Hi,
I'm new to Sonos and to audio setups in general, but I've been reading a lot of posts on here the last few days (thanks Buzz for everything you write here!), and have pieced together an outline of a plan, but I have some missing pieces and wanted to confirm the pieces I *think* I've settled on.
Here's my situation:
----- I moved into a 'pre-wired' house and am determining how I want to set up.
----- I have a spot at the home theater room that has:
---------- 5 wires (2 strand) for the 5 in-ceiling speakers that make up the home theater grouping
---------- 3 wires (4 strand) that head out to volume control boxes in other rooms (let's assume they are impedance matching VC boxes, but I still have to check and confirm)
--------------- These other rooms have their respective VC boxes and 2 speakers, 2 speakers, and 1 speaker (bathroom).
What I want to do:
----- Get a receiver that can run the home theater 5 speakers when I'm watching TV.
----- Get a Connect:Amp to run the 3 other rooms AND share the Front Speakers ( or even Front Speakers and Back Speakers ) from the home theater grouping.
---------- I'm guessing people are going to say I will eventually want to put these on separate amps so I can listen to different sources in different areas, but that would happen rarely/never for me right now so having all these on one amp, and thus being limited to only one source, works well.
----- Have the shared speakers run through an automated switch so when in default use they participate with the Sonos system, and when the TV is in use they participate in the home theater grouping.
Proposed setup detail and questions:
----- Connect the output of the Sonos:Amp to an EZB speaker connector block
----- Connect the 3 VC wires to the EZB block
----- Connect the home theater front speakers (or front and back speakers) to one (or two) auto speaker switch(es) like the Niles SPK-1.
---------- Connect the switched on the SPK-1(s) to the home theater receiver
---------- Connect the default on the SPK-1(s) to the EZB block
--------------- QUESTION: The EZB block will now have connections to the impedance matched VC boxes in the other rooms and a direct connection to the home theater front speakers (or front and back speakers). This doesn't seem like it's right, but I'm not sure what to do... is there some kind of in-line impedance volume control unit i can wire between the SPK-1(s) and the EZB block?
--------------- QUESTION: How do I count the bathroom that only has one speaker in the impedance matching jumper settings. I assume just count it as a pair?
---------- Connect the receiver to the SPK-1(s). Note: I'm not going all in on an expensive receiver, just something that's good enough and recommended (something like the Denon AVR-S710W)... it looks like this means I likely won't have a switched outlet on the receiver itself, so I'll use something like the SCG3 Smart Strip and a 12v power adapter to get the 12v trigger.
QUESTION: Are there any more up to date recommendations on any of the parts I've mentioned? I've been reading forum posts that come from a large range of years, so some of these may be very old!
I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and let me know what they think.
Question
Connect:Amp and sharing home theater speakers with impedance matching volume controls in other rooms
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tommot,
Wire the CONNECT:AMP to the default side of the SPK-1 and insert the volume control between the CONNECT:AMP and the SPK-1. You'll get dizzy trying to visualize this, but eventually it will focus.
If the receiver offers a USB port, it might switch ON and OFF with the receiver. If so, use a SAS-1 as your switcher because it can trigger from the 5V USB power line. (you'll need to hack a USB cable in order to pull out the power leads) You can also use the SAS-1 to switch a powered subwoofer if you use a dedicated CONNECT:AMP for the 5.1 room. With a dedicated CONNECT:AMP you will not need a volume control for the front speakers. Don't attempt to use a powered subwoofer and an inline volume control because the volume control will not deal with the subwoofer. -- you'll go crazy trying to keep things adjusted.
You can use SPK-1 along with the SAS-1 to switch both front and surround.
Wire the CONNECT:AMP to the default side of the SPK-1 and insert the volume control between the CONNECT:AMP and the SPK-1. You'll get dizzy trying to visualize this, but eventually it will focus.
