Sonos’ range of integrated audio systems goes above and beyond to deliver a great user experience. Because of this, it’s one of the most powerful options when it comes to bringing multiple rooms into the home, but we believe there are many ways you may not already know to better integrate it into your home and environment .
We’ve tried many of these features ourselves on our home Sonos setups, and here are the ones we find most useful for customizing things to suit your specific environment, allowing you to build and develop your multi-room setup and turn it into a flexible one can entertainment system.
After following our five ways to make your Sonos speakers a better guide, use these features to get the most out of your Sonos speaker setup.
1. Group speakers without the app
One of the great things about Sonos speakers is their ability to sync with other Sonos speakers and pump sound in perfect sync with every speaker in your house. Whether you have multiple speakers strategically placed around your main living area or multiple speakers in each room of your home, the ability to have them play together simultaneously is like having a house party and bringing musical harmony throughout your home.
It’s not unreasonable to think that the only way to group Sonos speakers to play the same audio files is through the Sonos app, or even through the recently implemented Sonos Voice Assistant app, but there’s another way…
Locate the play button on top of the speaker you want to group with someone else who is actively working and press and hold the play/pause button. The speaker will be grouped with the active speaker and start playing the same sound automatically.
Note: If you have multiple Sonos speakers, each playing something different, press and hold the play/pause button and the speaker will alternate the sound of each. To assemble your speakers, simply release the button once you hear the sound you want.
2. Pair two speakers for stereo sound
In general, two speakers are better than one – usually one only delivers mono sound, although there are exceptions, as speaker models like the Sonos One, Sonos One SL, Sonos Play:5, and Sonos Five have drive units capable of delivering multiple stereo sound single speaker.
Two separate dedicated speakers together create efficient and more enjoyable stereo sound. Specified as left and right audio channels, the stereo configuration delivers a more realistic sound (when positioned far enough apart), similar to the stereo sound you experience when listening to a pair of the best headphones.
Tip: For the best stereo effect, place the speakers equidistant from your listening position.
If you have two Sonos speakers of the same model in a room, you can pair them together so their audio is synced and connected to stereo. Whether it’s a pair of Sonos One, Sonos One SL, Sonos Move, Sonos Roam, Sonos Roam SL, Sonos Play:5 or Sonos Five, the stereo pair setting can be accessed through the room settings in the Sonos app.
Just select a file settings Gear in the bottom right of the Sonos app, then system and choose file Room where you want to create a stereo pair. Choose Stereo pair setup And follow the instructions step by step.
3. Integrate an existing music system
A conventional hi-fi system can be combined with Sonos speakers in various ways.
First you can add a Sonos Port file (Opens in a new tab) Your system will have physical inputs and outputs to process, say, analog audio signals from a DAC or CD player or even a turntable (if it has a built-in phono stage), which can then be played back through a network of speakers that are distributed throughout the house.
The Sonos connector also features analog and coaxial digital audio outputs to enable a multi-room Sonos connection to a traditional Hi-Fi setup, such as a top-of-the-line AV receiver or existing stereo amplifier.
Alternatively, if you have a Sonos Play:5 or Sonos Five speaker, you can connect a line-level analog device such as a DAC, CD player, or turntable to the line-in connector on the back of the speakers.
To select the entry for the external source, go to search Select in the Sonos app in line At the end of the list then the appropriate source from the listed options.
In the file you will also find the line-in settings settings In the Sonos app, followed by systemThen choose File Room With Playback: 5 or five speakers and scroll down to select a file in line and options.
Additionally, the Sonos Amp is an additional amplification solution that works in tandem with your choice of passive subwoofers. It seamlessly integrates connected sources like a TV (via HDMI) with other Sonos speakers as part of a multi-room setup.
4. Sonos touch controls
As we found with the included speakers, without having to open the Sonos app, the touch controls on top of the Sonos speaker allow you to do a lot more than just play and pause songs or control the volume. Here is a list of some other useful functions they can perform:
Go to the next title
Double click the Pay/Pause button and you can skip to the next track without opening the app.
Skip to the next or previous track with a swipe
For example, using the volume buttons on either side of the play/pause button on the Sonos Play:5, swipe your finger across the touch-sensitive controls from right to left to play the previous track. Swipe the controls from left to right to skip to the next track.
If you have a Sonos Roam, double-clicking the play/pause button will skip the track forward, while triple-clicking will either restart the track or select the previous track, depending on how quickly you issue the command once the track is playing .
Note: If you have pets or children who regularly enable touch controls, you can simply disable them. You can find this feature under your room/speaker settings. Just scroll down to Devices and slide the touch control selector switch to the left to disable it.
Mute the speaker
A single click of the play/pause button mutes that speaker and any speakers it was paired with.
5. Disable the status light
You may not always want the LED light to be on, especially if you have a Sonos speaker in the bedroom. As we found out with touch controls disabled, to turn off the LED status indicator, go to settings List your room/speakers. Scroll down to hardware and move status light Left selected to turn it off.
