Can the Amp and Connect be told to output mono rather than stereo? Using with mono ceiling speakers in bathroom and kitchen.

  • 16 November 2012
  • 95 replies
  • 27654 views

Userlevel 1
Single ceiling speakers (already bought) being used in the bathroom and kitchen. I need to sum the stereo signal for those, as I listen to a lot of soul which is 'dual mono' i.e. drums on left, everything else on right. Can the output be set to mono?

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

95 replies

Userlevel 5
Badge
Hello, The SONOS Connect and Connect Amps are stereo units. There is no setting in SONOS to currently change that. I am going to move this Questions to the Share an Idea sections. It will get submitted as a feature request for SONOS to output in Mono. This will allow other users to vote on the idea and submit this to the SONOS Product Development Team. You can try to convert the stereo signal to mono if you like, but it would not be supported. You can also check the unsupported section I searched online quickly and found this: http://www.hometech.com/hts/products/audio/converters/at-mm300.html?key=A27&pk_kwd=AT-MM300&gclid=CMCCobTZ97MCFYZM4Aod4F4AWQ
Badge
This would be helpful for a back yard as well. You don't want the stereo separation in outdoor areas.
Userlevel 1
I am completely bummed out that MONO in not offered. Just bought a SONOS AMP for my backyard. Never bothered to check it MONO was an option, because I took for granite that SONOS has considered just about everything. Apparently this is virgin ground for SONOS. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS FOR YOUR OUTDOOR USERS.
Badge
I ended up using a Sonos Connect (not Amp) and a separate Pyle PA amp for my back yard. Not nearly as convenient as having a single device, but the Pyle amp takes a stereo input and outputs only mono and has lots of options for speaker impedance. I set the volume on the amp to the loudest I would ever want in my back yard and control the volume through the Sonos controller.
It would also be perfect if one could use both outputs on a CONNECT:AMP as separate channels. I.e. 2 mono speakers controlled separately on the controller.
Userlevel 1
Great idea,A Mono Option! I went to Sonos to limit the number of components, not increase them. Sonos, any progress?
Userlevel 1
Badge +5
Op you forgot to ask sonos to let you label the right speaker bathroom and the left speaker kitchen. Lol
Userlevel 1
Anyone have experience with Audioplex Monomixers used with Sonos Amp?
I'm installing a big Sonos system in a friend's house. Without a mono option the wiring is far more complicated: stereo input ceiling speakers, local impedance matching volume switches, what a nightmare. Thanks for skipping the obvious Sonos. Same camp as Mr. Olson, took it for granted that ceiling speakers and whole house audio would be familiar territory for these guys. With odd rooms and hallways and bathrooms, etc. why would they assume stereo is appropriate everywhere all the time? Odd...
I too have a large Sonos system and need to power outdoor speakers with a mono feed. Please add this to the feature set of the Connect:AMP, and my Sonos satisfaction will remain high.
Same here ... I'm using Sonos Amp for ceiling speakers in small rooms .... The rooms have a single speaker and a single run of speaker wire prior to constructions .. I am now looking at the audioplex's solution/transformer (kind of afraid to use it, since it's not even supported and I don't want to blow the sonos amp), but if the sonos amp was able to output in mono it wouldn't be this complicated. WHY IS THIS OPTION MISSING??? Just a toggle for mono/stereo in the EQ menu or something simple like that. I also have the same issue for outdoor speakers. PLEASE SONOS!! PLEASE!
Badge
I have silently, patiently waited for a mono model for Connect:Amp for years. But no more! As I see it mono is of benefit for whole home audio - but also commercial installations. If mono option in the software took the form of L+R, L, or R mono options, it could increase Sonos sales because 2 Connect:Amps could be sold for a bi-amped 'wireless speaker' solution.... Dynaudio appears to be offering a similar concept integrated into some of their speakers but without any of the benefits that a Sonos system offers. I wonder if they actually sell any - is there a market for it? If it really is just software, it wouldn't cost Sonos very much to find out.
Userlevel 1
Probably too late to help the OP, but he most likely had dual voicecoil speakers, which he is calling "mono". Any single speaker is "mono", but kitchen and bathrooms are often running on a DVC speaker which takes a stereo signal into one speaker and plays both left and right. He would have had no need for mono out on a sonos unit. However, I am a dealer and custom installer and this feature is long overdue. Commercial installations, places where you don't have more than two conductors to work with, yards, kitchens, etc all can use mono. Now I have to use a speerate amplifier and a summing device. Please fix this. I sell hundreds of units a year.
Userlevel 2
It would be extremely useful to switch a Amp unit to output two mono channels. I have recently put speakers into a bedroom with attached bathroom. I wanted to have one speaker rather than a pair in each. I fitted the BluCube CXCL-650-S which is a single 'stereo' speaker. (Nice sound quality, average flush finish.) With the option of Mono outputs I would of had a much larger choice of speakers.
Couldn't agree more : and Sonos while you're at it please make your mono smarter than the rest of the world's mono: let your amp push 2 different, independant streams in mono across each output - by doing this i can use one amp to deliver different, independant, programmable music to 2 separate bathrooms ! that would just be AWESOME ! While you're at it Sonos, please build a simple, wife-friendly, button-based controller for the kitchen and the bathroom that i can set next to the light switch - right now i have to bring the speaker wires to an attenuator, then back to teh speaker - having a nice little sonos volume + skip button controller would be so much smarter...
Userlevel 1
Sebastian going mono is a simple software change. Two streams requires a whole new set of hardware. You are asking for one unit to do the work of two. I don't think that will happen. Most companies are not about sabotaging their own sales. Such capability would increase the cost per unit substantially, going mono should not.
One more vote for mono option here for all the reasons listed above
One more vote for mono for all the above reasons
Badge
I have silently, patiently waited for a mono model for Connect:Amp for years. But no more! As I see it mono is of benefit for whole home audio - but also commercial installations. If mono option in the software took the form of L+R, L, or R mono options, it could increase Sonos sales because 2 Connect:Amps could be sold for a bi-amped 'wireless speaker' solution.... Dynaudio appears to be offering a similar concept integrated into some of their speakers but without any of the benefits that a Sonos system offers. I wonder if they actually sell any - is there a market for it? If it really is just software, it wouldn't cost Sonos very much to find out.

