XB20 auto-off not staying off when switched off

[mike5100]

I leave my pair of XB20s switched on all the time but since connecting them via bluetooth to an Echo dot, they are often switched off when I come to use them.  So I check whether the 'auto-off' feature is switched off (and it is) then switch it on again then off again, but still I can return to use them and find I have to switch each XB on in turn.

Anyone else?

[The_Black_Rose]

Hi mike5100,

Does this happen when they're connected to any other device?

Cheers,
The_Black_Rose

[mike5100]

The answer is slightly oblique Pascale.

Previously I used the pair of speakers with music from my iphone.  This was a pain because each time I took my phone away from the room/house, the bluetooth connection would (naturally) break, but did not reconnect automatically.  This involves going into settings/bluetooth on the phone and reconnecting.  Sometimes the pairing of the two speakers was lost - and I had to use the 'Music Centre' app to re-group them and then turn them into stereo mode rather than 'double'.  BUT I don't remember the speaker pair powering themselves off overnight.

The Echodot solves the above problems as it stays connected (and is in the same room).  And I must have ruled out the Echodot as the source of the powering down, because it happens overnight even if the echodot is off and removed from their vicinity.

The only other difference is that I discovered I didn't have to use the clunky app to group the speakers so I recently set them up as a stereo pair using just the buttons on the speakers.  (And yes I reset them first AND made sure auto power off was disabled).

Mike

[The_Black_Rose]

Hi mike5100,

There's only one question that will identify whether this is a normal behaviour or not which I couldn't find an answer to even after reading the thread more than once.

Does this happen when you have content playing or no content playing?

If there's no content playing, then this is pretty normal, as the Bluetooth connection will be automatically disconnected. This is mentioned in the Help Guide: https://helpguide.sony.net/speaker/srs-xb20/v1/en/contents/TP0001266509.html?search=disconnecte

If there's content playing and the speaker disconnects on its own, can you provide us with a short video showing what happens?

Cheers,
The_Black_Rose

[mike5100]

Thanks for trying to help BlackRose, but that link deals with a different condition.  It says that the autopower-off function will operate after 15 minutes if there is no content playing.

But I have disabled the auto-power off feature and indeed the speakers stay on MUCH longer than 15 minutes without content.

I have just checked and they have just gone off.  But they were on half an hour ago, and that's at least 4 hours since the Echodot was sending them any content.

Mike

[Win_88]

Hi Mike,

As far as I understand, the issue only started after the echo dot was introduced to the mix, so here's what I'd do:

1. Perform a full factory reset on both speakers and make sure to not connect them to the echo dot (yet): https://helpguide.sony.net/speaker/srs-xb20/v1/en/contents/TP0001266520.html
2. Disable Auto power off on both units
3. Pair the speakers together using the app as you used to on your iPhone and give them a test overnight.
4. If they stay on, try connecting the echo dot and observe how they behave again.

This way, we will have effectively confirmed if the echo dot actually triggers something that turns the speakers off as you observed.

If the speakers turn off on step 3, you can go as far as to reset them again, disable audio power off on both but this time don't pair them to each other and test again to see if both, either or neither of them turn off.

Win_88

[mike5100]

Well guys - I can reliably report that this problem is definitely related to bluetooth.  My two Xb20's are connected now by stereo speaker cable and similarly to my echodot.  

They now stay powered on 24/7.

There was one glitch when after a few days one speaker had powered down overnight.  BUT .... and I think here may be a clue .... I suspect I had ALSO been driving the speakers by bluetooth from my iphone.  It seems to me that it's something to do with the pairing or the iphone app.  Whilst the echodot is connected via wire to the pair of speakers I can connect my macbook pro via bluetooth, and then disconnect a while later, and the speakers stay powered overnight.

However, it can't purely be the iphone/xbs/pairing that causes the problem because when the speakers were used with the echodot via bluetooth (and the iphone was disconnected) they still powered down every night.  Of course the Alexa app on the iphone is used to set up echodots so maybe again it's something to do with the phone pairing.

Anyway .... if any techies are reading this I hope it helps.

Mike