Introduction to Sonos

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

This will be a live demonstration of Sonos Products and Functionality. The demonstration will
follow the outline below, but feel free to make it your own and improvise, as long as you hit the
key points listed.

Three main types of players

All in One:

1. Players with the speakers (tweeters and woofers) built in to the chassis
2. ‘all you need for sound in one device’
3. Point out a few examples of All in One speakers (Sonos One, Play 5,)

Audio Components

1. The player has no built in speakers

2. speakers have to be wired to the player for sound
3. Point out examples of that type of speaker (Connect: Amp, Amp, Port, etc.)

Home Theater:

1. These are speakers that can play music like any player
2. Their primary function is to play TV audio directly from a TV via a digital cable.
3. They play the front audio channels of home theater audio. (LF, Center, RF)
4. Speakers can be configured so that they work in sync with Home Theater
products to play the rear surround audio to give 5.1 sound
5. Show examples and draw attention to the audio ports on the back (Playbase,
Playbar, Beam, Amp, Arc,Beam G2)

All-in-Ones

Play:1
 1. Former entry level Sonos player, no longer sold on Sonos.com
2. Designed for small to medium rooms
3. Can be stereo paired with another Play:1
4. Top buttons
5. Back panel
a. Ethernet port
b. mounting port
6. power cable port on the bottom
7. Serial number
a. All players have a Serial number on the bottom or the back
8. Show how hard power cable is to remove - easier to remove from outlet

Sonos One SL
1. New, current entry level player
2. Ideal for smaller to medium rooms,
3. Can be stereo paired with another One SL or a One.
4. Better processor, more memory, better wireless card than the Play 1
5. SL stands for speechless, no mic, no voice services,
6. Capacitive touch buttons
a. Show different capacitive touch commands (vol +/- , swipe-skip)
7. Join button and ethernet port on the back

Sonos One
1. Same internal hardware as Sonos One SL, but with a mic for voice assistants
2. Ideal for any place you would put a One SL, but would also need voice assistant
functionality
3. Same capacitive buttons
4. Join button and ethernet port on the back

Play 5 gen 2
Biggest All-In-One Music speaker Sonos makes

1. For large rooms or anywhere deep rich sound is important.

2. May be too much speaker for small bedrooms/home offices
3. Capacitive touch buttons on top
4. Join button, single ethernet port on back
5. Aux cable line-in on back
6. Can be paired with Play 5 gen 2 only, not gen 1

Move
1. First battery powered speaker Sonos has released

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 2. First bluetooth speaker Sonos has released
3. Ideal for anyone that wants a portable music speaker they can take anywhere that can
handle the elements
4. Water resistant and drop tested.
5. More bass and wider soundstage than One/One SL
6. Back panel
a. Power button
b. Mode button
i. switches between wireless mode and bluetooth mode
c. Join button
d. NO ethernet port
7. When in Wifi mode, it functions like any other speaker in the Sonos system
8. When in bluetooth mode, the wifi card on the player is disabled, player is offline to the
Sonos system
a. Can only be connected to a bluetooth capable source
9. Put in to bluetooth mode
10. Have new hire with music service app on phone, connect to Move and play music
a. If there isn’t one available, do this demo yourself for the class

Sub

1. Plays bass channel for bonded players

2. It makes a big difference for the depth and power of Sonos audio
3. Any customer that wants the best sound possible, should consider this player
4. It can’t play audio on its own
5. It needs to be bonded to another speaker
6. When it is, it plays just the bass channel for the audio being played on those speakers

Audio Components

Connect:Amp
Original Sonos player that allowed Sonos music to be played over third party speakers.

1. Not sold on sonos.com

2. An amplifier built in to the player provides power to the speakers
3. Back panel
a. Speaker cable clips, follow to speakers
b. Audio In
i. Can be used for phonograph, CD Player, etc
ii. Allows a third party device to play to third party speakers, but also to

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 other speakers on the Sonos system
c. Sub out port - third party (non-Sonos) sub
d. Dual ethernet ports - ask class what they think the point of two ports is.
4. Can also play music services as part of the multi-room system.

