add a turntable

SONOS USB Line-In adaptor.

If the Era 100’s are being used as surrounds the line-in is not active. Therefore you cannot connect a turntable to either one. You can connect a Sonos Port to the Amp as follows in either one or both methods simultaneously:

• Line-in RCA on T. Monitor to Line-out RCA on Port

In the above manner you can play Streamed music to to the Amp speakers

• Line-out RCA on T. Monitor to Line-in RCA on Port

In this manner you can also play Turntable Vinyl music to your Sonos HT speakers (Beam2, Era 100 surrounds and Sub-Mini

Disregarding the above….If the Era 100’s are not being used as surrounds you can connect your turntable to one or both if used as a stereo pair. You’d need the Sonos proprietary adapter shown here as well as a 3rd party pre-amp to sit between the Era 100 or Era 100 stereo pair. The setup would be as follows:

• Turntable > Pre-Amp > Era 100 or left Era 100 if a stereo pair.

Note: The sub cannot be assigned to two rooms. It would have to stay with the Beam2 or be moved to the Era 100 or Era 100 stereo pair.

Thanks for the advice 👍

If I had a third era 100 and connected to that, could that era 100 sync with my TV surround sound so I could use the whole system? 

Yes, if you had a 3rd Era 100 you could connect the Turnable to it. However, you still need the Sonos proprietary adapter and a 3rd party pre-amp configured as shown in my previous post.

You could send the sound to your Beam2 with Era surrounds and sub via the Grouping process. 

Note: You do not want to send TV audio (Movie) to a 3rd Era 100 or any Sonos speaker outside of your HT via Grouping as there will be a 75ms delay creating an echo effect. Grouping only reliably sync’s music.

That’s really helpful thank you 👍

The amp I have won’t work then? I need a 3rd party pre amp? 

No, you’ll need a 3rd party pre-amp. You can find them on Amazon.

It’s best to get one that is compatible with Moving Coil (MC) and Moving Magnet (MM) cartridges. MM cartridges are common to most turntables. You’ll have to figure out which type is compatible with your turntable.

Click here to see 3rd party pre-amps.

Again, thanks for your quick responses and help 😊👍

It could work. You would connect the turntable to the ROTEL’s Phono input and connect the tape output to the ERA 100’s USB adapter.

From your photo it looks like you have the turntable sitting on the ROTEL. This may not be a good idea. You’ll know right away if it’s a bad idea if this results in hum in certain parts of the record.

I don’t recommend connecting passive speakers to the ROTEL if they will play in the same room as the ERA 100 plays.

Thank you, I have the tuner on the amp and the turntable on that; I do get a hum, now I know why 👍

The turntable and era will be in the kitchen the TV surround is in the living room 

Just realised even when the turntable is switched off and not in use I get a hum through the speakers so perhaps not the same reason 🤔 there must be something else going on too? 

Are the tuner and amp are still powered? Turn them off too. 

The RCA interconnects maybe too close to the power cables, try to keep them as separate as possible.

You could also consider a second hand Port from eBay or similar. Would probably cost less vs new Era-100 + USB Line In Adapter. You also have the ability to get Sonos Music Services into your existing Amp & Speakers, and output turntable source via the digital coax on Port to a Bluetooth transmitter, if you have a requirement to listen via Bluetooth headphones. When listening to turntable in this configuration, there will be a small delay in sound coming from Sonos speakers vs Rotel connected speakers, but the Sonos Music Services will be in sync.

Then over time replace the speakers connected to the Rotel with Sonos speakers.

With the older setup you have one can often run into issues you are experiencing. That’s why IMO going with Era 100 and Pre-amp although requires an expenditure will serve you better in the long run. Who knows you may eventually decide to get a 4th Era 100 and make a dedicated stereo pair for the turntable.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Much appreciated 👍

If the hum is only associated with Phono, make sure that the turntable has a proper ground connection to the ROTEL. Does the hum level vary with tonearm position? Are any other devices connected to the ROTEL, such as a cable box? If so, as a test, connect only the turntable to the ROTEL inputs.

The hum is evident as soon as I switch the amp on even when the other units are switched off. I think you are right with the power cables and associated wires are all very close together because of where the unit is located. Not sure I can do much about it but useful to know why it’s happening. It’ll all be resolved when I invest in either a Sonos turntable etc (or similar) or get rid of some of the other kit and make more space 

Do you have hum when listening to Tuner? Does the hum level track the ROTEL Volume control setting?

Hi Buzz, obviously have to have the amp on for any of the sources so always hear the buzz until I ramp up the volume. The hum is a constant and doesn’t increase with volume and to be fair I can’t detect it once the music is playing just between the music e.g changing the LP or a cd. There is no hum independently of the amp

Is the hum coming from speakers attached to the ROTEL or directly from the ROTEL chassis?

The speakers. I also have a QED SS21 Parallel 2-Way Speaker Switching Unit between the Rotel and 2 sets of speakers (that’s the black box behind the units)