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I am designing a new home with a 37ft x 20ft great room / dining / kitchen area.  I would like to have music for casual listening, it never needs to be too loud and won’t need multiple zones in the space.  I would like to add 1 Sonos amp along with a Sonos One in order to have a voice assistant.  For ceiling speakers, would 4 be enough to run off the one amp or would 6 be necessary?

 

 

 

six would yield more uniform distribution. Include separate Volume controls for each pair.


I would use a Google or Alexa device for voice command though, unless you want to use Sonos Voice Control.


@buzz Thank you for the help!  For seperate controls, I would need something like a multi-channel speaker selector?

 

@106rallye The Sonos One has Alexa built-in, doesn’t it?

 


Overall, I think that you would be more satisfied with in-wall Volume controls located near each pair of speakers, rather than needing to make a trip to the “box” in order to adjust an area.


@doug_k wrote

 @106rallye The Sonos One has Alexa built-in, doesn’t it?

Yes, but do you really need an extra speaker with the Amp? As I understand it you only need a microphone to connnect you to the assistant. In my experience Google Assistant works better with a Nest Mini than on Sonos, where Google seems to limit possibillities. I have no experience with Alexa

If you want to use Sonos Voice Control you do need a One.


@buzz thank you, this is very helpful.  If I decided to run 6 speakers with volume controls, would this work off 1 amp?  If they are wired in parrellel, how do I link two speakers to one volume switch?

 

 


@doug_k,
There are many switches that can be used with a Sonos Amp and multiple speaker pairs and discussed in various threads here in the community, if you perhaps want to search for those. Some are cheaper than others, but I quite like these switches mentioned in the below video, posted here for your info…

https://youtu.be/2E0dYvihv_w


@doug_k

The controls that I referenced or one of the ‘boxes’ are classified as “impedance matching”. These will allow you to connect a reasonable number of speakers without breaking the 4-Ohm lower limit. (after configuring the ‘box’ or controls)