Connect

1. Same Line-In features/functionality as the Connect:Amp

2. NO amplifier built in to the player
3. Needs to be connected to a receiver that has its own speakers
4. Back panel
a. There are no speaker cable clips
b. Audio Out (goes to receiver)
i. Show Audio In
1. Can be used for phonograph, CD Player, etc
2. Allows a third party device to play to third party speakers, but also
to other speakers on the Sonos system
3. Same input concept as Connect:Amp
ii. Show coax and optical out ports - both digital audio outputs

Amp
Replacement for Connect:Amp

1. Currently sold on Sonos.com

2. Ideal for a rack solution or for a customer that wants to integrate their third party audio
source or third party speakers in to the Sonos system
3. Can also be used as in input for TV audio in a home theater solution
4. Amplifier built in to the player provides power to the speakers
a. Powers 4 ohm or 8 ohm speakers
b. Provides over twice the power to the speakers of the Connect:Amp
5. Connects directly to speakers
6. Back Panel
a. New design of banana clips
b. Audio In
i. Same type of connection as Connect:Amp
ii. Can be used for phonograph, CD Player, etc
iii. Allows a third party device to play to third party speakers, but also to
other speakers on the Sonos system
c. Sub out port - third party sub
d. Dual ethernet ports
e. HDMI Input - HDMI port gives it Home theater ability
f.

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Port

Replacement for Connect.

1. A lot of the same features as the Connect

2. Cheaper solution that the Amp if customer plans on connection output to the receiver
3. NO amplifier built in to the player
4. Can’t provide power to the speakers, so it needs to be connected to a receiver
5. Back panel
a. There are no speaker cable clips
b. Audio Out (goes to receiver)
i. Digital coax out ports - no optical port
ii. No HDMI port - Ask class what that means the Port can’t do
c. Show Audio In
1. Can be used for phonograph, CD Player, etc
2. Allows a third party device to play to third party speakers, but also
to other speakers on the Sonos system
3. Same input concept as Connect:Amp
d. Dual Ethernet ports

Home Theater products

Term refers to any product that plays the front channels of a Sonos home theater configuration

Amp
Just remind them of the HDMI input for TV Audio, no need to review everything

Playbar
First Home Theater product released

1. 9 speakers - 3 tweeters, 6 midrange woofers, no built in subwoofer

2. Home Theater soundbar
3. No built in subwoofer - best audio experience when bonded with Sonos SUB
4. Cannot be bonded with third party SUB
5. Designed to be wall mounted with separate mounting bracket
a. Hold up to show mounting orientation

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 6. Also can be laid on furniture
7. Accelerometer lets it know it’s orientation and adjusts audio direction
8. IR sensor on the front to receive volume +/- directly from third party remote
a. Point out location of IR sensor
9. Can be bonded with Sub and any All-in-One speakers for rear surround audio
a. Move is the exception
10. Back Panel
a. Ethernet port
b. Join button
c. Optical input - digital audio from TV - So what does the TV need to work with a
playbar?

Playbase
1. 10 speakers - 3 tweeters, 6 midrange woofers, 1 subwoofer
a. Same speakers as playbar BUT with a subwoofer built in
2. Cannot be wall mounted
3. Designed to have TV set on top of it
a. The subwoofer causes vibration and the TV weight helps cancel that out
4. Cannot be bonded with third party SUB
5. IR sensor on the front to receive volume +/- directly from third party remote
a. located in the center of the top "O" of the Sonos logo
6. Can be bonded with Sub and any All-in-One speakers except Move - 5.1
7. Main difference between playbar is the size and the built-in subwoofer
8. Back Panel
a. Ethernet port
b. Optical input - digital audio from TV - So what does the TV need to work with a
playbase?
9. Join button on the side

Beam
First HDMI compatible, voice enabled Home Theater product Sonos released

1. For Home Theater setups in smaller rooms, or home theater setups where voice
assistant is preferred, this is the speaker
2. 8 speakers - 1 tweeter, four full-range woofers, 3 passive subwoofers
3. 60% smaller than playbar, plus voice assistant and no need for a SUB.
4. Wider dispered channel audio for Home theater
5. Mic on the top for voice commands
6. Cannot be bonded with third party SUB
7. Designed to set on furniture or wall mounted with separate mounting bracket
8. Back Panel