If the receiver offers a USB port, it might switch ON and OFF with the receiver. If so, use a SAS-1 as your switcher because it can trigger from the 5V USB power line. (you'll need to hack a USB cable in order to pull out the power leads) You can also use the SAS-1 to switch a powered subwoofer if you use a dedicated CONNECT:AMP for the 5.1 room. With a dedicated CONNECT:AMP you will not need a volume control for the front speakers. Don't attempt to use a powered subwoofer and an inline volume control because the volume control will not deal with the subwoofer. -- you'll go crazy trying to keep things adjusted.
You can use SPK-1 along with the SAS-1 to switch both front and surround.
Hi buzz,
Thanks so much for taking a look.
The receiver I'm thinking of ( Denon AVR-S710W, http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-receiver/ ) looks like it doesn't have any USB output, but thanks for that idea - I'll look to see if there are any comparable receivers that have one... it would be nice to eliminate one more piece of the puzzle (the SCG3 Smart Strip).
I attached a diagram - you're right it's hard to visualize everything and I probably should've included this in the original post to make things easier.
Just to confirm, you're saying that yes, the front speakers attached to the Sonos:AMP need a volume control added so that they get impedance matching just like the bath/bed/kitchen speaker - this is indicated in blue on the diagram? Note: I understand that if I had a dedicated second Sonos:AMP for the 5.1 room I wouldn't need the extra volume control and I can also switch a powered subwoofer... I may purchase a 2nd unit in the future, but let's just proceed with the one Sonos:AMP for now.
If the diagram and my understanding of your post is correct, the only thing I need to figure out is what to purchase for the in-line volume control between the Sonos:AMP and the SPK-1. Do you know of anything like this on the market?
Thanks so much for taking a look.
The receiver I'm thinking of ( Denon AVR-S710W, http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-receiver/ ) looks like it doesn't have any USB output, but thanks for that idea - I'll look to see if there are any comparable receivers that have one... it would be nice to eliminate one more piece of the puzzle (the SCG3 Smart Strip).
I attached a diagram - you're right it's hard to visualize everything and I probably should've included this in the original post to make things easier.
Just to confirm, you're saying that yes, the front speakers attached to the Sonos:AMP need a volume control added so that they get impedance matching just like the bath/bed/kitchen speaker - this is indicated in blue on the diagram? Note: I understand that if I had a dedicated second Sonos:AMP for the 5.1 room I wouldn't need the extra volume control and I can also switch a powered subwoofer... I may purchase a 2nd unit in the future, but let's just proceed with the one Sonos:AMP for now.
If the diagram and my understanding of your post is correct, the only thing I need to figure out is what to purchase for the in-line volume control between the Sonos:AMP and the SPK-1. Do you know of anything like this on the market?
tommot,
Yes, that is the correct connection for the volume control. A RUSSOUND TBL-75 volume control would be appropriate if you cannot mount a control in the wall.
If you plan to add a powered subwoofer in the future, use a SAS-1 now. The SAS-1 also has the advantage of audio sensing from the speaker wire connection or a preamp channel from the receiver. While audio sensing is never perfectly reliable, TV audio does not have any long silent or low volume passages that can frustrate the sensing. With SAS-1 on the job, operation will be seamless. The SAS-1 will also sense video. Many times there is an appropriate video output that tracks the logical speaker transfer times. If this is the case for your installation, video sensing is more reliable than audio sensing.
Yes, that is the correct connection for the volume control. A RUSSOUND TBL-75 volume control would be appropriate if you cannot mount a control in the wall.
If you plan to add a powered subwoofer in the future, use a SAS-1 now. The SAS-1 also has the advantage of audio sensing from the speaker wire connection or a preamp channel from the receiver. While audio sensing is never perfectly reliable, TV audio does not have any long silent or low volume passages that can frustrate the sensing. With SAS-1 on the job, operation will be seamless. The SAS-1 will also sense video. Many times there is an appropriate video output that tracks the logical speaker transfer times. If this is the case for your installation, video sensing is more reliable than audio sensing.
Thanks for the post and question. Recently, I have the similar problem and was going to make a new thread, but hpefully, found this topic.
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