Use Sonos Speakers to Listen to Vinyl? You Should Adjust This Setting

If you have Sonos speakers in your home and want to connect a stream vinyl from a turntable, you have a few options.

You could use a line-in connection — which most newer Sonos speakers have — to connect your turntable and Sonos speaker directly. You can get a Works with Sonos turntable (which has built-in Wi-Fi) and stream vinyl to your Sonos speakers. You can also use Bluetooth if you have a Bluetooth-enabled turntable.

However, no matter which way you choose to listen to vinyl on your Sonos system, you’re going to run into the same issue that has plagued many a listener: it’s called audio delay.

What is Audio Delay?

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

You’ll notice that when you get your system up and running, the sound will have a one-to-two-second playback delay. This means when you drop the stylus, you’ll see it hit the record, and then there will be this one-to-two-second pause — which seems like forever — and then you’ll hear the sound.

This audio delay occurs because the Sonos speaker (or wireless amp) uses digital signal processing (DSP) to optimize its sound and prevent distortion. According to Sonos, the delay “reduces the chance of audio issues occurring when your Sonos products are playing line-in audio in a group.”

The problem is that this audio delay defeats a lot of the purpose (and joy) of analog audio — people want to hear the music right when the stylus hits the record. And if you have a high-quality turntable and preamp, you likely don’t really need Sonos to tweak the audio settings.

Fortunately, you can adjust the audio delay within the Sonos app. Here’s how.

How to adjust Audio Delay on Sonos

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

1. Make sure the Line-In connection is set up properly with your Sonos product. (See here.)
2. Open the Sonos app and select Settings (wheel in top-right).
3. Scroll down and select your speaker or wireless amp with the Line-In connection.
4. Scroll down and select Audio Delay > select Low (75ms).

In this menu, there are four different audio delays that you can choose from: Max (2,000 ms), High (150 ms), Medium (113 ms) and Low (75 ms). By default, the Line-In connection of your Sonos speaker or wireless amp is set to Max, which is 2,000 milliseconds or two second; this allows for the most time for the Sonos product to optimize its sound.

The Low setting has an audio delay of 75 milliseconds. It’s still a delay, but it’s far less noticeable. (I have my Play:5 set to the Low setting and can’t notice a delay at all.)

If you’re thinking about building a modern hi-fi system that can play both analog and wireless, and you’re really concerned about this audio delay, maybe Sonos isn’t the right ecosystem to build your system around.

A good alternative would be to buy active speakers, like KEF LSX II LT ($1,000) or KEF LS50 Wireless II ($2,500), which you can connect to a turntable (with a preamp) and not experience this audio delay.

For more information on linking a turntable with your Sonos system, check out Sonos’s support page.

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