Who pre-ordered the new Sonos AMP and what are your plans for it?


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I'm a little surprised pre-orders opened up and nobody is taking about it 🙂 Delivery by Dec 3rd according to Sonos which is awesome.
I'm currently using a Beam and two Sonos Ones for rears and two stereo HomePods for music in the living room and bedroom as well as smart speakers for Homekit etc.
I was planning on buying a Sonos sub tomorrow since they will be on sale for $599. I'm not sure if I will do that now since I am getting the Amp so soon and can use any sub so there seems to be little advantage to the Sonos sub.
The Elacs are on sale right now so I could get tower speakers and sub from them for $669 from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4WFWZF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DL7XWBZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
I will continue to use the Sonos Ones as rears.
Any thoughts on any of that? Any advantage to buying a Sonos sub for the app? I can't think of one.
What are other peoples plans for the Amp?

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113 replies

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I play a lot of music and I'm a big fan of stereo separation so the Beam or the Playbar/Playbase would have never been good enough for music for me. Most of the time I had the Beam I also had two stereo paired Homepods in the living room for music. I didn't like using the rears Sonos Ones for music.
Once I realized I could easily turn off the rear Sonos Ones in the app I had the perfect combination for music and Home Theater.
As far as TV dialog goes I like stereo separation for that too. These speaker are very precise and detailed and that extends to TV dialog as well. Dialog enhancement works about half as well as it does with the Beam but I rarely have that turned on.
I use Airplay 2 on the Sonos AMP for multi-room music with as mix of Homepods and Sonos Ones and also for Roon/Tidal. I also subscribe to Pandora and Apple Music so have three music services to choose from and they all have Apple TV apps or I can Airplay from their individual apps.
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Out of curiosity, how do you find switching sound between TV and Music? I remember with my playbar (long time ago), Volume levels between music and TV were very different. Switching to TV required volume to be turned up as the audio was much lower than when playing music. Do you find the same with the sonos amp?Cheers


Switching sound between tv and music is the same.
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I was just going to ask if anyone is planning on vinyl.
Userlevel 7
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Previously had outdoor speakers on a 2-zone amplifier - moving Living room audio to Sonos Amp and then outdoor speaker onto their own.
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I ordered mine on Monday, 11/26 - said it would ship by 12/3. Arrived in Maryland from California today! It's in our new sunroom, with a Niles SSCV-2, powering a pair of Klipsch AW-650s (in the sunroom) and a pair of Bose 251s outside (on the pergola, also new). I had a piece of black plexiglass cut to size, that sits on top of the Niles, with the AMP on top of that...looks great! Sounds fantastic. Great front controls. Much nicer than my ZP-120 (yeah, pre-Connect:Amp. See pic.
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Nice 🙂
Userlevel 7
Hi Shepdog

That’s great that you are enjoying Sonos and congratulations on getting the Sonos Amp!

However, in reading your post you indicated that you are using a projector. Getting sound from your projector to your current amp is probably straight forward…either HDMI or coaxial out. Or...Maybe you feed the sound from the source straight to your amp and video straight to the projector.

With the Sonos Amp you'll be limited to HDMI_ARC (generally used with a compatible TV) or with the optional optical adapter available through Sonos. If forced to use coaxial or HDMI out from your projector you’ll also have to invest in a Coaxial/HDMI to Optical Converter. The same may be true if you are splitting sound and video from the source component to the projector and Sonos Amp. That means you’ll have a box in between your projector/source component and the Sonos Amp. Point being you may experience a bit of sound degradation to the Sonos Amp caused by the intermediary converter. Maybe?

Now, all I’ve said may be a moot point if you are considering another way to get DD4.1 to the Sonos Amp. Then again your projector/source component may have an HDMI_ARC port…if so…sweet! 😉 I’d be interested to know your solution. Pictures by all means:8

Cheers!
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@SOCalistic

Hi

Congrats on getting your Sonos Amp! :D So it sounds like you intend to use your Sonos Amp in an HT setup and you have a slight concern about the rears being involved when listening to music.

Tip:
Go ahead and bond the rears to the Sonos Amp. When listening to music all you need do is go into the Sonos app under room settings for the Sonos Amp and do one of two things:

Option 1. Place the rears on ambient for music (although you will still get a phantom sound)
Option 2. Do Option 1 and lower the volume level (push all the way to the left when listening to music)

Option 2 has the advantage of always keeping the rears at the ready for movies 🙂 (i.e. eliminates the vicious cycle of bonding for movies, un-bonding for music and re-bonding for movies and so on and so on…whew :P)

In the event that you decide to go back to your Beam for HT check out my post on using the Sonos Amp strictly for music. Here’s the link: https://en.community.sonos.com/what-to-get-228989/sonos-amp-get-more-enjoyment-with-ir-control-6817369

Enjoy your new toy(s)! :8

Cheers!
Userlevel 7
I have 3 Sonos Amps now.


You win :-)


I’ve got 2 Sonos Amp’s...and 4 more on the way! If you believe that I’ve got some prime swamp land complete with alligators, snakes and other poisonous wildlife that I’d like to sell you :8 LOL
Userlevel 5
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This is my setup for now.
Elac B6 2.0 which I will replace with some tower speakers when I figure out what I want.
Sony X930E 55 inch TV.
Sanus TV stand which I really like.
https://www.sanus.com/en_US/products/furniture/afv48/
Sonos AMP in the center
Apple TV 4K which is my source for all content, no cable.The app recommended putting the sub in this location. It also asked me how far the rears are from my sitting position.
That's useful since one is closer to me than the other.
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Here is my final setup. I bought Revel Concerta 2 M16 speakers. $450 each. Great sound.
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I Don’t like treble so chose speakers that are known to be warm. Plus I knocked the treble down by about a third in the amp. It sounds great 🙂
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@SOCalistic

I know the music sounds better with your new speakers; but how are you liking the TV audio compared to what you were getting with the Beam? Details please.

