Sonos Beam Sound dropping out with Virgin 360

Good result. Just wondering if this is a specific 360 box issue only, as I have a V6 converted to 360 and as I mentioned earlier I have been running a Sonos Arc with no issues with sound

The problem seemed to cause wholesale confusion with the Virgin engineers. They didn't really have a clue. Sonos were no help either. My system never missed a beat until the day my V6 box was upgraded to 360. The engineer eventually replaced the V6 with a dedicated 360 box and the problem was still there. When the engineer left, he said he'd do some research and speak to colleagues and get back to me. But he didn't. So I just started trawling for information. A few Sonos users had encountered this problem but had not really found a way around. So hopefully, this will help some others as Virgin and Sonos were as much help as chocolate fireguards... 

Thanks for the post @Harrodinio, I had a new tv360 box delivered this week and had nothing but audio drops since, from every device connected, firestick, sony blueray player, so it was all pointing to an Sonos/UST/cable issue as all common to all .

Following your advice here and not having a hardware blocker, I placed a thin piece of electrical tape over pin13 on the output hdmi cable from the TV360 virgin box. (Scapel, magnifier, steady hand all required!)  My issues appear to have gone away. Might get that blocker adapter or just stick with the very thin strip of insulation as I won;t be unplugging it anytime soon.

Thanks again for info, had raised a call with Sonos and they were unable to find the issue, I'm hoping audio drops are now gone for good!

Glad my experience was of some help as both Sonos and Virgin Media were useless. My system worked fine until I added an Apple TV box onto the mix and the interference returned so I had to add another CEC-Less plug into the back of the Apple box. I still get very occasional problems but think that changing where the plug is fitted - maybe into the TV rather than the Apple TV well solve the issue so at some point, I'll shuffle things around... 

We’ve been having issues since we got our Sonos Beam and had to use the optical adaptor which was ‘ok’ but not what we wanted. Found this thread a week ago. Purchased a CEC adapter and awesomeness! Dolby atmos on everything and no dropouts. Thank you so much for coming up with a fix. Shame on Virginmedia not resolving this. It’s not a random no name sound bar and I’m sure it’s not the only one to suffer this issue.

You're welcome. Glad to be of assistance as I know how frustrating it was for me when I first encountered the problem.

I was all set to sell my Sonos equipment as nobody had any solutions. Virgin just didn't want to know. But the problem has to be with their kit. 

Out of courtesy, I text the Virgin engineer who 'tried' to fix my problem so he would know if he came across it on future but he couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge the information. 

Virgin is great while it works. When it doesn't, you're on your own... 

Totally. This is why I replied with a thank you highlighting your fix to help others. 

On your advice, I ordered a CEC Less HDMI adapter and installed it today. Since then, the Sonos Beam has not cut out once. I started this thread initially when being ‘upgraded’ from V6 to 360 and had become resigned to having to put up with the problem. Needless to say, I’m delighted to finally have such a simple and inexpensive solution. Many thanks. 

Excellent news... I'm sure lots of other people will encounter the same problem. I stumbled across the solution by pure chance as someone suggested it sounded like interference. I tried shielded cables first but they made no difference and saw the CEC adaptor as a last resort. You'd think someone from Virgin or Sonos would have spotted this thread and maybe added it to a trouble shooting guide by now... But no. So hopefully more people will find this if they resort to Googling 'Sonos, Virgin 360 interference'... 

Absolutely. I tried contacting Virgin and Sonos initially but both were useless, referring me to the other as the problem. I’m not very tech confident so didn’t try most other solutions suggested on this thread until I saw yours. I’d resorted to relying on TV audio every time the Sonos dropped out, but the varying sound quality and volume was annoying. I’ve had 6 hours trouble free now, so thanks once again! 

Hi, thank you for the advice, bought a new Sony surround sound set up and the volume keeps flashing when using viewing box, but fine when using my fire tv. I have just purchased the hdmi cec less adaptor, sorry for my ignorance (had never heard of this device), but where does it go? Between the virgin hdmi and the tv? Or the sound bar? 
Many thanks for your advice on this thus far 🙂

I didn’t proof read, seems to have autocorrected virgin to viewing 🙈

Plug the CEC adapter into the back of your Virgin 360 box and then just connect your hdmi into the adapter and link everything else as normal... 

Cheers 🙂 

I am still awaiting my adapter to arrive, however, today, my virgin remote will no longer control the volume on my TV, and the issue has corrected itself 🤷‍♂️