As mentioned beware of S1/S2

rdjohn

6,369 posts

202 months

Wednesday 6th November
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I think that Sonos started out as a brilliant solution, but since the S2 App came out has lost ground massively.

I have a Play-1 and Play-5 gen 1. When I moved home, I decided that an Arc was the obvious solution. Despite the claimed surround sound, the first thing that I thought was it would sound much better with a woofer and two rear speakers. But then hit the problems with S1 and S2 compatibility.

Now that the S2 App has been updated, it forever seems to be away with the fairies on my iPad. As well as TV, I only listen to Radio 2 and Apple Music. Returning to or switching between these simple choices makes me spend a lot of time looking at greyed-out scrolling. It really is not worth the price, effort and frustration.

When it came to buying a new system for my home in England, I bought a Samsung Q system with woofer and wireless rear speakers. It sounds fine and is quicker and easier to use via bluetooth.

I think Sonos has had its day.

sparkyhx

4,193 posts

211 months

Wednesday 6th November
quotequote all
rdjohn said:
I think that Sonos started out as a brilliant solution, but since the S2 App came out has lost ground massively.

I have a Play-1 and Play-5 gen 1. When I moved home, I decided that an Arc was the obvious solution. Despite the claimed surround sound, the first thing that I thought was it would sound much better with a woofer and two rear speakers. But then hit the problems with S1 and S2 compatibility.

Now that the S2 App has been updated, it forever seems to be away with the fairies on my iPad. As well as TV, I only listen to Radio 2 and Apple Music. Returning to or switching between these simple choices makes me spend a lot of time looking at greyed-out scrolling. It really is not worth the price, effort and frustration.

When it came to buying a new system for my home in England, I bought a Samsung Q system with woofer and wireless rear speakers. It sounds fine and is quicker and easier to use via bluetooth.

I think Sonos has had its day.
I know thing aren't always future proof, even my telly has stopped working on certain apps BBC is the next one to go soon. So now i've ditched the TV apps for a firestick, and now looking at a separate plug in wired streamer (eg Roku or other amazon) cos the wifi signal is a bit pants where the TV is (its about 6ft below and 1 ft away from the Mesh). Totally agree that Sonos was the dogs danglies and I was a massive advocate for it, plugging it at every opportunity. I don't think I can any more, the experience of S1/S2 has broken my fandom and committment to the brand.

My little stereo Alexa Echo setup has surprised me with its quality, and not having to use an app most of the time is also helpful (I know Sonos do voice now), and for the 'black friday rate' of £100 for the pair is amazing value.

watching Amazon for more Echos and a TV streamer, may even upgrade my connect thats the source for my hifi to a proper hifi streamer and go lossless.


rdjohn

6,369 posts

202 months

Thursday 7th November
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The sad bit is that both the Play 1 and Play 5 gen 1 are really good speakers.

The Play 5 especially, can fill my roof terrace with high quality sound. The Arc sounds pretty good if you turn it up to 11, but for normal listening in the lounge it is just OK, but a real faff.

Built-in obsolescence for quality equipment is such a waste. I have a 35-year old BMW Cabrio, which is still as pleasant to drive today as it was in 1990 when I bought it. Since the iPhone came along everything now seems to have a short-life expectations. I suspect that no one now has a 10-year old TV. The old valve TVs were a piece of quality furniture that lasted forever as it was easily repairable. Same goes with washing machines.