Question

Sonos Amp + 3rd party stereo amplifier?

  • 17 October 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 338 views
C

Hi,

I am currently using an Amp (the ‘new’ one) with a pair of B&W 706s2 at the front and Sonos One as rear speakers.

I am looking to upgrade my amplification as the Amp isn't able to get the most out of my turntable and speakers potential for music playback.

However, I wish to keep the Amp as I truly enjoy the HT convenience.

Is there any possibility for me to add an extra 3rd party stereo amplifier into my system, through which I would be playing my music, while still using the Amp for TV? Of course without having to plug/unplug anything when swithing from music to TV..

 

Thank you for your ideas and suggestions,

Cyril

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7 replies

K

 

I am looking to upgrade my amplification as the Amp isn't able to get the most out of my turntable and speakers potential for music playback.

 

What are you looking for in a new amp in terms of technical specifications where it will deliver more than what the Sonos amp does?

Ken_Griffiths

The B&W 706s2 show a recommended Amp spec between 30W - 120W into 8Ω and the Sonos Amp is 125W/Ch, I would maybe save your money and just stick with the Sonos Amp, which is surely fine for those speakers?

C

I experience no issue whatsoever in terms of max volume available, but find the sound overall a bit thin and on the bright side (despite listening mostly to vinyl).

Having had the opportunity to listen to the same setup at a friend but powered by a Rega Elicit, sonic performance was on a whole other level (which you would expect given the price difference...).

 

K

Hight prices by themselves are meaningless in home audio where it comes to sound quality. Rega is less than 10% the size of Sonos and simply cannot obtain the economies of scale that allow Sonos to sell the same componentry much cheaper than Rega can dream of.

That, from the economic side. From an actual experience of over two decades in high end audio, I have not seen a 50 wpc amp, that costs more than ten times the cost of my 50 wpc Connect Amp, sound any different/better when played via the same speakers in the same room at the exact same sound level. And I am referring to speakers that are a lot more expensive than the 706.

I have not heard the Sonos Amp, but I see no reason for it to be different in this aspect from my Connect  Amps.

Neither have some others that have posted here from actual experience of Sonos Amp.

However, if you think different, by all means get a third party amp and use a Sonos Port with it. Of course, then you may end up like some that find that the Port sounds funny.

IMO, these are all imagined pyschological differences. And/or those driven by sound level differences that need to be as small as 0.1dB to come into play.

C

Thanks for your inputs Kumar.

From a quck google search, it doesn't seem to me that the port offers HT functions (which is key for me - cf. my post). Or did I miss something ?

Ken_Griffiths

Cyril Glln,

It is quite an expensive piece of kit, so I would first ask your friend if they would maybe ‘kindly’ bring over the Rega Elicit Amp to try it with your own setup, just ‘try before you buy’ and see how it sounds in your environment and then decide if it’s worth going down that route.
 

I’m fairly sure you will not be able to integrate that Amp into the current Sonos HT surround setup, so you might want to consider a second pair of bookshelf speakers to use with the Sonos Amp instead.

 

The only purpose of adding a Sonos Port would then be to connect the Rega Elicit setup to your Sonos setup for stereo audio (music) playback purposes ‘in sync’ with your Sonos setup. I would not bother with that, personally speaking, but that’s a matter for you if you later want audio output from every speaker in the room.

J
Userlevel 4
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How many hours do you have on the Sonos Amp?  I have found they sound better after logging some hours.  I wouldn’t give up on the Sonos Amp.  I have no issues with the sound quality of the two I have using a better source and speakers than your likely using.  You can’t beat the convenience of the entire Sonos ecosystem as well which for me has become a game changer.

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