HDMI ARC with Sonos Amp and Playbar

Hi hipnix

The Sonos Amp can be used in the following ways with Home Theater:

1. Sonos Amp via HDMI_ARC to TV with 3rd party speakers and wireless Sonos Sub or 3rd party sub with wireless Sonos surrounds

2. Sonos Amp via HDMI_ARC to TV with 3rd party speaker and wireless Sonos sub or 3rd party sub and 2nd Sonos Amp with 3rd party surround speakers

3. Playbar/Playbase or Beam with wireless Sonos Sub and Sonos Amp with 3rd party surround speakers

You cannot use a Sonos Amp to power surrounds and be connected via HDMI_ARC to a TV with or without a Playbar

Cheers!

Thanks for the helpful answer @AjTrek1. Here's what I'm curious about: I want to use the Sonos AMP for the HDMI-ARC functionality. Could I hypothetically wirelessly pair my AMP to a Playbar, Sub, and (2) Sonos:5 speakers? I wouldn't be plugging any 3rd party speakers into the amp at all. Would this work?

Thanks for the helpful answer AjTrek1. Here's what I'm curious about: I want to use the Sonos AMP for the HDMI-ARC functionality. Could I hypothetically wirelessly pair my AMP to a Playbar, Sub, and (2) Sonos:5 speakers? I wouldn't be plugging any 3rd party speakers into the amp at all. Would this work?

No. There is no way to get HDMI ARC sources to play through the Playbar. The only TV input for the Playbar is the optical.

Thanks for the helpful answer AjTrek1. Here's what I'm curious about: I want to use the Sonos AMP for the HDMI-ARC functionality. Could I hypothetically wirelessly pair my AMP to a Playbar, Sub, and (2) Sonos:5 speakers? I wouldn't be plugging any 3rd party speakers into the amp at all. Would this work?

No. There is no way to get HDMI ARC sources to play through the Playbar. The only TV input for the Playbar is the optical.

Ok so what you're saying is, the Playbar cannot receive a wireless signal from the AMP, the way the Play:5's would? Or will the AMP not wirelessly broadcast to Play:5's either?

Thanks for the helpful answer AjTrek1. Here's what I'm curious about: I want to use the Sonos AMP for the HDMI-ARC functionality. Could I hypothetically wirelessly pair my AMP to a Playbar, Sub, and (2) Sonos:5 speakers? I wouldn't be plugging any 3rd party speakers into the amp at all. Would this work?

No. There is no way to get HDMI ARC sources to play through the Playbar. The only TV input for the Playbar is the optical.

Ok so what you're saying is, the Playbar cannot receive a wireless signal from the AMP, the way the Play:5's would? Or will the AMP not wirelessly broadcast to Play:5's either?

That's not exactly the right way to look at it. There are several Sonos speakers that can act as a master in a home theatre speaker. A playbar, playbase, beam, or Sonos Amp. In all cases, the master device takes in the input from the TV, covers all the front speaker channels, can send audio to a sub and/or surround speakers, and communcate stereo audio to another Sonos room in your home. For the surround speakers, you can use a pair of Sonos Ones, Play:1s, Play3s, Play:5s, or a 2nd Sonos Amp/ connect:amp (connect:amp must be wired). The choice of surround speakers is not limited by what master device you're using.

So a playbar can receive a wireless signal from amp when the amp is specific as another room, not as part of the same HT room. And yes, the Amp can communicate with play:5s, with the play:5s doing surround duties in the same room, or as a separate room in your system.

Makes sense, appreciate the response. Reason why I ask is, I want to get as close to great 5.1 as possible. I realize only Dolby digital is available, but I figured possibly HDMI-ARC could do a better job than Optical. I own a Playbar and Sub, and want to add some Play:5s as surrounds. I realize the Play:5s may be overkill, but I also listen to music a lot, so I figured I’d go for them. Plus I’ll eventually add in my turntable, so I thought the AMP might be a good solution. Too bad the Playbar doesn’t have ARC (yet)

Both HDMI-ARC and the optical will carry the exact same signal, there's no difference between the two, except the medium in which they're transmitted.