I had another customer, yesterday who wanted better 'wireless' speakers than PLAY:5. The Play:5s are great value for money, but my customer wanted something better. 2 Connect Amps bi-amping a pair of nice mid-priced speakers could have suited him down to the ground. It's worth noting that my 'L-or-R mono option' is already offered as 'create a stereo pair' in the PLAY: products (L+R is in the PLAY:1). But stereo-pair Connect:Amps? Please?
Userlevel 1
One more vote for mono option here for all the reasons listed above


Bought this from HomeTech 

It's ugly but works, no problems for 14 months.

Items

AT-MM200

MonoMixer, 200 Watt

Converts Stereo to Mono 

Common Ground

1 each

Usually ships in 3-5 days.2

$33.95 each

$33.95
I'm installing a big Sonos system in a friend's house. Without a mono option the wiring is far more complicated: stereo input ceiling speakers, local impedance matching volume switches, what a nightmare. Thanks for skipping the obvious Sonos. Same camp as Mr. Olson, took it for granted that ceiling speakers and whole house audio would be familiar territory for these guys. With odd rooms and hallways and bathrooms, etc. why would they assume stereo is appropriate everywhere all the time? Odd...
Not so hard because you would not use a sonos amp in this situation. You would use a connect and you can simply use RCA Y cables to make it mono then hook it up to the appropriate amp for whole house audio. The sonsos amp units are not made for audio distribution, but single rooms with stereo speakers.
This was from a while ago, but don't use multiple sonos amps. You use connects and a multi channel amp made for multi room audio.
Userlevel 1
I'm installing a big Sonos system in a friend's house. Without a mono option the wiring is far more complicated: stereo input ceiling speakers, local impedance matching volume switches, what a nightmare. Thanks for skipping the obvious Sonos. Same camp as Mr. Olson, took it for granted that ceiling speakers and whole house audio would be familiar territory for these guys. With odd rooms and hallways and bathrooms, etc. why would they assume stereo is appropriate everywhere all the time? Odd...
"RCA Y cables to make it mono"....Good way to damage your unit. Sonos needs to make mono available in their software. It's that simple. All these other "solutions" are half-baked and a source of future problems, never mind extra cost. I can't believe there isn't even a reply from someone at sonos on this thread. Especially with at least two dealers chiming in.
Userlevel 1
I'm installing a big Sonos system in a friend's house. Without a mono option the wiring is far more complicated: stereo input ceiling speakers, local impedance matching volume switches, what a nightmare. Thanks for skipping the obvious Sonos. Same camp as Mr. Olson, took it for granted that ceiling speakers and whole house audio would be familiar territory for these guys. With odd rooms and hallways and bathrooms, etc. why would they assume stereo is appropriate everywhere all the time? Odd...
"RCA Y cables to make it mono".... LOL... Good way to damage your unit. Sonos needs to make mono available in their software. It's that simple. All these other "solutions" are half-baked and a source of future problems, never mind extra cost. I can't believe there isn't even a reply from someone at sonos on this thread. Especially with at least two dealers chiming in.
One more vote for mono option here for all the reasons listed above


I'm using the mono-mixer as well.. It works .. you do loose about 30% of power but for these smaller rooms it doesn't really matter unless you were planning to blast the music.   I need 3 more mono-mixers!!  I wish they would just add a software toggle for MONO!!  This is ridiculous.