Bottom front view of the Sony SRS XB23 speaker.

Sony XB23 Pairing Two Speakers

Pairing two Sony SRS-XB23 Bluetooth speakers allows you to form a stereo (L + R) set, for a wider soundstage.  So in this piece, we show you how pairing two copies of this speaker together lets you enjoy more lifelike sound from them.  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 as long as you stay pretty close to it.  But when pairing two of these speakers together, you can spread the left and right channels further apart for louder and further reaching stereo.

The front top view of the Sony XB23.
Sony XB23, the front top view.

Sony 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.

Initiate the Pairing of Two Sony SRS-XB23 Speakers Now

Picture of the ST PAIR button on the Sony XB23.
The Sony XB23 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 on this speaker 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 and the Bluetooth light on the second speaker goes out while that same light on the first speaker continues blinking. Your two speakers are now linked to each other.
Picture of the glowing ST PAIR light.
The ST PAIR lamp glowing.

Finally, when the two speakers pair with each other, each one announces which stereo channel it will be (left or right).

Pair your Source BT Device to this Sony XB23 Stereo Pair

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

Note that the speaker with the glowing Bluetooth lamp is the primary speaker 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 of them on, it will look for the other one in the ST PAIR set to connect with.  Furthermore, if both speakers happen to be running Bluetooth standby mode, then when you turn on one of them, the other will come on as well. And if either speaker does not find the other after one (1) minute, then it reverts to single speaker operation.





How to Swap the Stereo Channels

Briefly press the ST PAIR button on either speaker while the two are paired together, and 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, while both speaker are powered up and connected to each other, briefly press the ST PAIR button on one of them. The ST PAIR lights on both speakers then go out, the speaker then emits a long beep.

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

The stereo pairing has now been dissolved.

Related Posts to Sony XB23 Pairing Two Speakers

    1. Sony SRS XB20 Pairing Two Speakers
    2. Sony XB21 Pairing Two Speakers
    3. Sony XB20 Pairing Two Speakers

Other Sony XB23 Posts

    1. Sony XB23 Charger Type
    2. Sony XB23 Specs
    3. How to Tell if Sony XB23 is Charging
    4. How to Factory Reset Sony XB23
    5. Sony XB23 Orange Light Stays On

References

    1. Official Sony XB23 Support Page
    2. Where to Buy the Sony XB23

Revision History

    • 2023-03-20: First published.