Sony XB 20 Pairing Two Speakers

The Sony SRS XB20 speaker buttons panel.

The key to pairing two Sony XB 20 speakers together is the ADD button. It lets you join two XB 20s for Stereo or Double modes. It’s the fourth button from the left edge of the buttons panel, just to the right of the Play-Pause button, and just to the left of the Volume DOWN button.

The Sony XB 20 ADD button.

Sony XB 20 Pairing Two Speakers: How it Works

The Stereo Pairing function lets you join two XB 20s such that one plays the left channel of the stereo program, while the other plays the right channel. Now to create a stereo pair, you need two XB 20s. Pairing the 20 with speakers other than an identical model did not work in our tests, and the Sony documentation states that you must have two of the same model in Bluetooth range of each other for connecting the two as a stereo pair to work.

The Sony XB 20 L and R lamps glowing.

When stereo mode is active, one or the other of the L and R lamps glows, depending on which channel the speaker is set up to play. On the speaker that plays the left stereo channel, the L lamp glows and the R lamp is dark. On the right speaker, the R lamp glows and L lamp is dark.

Now To form a stereo pairing of two XB 20 speakers, do as follows.

Preparing the First Speaker

1. Power up the first speaker. We’ll call this XB 20 Speaker One.
2. Press the ADD button on Speaker One for three seconds. The L and R lights will then start blinking white. E.g. See these lights in the last picture above. After a few seconds, these lamps stops flashing, and start glowing solid white.

Preparing the Second Speaker

1. Next, turn on the second XB 20. I.e. Speaker Two.
2. As you did on Speaker One, press and hold the ADD button on Speaker Two for three seconds. The L and R lights will begin flashing on that speaker just as they did on the first one. And again, they assume a solid white glow after several seconds.

Create the Stereo Pairing Between the Sony XB 20s

1. No go to your Bluetooth source device, and connect it to the speaker pair, called “SRS-XB20”. If you do not see this device, the move your phone / tablet closer to the speakers.
2. Press the ADD button once to take the speakers out of Double mode and put them in Stereo mode.
3. Finally, you can start playing music on your source device. Then it will stream to that speaker pair, and you’ll hear the program in STEREO!

Reversing Stereo Channels

When in Stereo Pair mode, each speaker is assigned one of the two stereo channels (either L or R). On each speaker, one or the other of the L and R lamps lights to tell you which channel that particular speaker is playing. Now drawing on our example above, let’s say that Speaker One is playing the left channel, and Speaker Two is playing the right. In that case, the L lamp on Speaker One glows while the R lamp is dark.

The L lamp glowing, and R lamp dark.

Conversely on Speaker Two, the L lamp is dark while the R lamp glows.

The R lamp glowing, and the L lamp dark.

With the ADD button, you can reverse these assignments such that Speaker One plays the right channel while Speaker Two plays the left. To do that, simply press and release the ADD button repeatedly on either speaker until the L and R lights on each speaker display the channel assignment you desire.

Ending the Stereo Pairing Between the Two Sony XB 20s

When you’re ready to break the stereo pairing, simply press and hold the ADD button on one of the speakers for three seconds. A tone then sounds and the L and R lights go out, indicating that the pairing is now over.

Sony XB 20 Pairing Two Speakers: In Double Mode

When two XB 20 speaker operate in Double Mode, both speakers play a monaural version of the music. I.e. They both play the sum (L + R) of the left and right stereo channels.

Double Mode is the mode that the speakers initially pair in when you connect them together. But if you have since then, switched to stereo mode and want to get back to Double Mode, you simply press and release the ADD button on one of the speakers until both L and R lamps light up. When that happens, your speakers are now operating in Double Mode.