cinesound sofa wont connect

[kidge25]

My new cinesound sofa will not connect to my sky glass.

The tv recognises it but keeps coming up connection failed.

the sofas bluetooth works ok with my phone and when i try to connect the tv i turn my phone bluetooth off so its not connecting to that.

any advice please or is it likely not supported?

[TimmyBGood]

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@kidge25 wrote:

any advice please or is it likely not supported?

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The Bluetooth output from Glass is intended for hearing aids, and so client devices must meet the A2DP Bluetooth specification.

[Macraider]

Hi, the problem you have is, I believe, fundamentally not the Sky Glass, it's the sofa. I have the same problem and am currently working on a fix. The issue is that the Bluetooth module in the sofa (ours is the DFS Cinesound Ventura - I think) is old Bluetooth technology, specifically pre-Bluetooth 2.1. It's considered 'legacy' technology, but it's cheap! It requires a PIN number (xxxx) to be entered to make a successful Bluetooth connection and your Sky Glass - in fact ANY TV with Bluetooth out - cannot provide the PIN number that the sofa requires. Your TV will see the sofa via BT, but when you choose to connect, it will eventually time-out and say something like "unsuccessful". Modern Bluetooth, 2.1 and the later 4.2, use SSP (Secure Simple Pairing) which would not require a PIN, but DFS and others don't use this because - you've guessed it - their profit margin would be less if they did.

My workaround includes using a powered optical splitter, a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) and an old Android phone that makes the Bluetooth connection to the sofa. I'm waiting for the Android phone (Samsung J3) to arrive tomorrow and once I've installed and tested it, I'll let you know if it works and if it does, will make a post to describe the connection in detail to others who have the same problem.

My only regret is not asking the right questions about the sofa in-store as the staff just brushed over the technicalities of the connection at the time. Lesson learnt.

Hope this helps.

[kidge25]

Did you get this to work using your new method ?

[kidge25]

Did you get this to work ?

[Macraider]

Final update: DFS Cinesound sofa Bluetooth + TV audio – conclusion

Just to close the loop for everyone who’s been following or offering suggestions, I wanted to summarise everything I’ve tried and the final conclusion.

The product:-

DFS Aventra Cinesound sofa with built-in speakers and “4D” vibration.

Important detail: Bluetooth is the ONLY audio input (no AUX, optical, HDMI, etc.).

The sofa uses legacy Bluetooth pairing and requires PIN 8888.

My setup

• LG OLED TV
• LG soundbar (optical / HDMI ARC)
• Sources: Sky Q, Apple TV, streaming apps

Goal was:

• Dialogue via soundbar
• 4D vibration via sofa

What DOES work

• Sofa pairs and works perfectly with phones/tablets (Android & iOS) playing native audio (Spotify, YouTube, etc.).
• Bluetooth pairing always requires entering PIN 8888.

What I tried (and ruled out)

TV Bluetooth

• LG TV cannot enter a Bluetooth PIN.
• Sofa will not pair.

Bluetooth transmitters (optical / AUX → Bluetooth)

• Multiple transmitters tested.
• Contacted manufacturers directly (e.g. 1Mii) — confirmed no PIN pairing support in transmitter mode.
• Result: sofa will not pair.

DACs, splitters, HDMI audio extractors

• All work fine electrically.
• Useless here because the failure happens at Bluetooth pairing / audio routing level, not cabling.

Android phone / tablet as an audio bridge

(TV optical → DAC → phone → Bluetooth → sofa)

• Pairing works.
• Android will not reliably rebroadcast external audio over Bluetooth.
• Sofa remains silent.

MacBook / computer bridge

• No line-in.
• macOS does not rebroadcast external audio to Bluetooth in a usable way.
• Not viable.

Apple TV (newer models)

• Important finding: Apple TV CAN pair to the sofa (supports PIN entry).
• BUT Apple TV treats Bluetooth audio as exclusive:
  
• When Bluetooth is active → HDMI/optical audio is muted.
• You get sofa OR soundbar, never both.
• No setting to enable parallel HDMI + Bluetooth for non-Apple devices.

