Hey, maybe someone can assist.
After having enjoyed a Sonos WiFi whole-house (apartment) system for years, I'm excited to finally have the opportunity to install a wired system using Sonos components (no longer will spotty wireless connectivity arbitrarily interfere with my audio experience--win). So here's my situation: I will have 8-9 Connect:Amps to carry my speakers and sub throughout the house. What is the best way to cable them so I can have the "zonal" benefits of the independent amps while I am playing music from different non-streaming sources like CD and phono? How do I connect all of the amps to both of these sources? Will I have to find a CD/turntable that has 8-9+ outputs? Not sure that exists. Or does a switch exist of some sort? Would I be able to tether the amps through RCA? Would putting an amp between the sources and the Connect:Amps offer a solution?
Any thoughts/input would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
DiveGuy
Question
Question About a Slightly Complicated Multi-Zone Home Installation.
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1st off, you don't wire the Connect Amps to each other in any way. They simply need to be plugged into power, and have speaker wiring running to the speakers.
You should directly connect at least 1 of the Amps to your router with an ethernet cable. This will establish "SonosNet", which is a more stable method of running the Sonos system.
Back to your setup:
1) Will the Amps all be centrally located, or will they be spread throughout your home? Either way will work, but depending on your situation, 1 method may be easier and more appropriate than the other. Or, you could even have some of them centrally located, and others spread around as needed. This right here demonstrates the amazing flexibility of Sonos.
2) You will only need to connect your turntable and CD player to any 1 of the Amps. Once you do so, you can output the audio to any of the other zones.
3) There is no need to "tether" them together, and you would not need any "amp in between".
As a side note, while you point out using 8-9 amps, you might also want to look at the option of Play:1, 3, or 5 speakers for some of your rooms. They offer great flexibility and would be a fraction of the cost.
You should directly connect at least 1 of the Amps to your router with an ethernet cable. This will establish "SonosNet", which is a more stable method of running the Sonos system.
Back to your setup:
1) Will the Amps all be centrally located, or will they be spread throughout your home? Either way will work, but depending on your situation, 1 method may be easier and more appropriate than the other. Or, you could even have some of them centrally located, and others spread around as needed. This right here demonstrates the amazing flexibility of Sonos.
2) You will only need to connect your turntable and CD player to any 1 of the Amps. Once you do so, you can output the audio to any of the other zones.
3) There is no need to "tether" them together, and you would not need any "amp in between".
As a side note, while you point out using 8-9 amps, you might also want to look at the option of Play:1, 3, or 5 speakers for some of your rooms. They offer great flexibility and would be a fraction of the cost.
Hey, thanks for your comments. I should have mentioned that I am designing a fully wired system and will not be using Sonos speakers.
In response to your suggestions/comments, yes, all amps will be situated together. I plan to run Cat 6 from each unit to a patch panel with my network hardware. It sounds like, given my configuration and your comments, that I can still connect my audio sources to a single Connect:Amp and they will be made available to all of the Amps on the network?
Thanks again for your comments. I believe they ultimately answered my questions.
In response to your suggestions/comments, yes, all amps will be situated together. I plan to run Cat 6 from each unit to a patch panel with my network hardware. It sounds like, given my configuration and your comments, that I can still connect my audio sources to a single Connect:Amp and they will be made available to all of the Amps on the network?
Thanks again for your comments. I believe they ultimately answered my questions.
Yes, once you get your audio "into the Sonos system" it can be played on any zone. The Connect Amp only has 1 input, so you can just plug your inputs into 2 different amps.
Thanks again for your input.
Follow-up (obvious) networking question: rather than individually wiring each Amp via Cat6 to a network patch panel, can I just wire one to the panel and connect the other nine Amps to each other in a chain-like config? Thanks.
Follow-up (obvious) networking question: rather than individually wiring each Amp via Cat6 to a network patch panel, can I just wire one to the panel and connect the other nine Amps to each other in a chain-like config? Thanks.
1st, I am fairly certain you can daisy chain them, but will let others comment. Or, just give Sonos support a call.
2nd, I don't think you'll need to wire them all anyhow, not that it would hurt. With 1 wired, you create the SonosNet network, and you should be very stable.
2nd, I don't think you'll need to wire them all anyhow, not that it would hurt. With 1 wired, you create the SonosNet network, and you should be very stable.
There is a limit to the number you can daisy chain. I believe it is 7, which corresponds to the fairly standardized maximum of switch hops on an Ethernet network.
You can connect all the Connect:Amps to a simple Ethernet switch such as this: "NETGEAR ProSAFE 16-Port Fast Ethernet Switch (FS116)" ($49.99 on newegg).
Then just plug one more Ethernet cable into any of its ports on one end and the patch panel on the other (assuming you will use the patch panel to connect it into one of the ports on your Internet router).
Then just plug one more Ethernet cable into any of its ports on one end and the patch panel on the other (assuming you will use the patch panel to connect it into one of the ports on your Internet router).
I'm just curious. Unless you already have the Amps for whatever reason, why go that route? Since you're going whole house, I assume that your speakers will be either in wall or outdoor. In that regard, it does give you a clean look and will work best for many rooms. However, you lose some flexibility to move things around, and you cannot really connect the system to an entertainment center. I would seriously look into getting a soundbar plus surround speaker setup with sonos for your main entertainment center.
I have 3 Connect:AMP's in my network closet connected via CAT6 to my switch...from there I have 14/2 In wall speaker cable connected to the speaker outputs running to bose speakers that are mounted on the ceiling and it works great for me. Now as for connecting to my Media Center Amplifier I added one of the regular CONNECT's to the system and have the pre out from the media center amp going into the input of the CONNECT so I can "Tune" that input to any room in the house.
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