You might also think about starting a conversation post relating your experience with the Beam vs your current speaker setup. If you do....be sure to put in a disclaimer regarding your speakers vs the 1000's on the market as everyone's exepreince will not be the same as yours. In that way you possibly negate the noop from replying... "well you said this" :8

Cheers!
I play a lot of music and I'm a big fan of stereo separation so the Beam or the Playbar/Playbase would have never been good enough for music for me. Most of the time I had the Beam I also had two stereo paired Homepods in the living room for music. I didn't like using the rears Sonos Ones for music.
Once I realized I could easily turn off the rear Sonos Ones in the app I had the perfect combination for music and Home Theater.
As far as TV dialog goes I like stereo separation for that too. These speaker are very precise and detailed and that extends to TV dialog as well. Dialog enhancement works about half as well as it does with the Beam but I rarely have that turned on.
I use Airplay 2 on the Sonos AMP for multi-room music with as mix of Homepods and Sonos Ones and also for Roon/Tidal. I also subscribe to Pandora and Apple Music so have three music services to choose from and they all have Apple TV apps or I can Airplay from their individual apps.



Out of curiosity, how do you find switching sound between TV and Music? I remember with my playbar (long time ago), Volume levels between music and TV were very different. Switching to TV required volume to be turned up as the audio was much lower than when playing music. Do you find the same with the sonos amp?

Cheers
The advantage of a Sonos sub would be possibly quality, wireless, and can later be repurposed for use with other rooms.

I have not pre-ordered the Amp yet, but my plan is to use it to power 4 outdoor speakers, and connect to an outdoor TV whenever I put one out there.

Since I already have a 3rd party amp + Connect for that purpose, I'm deciding whether I want to sell this equipment or add more speakers to an additional part of the yard.
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I have thought of later repurpose but not any time soon.
As fas as wireless they have a power cord of course and I always use ethernet over wifi for audio equipment. Although if the Sonos sub is connected to the Sonos amp perhaps the sub does not need to be connected to wifi or ethernet?
A regular sub to the amp would of course have power plus a cable to the amp.
Many of the long term folks here already have all the equipment that they need. I may be projecting my personal thoughts here, but the only case in which I would be replacing a device would be if the previous one failed, or as melvimbe is saying, I had an intention of increasing coverage. i.e. if it's currently working fine, why bother to replace it?
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Many people here are not long term. Many people might see value in the amp that does things their current Sonos products don't. Like true stereo separation with their tv, Airplay 2, Alexa/Siri, and soon Google mic, choosing their own speakers and sub, HDMI to TV etc, etc....
Certainly, many people are not long term.

But I don't understand your contention around true separate with AirPlay 2, Alexa/Siri and Google....I have most of that right now, with a pair of PLAY:5s that I often AirPlay 2 to from my iPhone. The only part of your statement I could see is the TV aspect. And HDMI to TV exists in the Beam, for those who want that.

Not saying that the new Amp isn't a great product, because I truly think it is. But many of the things you listed already exist.
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That's incorrect in multiple areas but I'm not interested in convincing you of anything especially since you came here to make superfluous comments for some reason. The subject is who ordered the amp and what do they intend to do with it.
Many people here are not long term. Many people might see value in the amp that does things their current Sonos products don't. Like true stereo separation with their tv, Airplay 2, Alexa/Siri, and soon Google mic, choosing their own speakers and sub, HDMI to TV etc, etc....
I don't understand, the Sonos AMP has no mics.
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My rear Sonos Ones do and I can use Alexa or Siri with them and Google when it comes.
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/8/29/17791754/sonos-amp-new-price-features-release-date-hdmi-arc-tv-audio-speakers
"Since the Amp itself isn’t a speaker, there are no mics built in, but if you’ve got an Echo or one of Sonos’ voice-enabled speakers, the Amp will play all of your Alexa requests."
I hope to receive a Sonos AMP on Monday (11/26/2018) and use it to create a multi-room music zone in my dining room. Here are some details…
Protocol: Apple Airplay 2
Streaming amplifier: Sonos AMP
Speakers: Klipsch R-5800-W II
Cable: Mediabridge CL2 14AWG SW-14X2-200-WH with Pomona 5170 banana plugs
LAN connection: ethernet, Belden 2412 cable
Streaming music service: Apple Music
I have no plans to use the analog or HDMI ARC inputs. Perhaps a SUB in the future. This is my first Sonos product.
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I'm still trying to figure out how I am going to manage with just getting one!
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I hope to receive a Sonos AMP on Monday (11/26/2018) and use it to create a multi-room music zone in my dining room. Here are some details…
Protocol: Apple Airplay 2
Streaming amplifier: Sonos AMP
Speakers: Klipsch R-5800-W II
Cable: Mediabridge CL2 14AWG SW-14X2-200-WH with Pomona 5170 banana plugs
LAN connection: ethernet, Belden 2412 cable
Streaming music service: Apple Music
I have no plans to use the analog or HDMI ARC inputs. Perhaps a SUB in the future. This is my first Sonos product.


Interesting. I just got the sub and its just as amazing as everyone says. A little boomy but works great with the Beam and rear sonos ones.
I want to listen to Apple Music and Pandora from their apps on my Apple TV as I like to see the album art when something is playing. But since my Amp will be connected to the Apple TV by HDMI and the ATV is set to 5.1 sound it sounds like I won't be able to use the two front speakers for music without it also coming through the rears.
I am surprised how much better the Sonos One rears, set to full, sound after I added the sub.