How to Set Up a Sonos Speaker
Getting your very first Sonos speaker is the first major step towards enrooting yourself into the wonderful world of the Sonos multi-room ecosystem. Sonos may not play very nice with other non-Sonos speakers in your house but you’ll be treated with class-leading audio quality in a small footprint with solid integration with various online streaming services. With each Sonos speaker focusing on multi-room playback and Internet streaming, setting up a Sonos speaker is a bit different than setting up a typical one. Let’s go through the process!
Setting Up Your First Sonos Speaker
You cannot use any Sonos product without first connecting it to your home network. To get started, position your speaker in an area within your router’s wireless coverage and power it on. Grab your iOS or Android mobile device and download and launch the official Sonos app.
What you’ll see next depends on the current version of the Sonos app as the company may make changes to it. As of version 15.9, which is the latest app version at the time of writing, read and accept the terms of agreement and tap “Set up a new system.” Then enter your email address and set a secure password. Tap “Create account” and enter your name to create the account. Verify your email address to finish creating your Sonos account. Tap “Continue” and grant any app permissions Sonos requests to help the app find your speaker. This should take you to the “Settings” section of the app where it should automatically look for your speaker.
If the app doesn’t do it, tap the “Select your product” panel to force the app to look for your speaker. Your speaker should react with a chime and you should see a flashing green status light on it. From there, follow the rest of the in-app instructions to put the speaker in the network which in turn ties the speaker to your Sonos account. You may also have to wait for the app to download any important updates to the speaker before you can use it.
Depending on the Sonos speaker you’re setting up, the Sonos app may offer you to use the Trueplay Tuning feature to optimize the speaker settings according to where you placed it in the room. Let the app do its magic and you can start having fun with your speaker without worrying about the EQ settings.
Pairing with Another Speaker for Stereo
If you have a second speaker identical to the first one you set up, you may also use the Sonos app to pair both speakers together forming left and right channels for a more immersive soundstage. Sonos provides a surround sound option as well if you are setting up the speakers with a sound bar.
For stereo pairing, tap the “Gear” icon on the bottom right of the Sonos app to go back to the Settings section. Position the second speaker and plug it in as usual and repeat the same process in adding the first speaker via the Sonos app. Make sure you assign the new speaker to a separate room. Go back to the “Settings” section, tap “System,” and pick any speaker. Tap “Set Up Stereo Pair” and follow the in-app directions.
Changing Wi-Fi Networks
Your Sonos setup should stay connected with your network as long as you never change your Wi-Fi network’s password, SSID, or the entire router. If your Sonos device cannot connect to the wireless network, you may connect the speakers to another Wi-Fi network by launching the app which should prompt you and walk you through the process.
If you don’t see that prompt or you wish to disconnect from the existing Wi-Fi network and join another, go to “Settings” followed by “System,” and then “Network.” Finally, tap “Wireless Setup” and follow the instructions. If the app has trouble adding your speakers, try restarting them and repeat the procedure.
Using Dolby Atmos with Sonos
Some Sonos products like the Sonos Arc, Beam Gen 2, and Era 300 have the Dolby Atmos spatial audio technology baked in which means you may use them individually or as a group to play back supported tracks with extra depth. This feature works right out of the box and the Sonos app has it on by default so go look for a Dolby Atmos or spatial audio playlist in your favorite streaming service and treat your ears to a chill surround sound experience. If you think the option is off, go back to “System” in the “Settings” panel, select the Atmos-supported product and ensure that the “Spatial Music” setting under “Sound” is switched on.
If you have a Sonos soundbar and a pair of Sonos Era 300’s you can have the speaker group act as a unified surround sound setup for an even better Dolby Atmos experience. To set this up, make sure you have the Era 300 speakers in a stereo pair. Then go to the “System” section in Settings and tap your Sonos home theater room under “Products.” Follow the instructions from there and you’re good to go!
Setting your Sonos system can take a bit of work depending on how many speakers you have. But as soon as the app fully recognizes each speaker and you made the necessary configurations, you should have no trouble streaming music to your speakers and enjoying the stellar audio quality these speakers bring.
Shop Sonos Beam Gen 2, Sonos Move 2, Era 300 , or Sonos Roam.
You can also get the Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set from Walmart.
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