Why Does My Sonos Move Sound Muffled? Fix In Seconds!
If you own a Sonos Move, then you probably take it out and about with you quite a bit. Why let something with a $300+ price tag go to waste, right? You use it and expect it to last you a long time since you take such good care of it. But, all of a sudden, you turn on your music only to have it sound muffled.
Table of Contents
- Why Does My Sonos Move Sound Muffled?
- Why isn’t my Sonos Move working?
- How do I fix an interruption in the network loop?
- How do I fix the sound on my Sonos?
- Why does my left speaker sound muffled but not the right?
- Why does my center channel sound muffled?
- Closing Thoughts
Why Does My Sonos Move Sound Muffled?
A muffled sound from your Sonos Move can be the result of internal damage from debris. It could also indicate that the Sonos Move needs a reboot because of some sort of interruption in the network loop. This is unfortunately a common problem for the Sonos Move and only sometimes is fixable.
Before you go trying any troubleshooting methods, first check to make sure that your speaker is indeed connected to WIFI or that you have Bluetooth enabled. Those are the simplest and most common explanations as to why you might not be hearing any sound at all.
But, if the sound is muffled, you could be looking at either an interruption in the network loop (which could cause the speaker to not work at all) or internal damage to the speaker. If that is indeed the case, there are a few troubleshooting methods that you can try in order to restore sound.
However, there is always that worst-case scenario that your Sonos Move speaker is damaged beyond repair.
Let’s take a look at why your sound might be muffled and how you can go about fixing it in just a few quick and easy steps.
Why isn’t my Sonos Move working?
Sometimes, an interruption in the network loop you’re connected to can cause the Sonos Move to not work at all or emit low-quality, muffled sound.
Your speaker can be connected either directly to your router via an Ethernet cable or by its own wireless signal, which is otherwise known as Sonos Connect.
Let’s say you have three speakers connected with the Ethernet and via their own wireless connection.
The first two speakers receive their signal from the router via a wired connection as well as wirelessly through each other. Speaker 3 receives two wireless signals from both of these speakers combined.
Having so many connections set up at once can confuse the speakers. This network loop is just too complex, and there can be an interruption in the loop that stops the Sonos from working properly.
How do I fix an interruption in the network loop?
There are two solutions to the network loop issue. First, try only connecting one Sonos speaker to the router using an Ethernet cable. Once you have done so, turn on the WIFI from that speaker.
This will cause it to send a wireless connection to the other two speakers.
Here’s the second option. If you have wired more than one speaker to the router, then you can turn on WIFI to just one of those wired-in speakers. Leave the WIFI off on the other two speakers.
This makes it so that the two wirelessly connected speakers will get a wireless signal from just that one speaker, thereby avoiding a network loop.
How do I fix the sound on my Sonos?
The easiest thing to do after checking your connection is to try resetting the speaker. Here is how you can reset the Sonos Move:
- Remove the Sonos Move from its charging base.
- Press and hold down on the power button located on the back of the Sonos Move for at least 5 seconds in order to power it off. A chime will sound and the status LED on the top of the speaker will then turn off.
- As you are holding down the Join button, press and release the power button.
- If your speaker’s battery is not charged and will not power on, you will instead need to put it on the charging base while holding the Join button.
- Continue holding the Join button down until the light on top of the speaker flashes orange and white.
- When the process is finished, the light will flash green. Then, your Sonos Move is ready to be set up once again.
Why does my left speaker sound muffled but not the right?
Perhaps you have two speakers set up but just the left speaker sounds muffled. If this is the case, it is likely that there is a network loop created between them that is receiving some sort of interference. You will need to eliminate the network loop as talked about above.
Why does my center channel sound muffled?
Users have reported issues with using Sonos speakers with their TVs and having the Phantom Center voice come off sounding muffled.
The more complex solution for this is to go with a legacy style wired 5.1 or 3.1 AVR with a dedicated center channel speaker that comes with its own volume control in order to switch up loudness levels for dialog. At this time, Sonos does not offer this kind of solution.
Otherwise, you need to go with the simplest solution: turning on subtitles.
Closing Thoughts
The Sonos Move usually produces good sound quality. But, if you have several of them set up in a network loop, you could be creating problems for these speakers.
Avoid putting them into a network loop and, if the problem persists, try performing a reset to see if perhaps there was a glitch somewhere.
If some sort of debris has gotten into the Sonos Move, though, you could be looking at a busted speaker that might be beyond repair.