Bottom front view of the Sony SRS XB23 speaker.

Sony SRS XB23 Pairing Two Speakers

Pairing two Sony SRS-XB23 speakers allows you to form a stereo (L + R) set, for a wider soundstage.  So in this piece, we show how pairing two copies of this speaker together works. The only extra cost is that you must have two XB23s to get the stereo sound.  Now individually, the XB 23 is itself a stereo speaker.  E.g. It has two drivers, one for the left channel and one for the right.  And you can indeed get a decent stereo soundstage from one speaker. Just stay close to it.  But when pairing two of these in a set, you can further spread the channels for louder wider stereo sound.

Picture of the front top of the Sony SRS XB23.
The Sony SRS XB23 front top view.

Sony SRS XB23 Pairing Two Speakers: How it Works

Prepare the Speakers

Picture of the -Bluetooth Status- light glowing blue.
The -Bluetooth Status- lamp glowing blue.
    1. Start with both speakers powered OFF.
    2. Power up both speakers, and watch for the Pairing lamp to begin flashing blue on each one.
    3. If either speaker connects with a nearby Bluetooth device, you need to break that connection.  So turn off Bluetooth on the nearby BT device or shut down that device altogether.

Sony SRS XB23 Pairing Two Speakers: Start that Pairing

Picture of the -ST PAIR- button.
The -ST PAIR- button.
    1. Press and release the ST PAIR button on one of the speakers. Then that XB23 beeps. Find this button on the bottom of the buttons panel on the back of the speaker. It’s the first button up from the bottom.  At this point, both the Bluetooth and ST PAIR lamps flash. Then after six (6) seconds, the ST PAIR lamp stops flashing and glows white steadily.
    2. Next, on the the second XB23, press the ST PAIR button.  Then its  Bluetooth and ST PAIR lamps flash.  Note that you have one minute to do this after putting the first speaker in ST PAIR mode.  Otherwise, that speaker times out, and reverts to a single BT speaker configuration. If this happens, power down both speakers, and start over with the Prepare the Speakers section above.
    3. You’ll shortly thereafter hear a beep.  Then the ST PAIR lamps on both speakers glow steadily. Plus the Bluetooth light on the second speaker goes out while that same light on the first speaker continues blinking. Sony SRS XB23 pairing two speakers is now complete. But to actually play your source device through this pair, you must complete the steps below as well.
Picture of the glowing ST PAIR light.
The ST PAIR lamp glowing.

Finally, when the speakers pair together, each announces which stereo channel it will play (left or right).





Sony SRS XB23 Pairing Two Speakers: Pair your Source BT Device to this Stereo Pair

    1. Now connect the source device to the stereo pair set as you would to any single Bluetooth speaker. So go to the Bluetooth settings page on your source device. Then connect to the SRS-XB23 set. That should appear as “SRS-XB23” here. Finally when you make the connection, the Bluetooth light on the first speaker begins glowing steadily. Then you are now ready to enjoy stereo sound from your two XB23s.
Screenshot of the iPadOS -Bluetooth Settings- page, showing the Sony SRS XB23 as Connected.
iPadOS -Bluetooth Settings- page, showing the Sony SRS XB23 as Connected.

Note that this speaker serves as the primary one in the stereo set.  In fact, when you pair your source BT device with it, it’s the one that announces, “Bluetooth connected.”  So this speaker is the one you would work to answer a call by pressing the Play-Pause-Phone button.

Also, the speakers will remain in ST PAIR mode even after you turn them off.  This just means that the next time you turn one ON, it will try to connect to the other. Plus if both speakers are in Bluetooth standby mode, then turning on one also turns on the other. And should either speaker  not find the other after one (1) minute, then it goes back to single speaker mode.

Sony SRS XB23 Pairing Two Speakers: How to Swap the Stereo Channels

Briefly press the ST PAIR button on either speaker. Then the one that was the left channel becomes the right channel.  And the one that was the right channel becomes the left channel.

How to Break the Stereo Connection

To end this speaker tethering, briefly press the ST PAIR button on one of them. The ST PAIR lights on both speakers then go out. Finally the speaker then emits a long beep.

Picture of the -Pairing- button.
The -Pairing- button.

The stereo pairing ends now.

Other Posts About the Sony SRS XB23

    1. How to Bass Boost Sony SRS XB23 Wireless Speaker
    2. How Long is the Battery Life
    3. How Do You Connect to Alexa
    4. Sony XB23 Watts Audio Output
    5. How to Turn On This Cylinder Speaker

References for Sony SRS-XB23 Pairing Two Speakers

    1. Sony SRS XB23 Product Page