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 a. Ethernet port
b. Join button
c. HDMI port
i. what is it missing compared to the playbar/base? No optical
9. IR sensor on the front to receive volume +/- from third party remote
a. Point location of IR sensor
10. BUT, IR Sensor is not necessary because the TV relays volume commands from the to
the Beam through the HDMI cable
11. Can be bonded with Sub and any All-in-One speakers except Move - 5.1

Boost
Plug an ethernet cable in to the back to set up a Sonos only wireless mesh system, known as
Sonosnet

Boost takes the data stream from ethernet connection and wirelessly broadcasts it to other
wireless Sonos players

By setting Sonos players on their own wireless network, it can alleviate wireless interference or
other wireless router issues.

Controller
This portion will be a very basic, quick walk through of the controller. Most of the work will be
after this in hands on demos

To start this portion, cast the mobile controller screen to the TV connected to the Mac Mini

Explain the controller is how we control the Sonos system.

● It’s how we tell the system what to play, where to play it, how loud to play it
● Everything we want to do with Sonos is through the controller

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Walk the agents through the following menus

Rooms
Every Sonos player connected to the system will show here

7. The name of each Room is given to the player when it is added to the system the first
time
8. Any paired or bonded group of speakers shows up as one Room
9. Any room that is currently playing music will have the song and artist listed under the
room name with ‘dancing’ EQ bars
10. This is where you go to see what players are on and what’s playing on them

Browse

Any music source added to the Sonos system is listed here

1. Allows the user to browse through a music service

2. Handy to see New music or trending music
3. Anything where you don’t need to go down more than a couple levels

Search
Quickest most direct way to find music on your Sonos system

1. Search for a song, artist, playlist

2. Shows that the results include all included music sources
3. Show the filter options under the search field

My Sonos
Kind of a Favorites section

1. Recently Played section - content automatically added here

2. Albums, Songs - customer has to select Albums and Songs to add here
3. Selecting these
4. We’ll demonstrate that shortly

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Settings
Any changes you want to make to the system, are done here

1. Most of the things you’ll do will be done under System and Services
2. Services
a. Options to add and remove Services
3. System
a. Products
b. If you select a Room
i. you can change the name
ii. Set that speaker up in a Stereo Pair
iii. Adjust the audio wq
iv. Trueplay - we’ll demonstrate that later

Functionality
Pairing and Bonding

Pairing = two speakers - one plays left channel, one plays right channel

Bonding = anything more than a stereo pair

Both break up the audio in to separate channels and assign a player to play that channel

Both done under Product under Settings in the Controller

Both require speakers to go through a set up process, it can’t just be turned off and on

Grouping

Show how to group from Now Playing screen

Show how to group from Rooms menu

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Lab Demo
Playback and grouping

● Hand the controller to a class member

● Explain that we are going to play The Hills by The Weeknd on a player of their choosing
● Ask them to perform the following (ask the class to help them out if they need it)
1. Choose a Room
i. Explain that the correct Room needs to be selected first
ii. Music will always play on the selected Room so be sure the right
one is selected
2. Find the song ‘The Hills’ by The Weeknd
3. Play the song found under Deezer
● Hand the controller to another class member
● Explain we are going to play that song on multiple speakers now
● Ask them to perform the following:
● Group in three other Rooms to the currently playing room
● Have class members verify that audio is coming out of all four speakers
● Have a volunteer go to an ungrouped speaker and long press to group

● Hand the controller over to another class member

● Have them perform the following:
1. Raise the group volume via slider
2. Long press slider to raise/lower individual speaker volume

1. If there are no other members of class continue to explanation of Sonosnet and Station
Mode
2. If there are more members of the class, hand the controller to one of them and repeat
the Playback and grouping lab but this time have them search for a song of their choice
3. Continue to hand controller off to other members of the class for the different steps as
described above, assuming there are available class members