Older Apple TV (with optical output)

• Same limitation.
• Bluetooth mutes all wired audio outputs, including optical.

Amazon Fire Stick

• Same behaviour as Apple TV.
• Bluetooth audio is exclusive.
• No dual output.

AV receivers / home cinema amps

• Bluetooth is almost always receive-only, or TX without PIN support.
• No consumer AV receiver supports legacy PIN pairing in transmit mode.

Splitters

• Do not help.
• If the source mutes HDMI audio when Bluetooth is active, there is nothing to split.

Key technical conclusion:-

The DFS Cinesound sofa requires legacy PIN-based Bluetooth pairing and expects the audio source to be a native media device (like a phone).

Modern TVs, streamers, Bluetooth transmitters, and AV receivers:

• Do not support PIN entry in transmitter mode, or
• Enforce exclusive Bluetooth audio, disabling HDMI/optical outputs.

Because of this, there is no reasonable consumer way to integrate the sofa with a modern TV + soundbar setup while retaining normal audio.

Final conclusion

The Cinesound sofa cannot be properly integrated into a modern home cinema system.

It works only when used as DFS demo it — paired directly to a phone playing music.

This limitation was not disclosed at point of sale.

I’ve now stopped testing, as every realistic technical path has been exhausted.

Hopefully this saves someone else a lot of time and money — and if anyone has genuinely solved this in a different way, I’d still love to hear it.

[Stevo532]

I have the same problem

Did you try an optical bluetooth transmitter?

[Macraider]

Yes, i tried several, none of them allow the entry of a PIN code  so you won't get a connection. These sofas cannot be integrated into a normal TV setup.

[Stevo532]

Funny enough I had my console changed today and connects to TV woo hoo.

Then we looked at the console and this one doesn't have buttons for the lights or  massage function

They have 1 more chance!!!

[SuziQzi]

Hey, did this get sorted for you? Sofa delivered today but won't pair with the LG TVs

[Stevo532]

I'm waiting now for the new console

If it doesn't work im sending the whole lot back

Sorry to hear  it sounds like you are going through exactly the same thing.

Dont take any nonsense from them

[Stevo532]

Just to clarify, the new console connects to the tv ok but it's a different variants that's missing the lighting and massage functions 

[kidge25]

I've just spoken to DFS and the lady I spoke to said they are aware of the problem after several calls with the same issue. They are calling me back within 72 hours.

[dasonix2k8]

Hi peeps I would like to add my own findings to this thread

tested 4 tvs 2x LG ( BT 5.0 and earlier) and 2 x Hisense (BT 5.0) , all will see the device but won't connect due to the pin issue

also tested 2 x fire stick's. one of these will actually work a firestick 4k max however can only output to the sofa for audio. This device has BT 5.2. The other stick with BT 5.0 wont work.

So as a wild test i ordered a TCL 65V6C-UK from amazon as this has BT 5.2, this works and allows for output to both TV and sofa however ther eis a delay and the software isn't able to add a delay to resync audio in this configuration ( it can with optical out and Tv it seems)

My latest issue now being that DFS now claim that its ONLY supposed to output to the sofa and that tv& sofa is not how its designed to work. IMO this is wrong as its designed and sold as an immersive experience with surround sound, so has to have the tv as a front channel and sofa as side/ back channel.

We stil plan to carry on and reject as unfit for purpose. so anybody had any joy returning, rejecting, or have got it to work correctly ?

[SparkyDan82]

I've hasten delivery of mine and obviously have experienced the same issue, glad I found this forum, although I'd already come to the same conclusion it's will help everyone's argument if this is a design problem and the everyone who buys one will be in the same boat, they have got to do something. 

I'm currently eating for a call back from customer service and will update what they tell me

please keep updating your experiences people, it's all evidence we can all use.