Why Sonos and High-End Home Audio Systems Aren’t Suitable for Karaoke

Sonos and other premium home audio / home cinema systems are fantastic for movies and music. They’re stylish, powerful and sound great when you hit play on Spotify or sit down to watch a film.

But when it comes to karaoke, they’re absolutely the wrong tool for the job, and the main reason is delay (latency).

If you’ve ever tried to plug a karaoke machine or microphone into a home cinema system and thought, “This feels weird, I can’t sing to this,” you’ve already experienced the problem.

Let’s break down why.

Singers Need “Instant” Sound

When you sing into a microphone, your brain expects to hear your voice almost instantly – either directly from your own mouth or from the speakers.

  • In live sound and karaoke systems, the delay between you singing and you hearing yourself is usually well under 10ms (milliseconds).

  • Once that delay creeps much above that, your brain starts to notice it.

  • By around 50–75ms, it can feel like you’re singing along with an echo of yourself rather than your real voice.

That’s exactly what happens when you try to use many wireless, processed home audio systems for live vocals.

How Sonos and Home Cinema Systems Work

Systems like Sonos, soundbars and AV receivers are designed for playback, not performance. To deliver a smooth experience across multiple speakers and rooms, they:

  • Buffer the audio (hold it for a short time before playing).

  • Sync multiple speakers so everything stays perfectly in time.

  • Run the sound through digital processing – EQ, room correction, surround effects and more.

All of that processing and buffering takes time. In many setups, the total delay ends up around 75ms (or more) between the sound entering the system and coming out of the speakers.

For movies and music, that’s absolutely fine – your TV and sound system are timed to match each other.

For live vocals, it’s a disaster.

What a 75ms Delay Feels Like When You Sing

On paper, 75 milliseconds doesn’t sound like much. In reality, for a singer, it’s huge.

With that kind of delay:

  • Your voice comes back at you as a slapback echo, slightly behind what you’re actually singing.

  • It becomes much harder to:

    • Sing in time with the music

    • Sing in tune, because your ear is locking onto the delayed sound

    • Feel comfortable and confident – it just feels “wrong”

Most people describe it as feeling like they’re constantly “chasing” their own voice or like the system is lagging behind them. It’s tiring, frustrating and definitely not what you want at a karaoke party.

Designed for Movies, Not Microphones

It’s important to understand: systems like Sonos aren’t “bad” – they’re just designed for something completely different.

They are optimised for:

  • Streaming music

  • TV and films with perfect lip sync

  • Multi-room audio where every speaker stays in time

They are not designed for:

  • Real-time monitoring of live microphones

  • Mixing multiple mics

  • Handling the feedback, dynamics and EQ needs of vocals

So even if you manage to get a microphone signal into a Sonos or home cinema system, it’s working outside its comfort zone. The delay is a built-in part of how the system works – it’s not something you can just “turn off” in a menu.

Why Dedicated Karaoke / PA Systems Work Better

Dedicated karaoke and PA systems are built from the ground up for live sound:

  • Very low latency: they process the audio so quickly that the delay is effectively unnoticeable.

  • Proper mic inputs with preamps, EQ and effects designed for vocals.

  • Real-time monitoring, so you hear what you’re doing as you’re doing it.

  • Better control of feedback and overall vocal clarity.

The result is simple:
You sing, you hear yourself back instantly, and it feels natural – just like it should.

“Can I Just Use Sonos for the Music and Something Else for the Mics?”

This is the compromise some people try:

  • Music through Sonos

  • Microphones through a separate speaker or small PA

The challenge here is keeping everything in time.

If the music from Sonos is delayed, but your microphone speaker is not, your voice may be in time with you, but the backing track is still late. For karaoke, where you’re trying to sing along with the track, that’s still a problem.

To get a proper karaoke experience, it’s best if music and microphones go through the same low-latency system.

The Bottom Line

Sonos and other high-end home audio systems are brilliant at what they’re designed for: playing back music and movies.

But because of their built-in buffering and processing – often resulting in delays around 75ms – they are simply not suitable for live karaoke vocals. That delay might be invisible when you’re watching Netflix, but it becomes painfully obvious the moment you pick up a microphone.

If you want:

  • Clear, comfortable vocals

  • Music and singing that stay in time

  • A fun, frustration-free karaoke experience at home

…then a dedicated and separate karaoke system is the way to go.

If you’d like advice on choosing the right karaoke setup for your home, parties or events, we’re always happy to help – just get in touch.

December 11, 2025 — Gary Oates
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