Continuity of Control
1. Start playback with Sonos app
2. Adjust volume
3. Skip song
4. Do the same with capacitive touch buttons
5. Do the same with Voice Services
6. Pause and play with same controls

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Network
1. For Sonos speakers to work properly as a Sonos system they need to be able to
communicate over the local network
2. Each speaker can communicate wirelessly or over ethernet
3. The local network requires at least a router to act as a gateway
4. A gateway is a network device that all traffic must pass through before it arrives at its
destination
5. Whether a Sonos player is communication over ethernet or wirelessly, it needs to
communicate with the gateway

Router

1. Take class over to router, hold it up

2. Show ethernet ports
3. Show wifi antenna
4. This is the gateway for the network, everything on this network has to go through here

Switch

1. A network switch is a network device that has multiple ethernet ports

2. Other network devices connect to it over ethernet cables
3. The network switch simply takes network data and sends them on to their destination
whether it’s the network gateway or a network device like a Sonos player
4. Switch needs to be connected to the gateway

Access Point

1. Network device that broadcasts a wireless network

2. Can be a router/gateway
a. A wireless router is automatically a wireless access point.
b. It’s responsible for network traffic and for the wireless network traffic

3. Can be a network device attached to the gateway and it’s only job is the wireless
network
4. Can be a mesh system
5. Diagram out a simple mesh network, connecting all points

Sonosnet
Explain simple version of Sonosnet

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 ● Requires at least one Sonos device to be wired to the network
○ Can be direct to router or through switch
● The role the wired product plays
○ When player is wired, it sets up a Sonos-only mesh network with wired
player as root of the mesh network
○ Mesh network relies on wireless channel 1,6 or 11
○ Other players rely on wired player for network connection
○ Utilizing mesh network topology, players can also rely on each other for
their network connection (usually choose the best wireless connection)
● Show in controller where to go to change the Sonosnet channel

Station Mode
● Explain simple version of Station Mode
○ Difference between Sonosnet and Station Mode
● Walk them through where to go to change to Station Mode
○ Explain what running Wireless Setup does to the Sonos system - adds SSID and
wireless credentials to every speaker

Lab Demo
Ask the class to visually check the speakers and tell you what mode the system is in.

If it’s Sonosnet:

● Have them identify all the wired players

● Hand the controller to a volunteer
● Ask them to do the following
a. Ask them to go to the network screen
b. Don’t tell them where the screen is, see if they can recall, class can help if
necessary
c. Wireless set up with the lab credential
d. Once complete, pull all ethernet cables
e. Once all speakers return to the controller, explain that we are in Station mode,
using wireless access and it looks no difference for how the system looks and
behaves

If the system is in Station mode

● Ask the class how they’re sure it’s in Station mode.

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 ○ they should say that it’s because no players are wired to the network
● Hand the controller to a volunteer
● Ask them to do the following
○ Ask them to go to the network screen
○ Don’t tell them where the screen is, see if they can recall, the class can help if
necessary
○ Verify what wireless network the system is on
○ Ask a volunteer to move the system to Sonosnet - again, avoid help if possible,
have the class provide the help
○ Go to network screen and see the difference when in Station mode
○ Go to Networks and show that the SSID is still stored
○ Remove ethernet from player(s)
○ Show that system is still online but now in Station mode again

Lab Demo

Setup

Set up flow demonstration

Explain that we’re going to be setting up a couple speakers

But, all the players are already set up, how can we set them up again?

Explain what Factory Reset it and how it is done

Choose two volunteers to:

1. Reset a push button player (Play:1 or Play:3)

2. Reset a capacitive touch player (Sonos One, P5g2 etc.)

Choose another volunteer to:

1. Add the push button player, but show the swipe screen that is available when two
players are FRd

Choose another volunteer to:

1. Add the capacitive touch player

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Set up paired players

Explain to class we’re going to take an existing room and make it a stereo pair

Choose the room, let the class know what room they’ll be working with

Hand the controller to a class member

Ask them to:

1. Go to that room’s settings

2. Create a stereo pair

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