Will Sonos work with Apple TV?

If you use Apple TV and want to add it to your Sonos system, it's as easy as connecting a Sonos speaker to your TV. Your best bet is to use the Sonos Playbar, which is specifically designed to be used for a home theater set up, but we will also look at another potential workaround with the Sonos Play:5.

What is the Sonos Playbar?

The Sonos Playbar is a wireless sound bar to be positioned along the length of your HDTV, either above or below. It's the only Sonos speaker that Sonos offers a wall mount for, giving you plenty of stylish set up options. The Playbar can be added to speaker groups as part of a home-wide Sonos system, and used

How do I connect my Apple TV with the Sonos Playbar?

The fourth-generation of Apple TV only has HDMI output, so you can't directly connect Apple TV to a Sonos Playbar. What you'll need to do instead is run your Apple TV through your HDTV via HDMI, then connect your HDTV to the Playbar via an optical audio cable.

If you need help setting things up, you can learn more about hooking up your Apple TV with a Sonos sound system here.

How does the Playbar connect with my TV?

Setting up the Sonos Playbar is very simple. All you need is the optical audio cable included with the Playbar to connect up with the optical out port in the back of your HDTV. Depending on your TV's make and model, you may have to manually set your TV's audio output to go through the digital optical cable. Check the instructional manual for your HDTV to find exactly how to do that.

If you find that there is no way to disable your HDTV's internal speakers, but you are getting sound from the Playbar, simply turn the TV volume to zero and use the Sonos Controller app or universal remote to control the volume of the Playbar.

Can I control the Playbar volume with my universal remote?

Yes, you can! The Playbar has built-in IR receiver so most universal remotes should work. Just go through the room settings for the Playbar and find remote control setup. It's pretty painless.

Okay. But you mentioned a workaround for the Play:5?

Yes. If you already own a Play:5 speaker and don't really feel like dropping another $800 on a Playbar, you can connect directly using the 3.5mm input on the back of the Play:5. This is more typically suited for iPods or other music devices, but you can connect an HDTV pretty easily, as long as it has a headphone jack or RCA output. All you'd need is a male-to-male 3.5mm cable or a male-to-male RCA to 3.5mm cable to connect your HDTV to the Play:5.

This workaround is not without it's potential drawbacks. You may have issues with the audio falling out of sync with the video, an issue that's adjustable with the Playbar but not for the Play:5.

Once you're all set up, now anything that you play off your Apple TV will come through the Playbar! And if you have other Sonos speakers throughout your house, you can send the audio from your TV to another room in the house so you can listen to the 6'o clock news in the den while making dinner.