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Line in mess

  • January 8, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 24 views

I was playing with my living room group which includes an Arc, sub 3 and in ceiling surrounds powered by the Sonos amp. My intention was to get a line in through the amp from my turntable (Crosley).

 

After some research I discovered Sonos hides the line in on the amp when it’s connected as surrounds to the system. So I disconnect the surrounds from the system and used the line in on the amp. To my surprise, the line in started playing from the Arc and sub 3! 
 

This is essentially the outcome I wanted, just with the surrounds in the mix as well and not having to screw with the groups every time I want to do this. But I was not expecting the line in to play from the Arc at all given it was a line in to the amp which connects to the in ceiling surrounds.

 

So I guess my question is why is Sonos not allowing Line in with the surrounds connected, since it’s obviously possible. I just want to be able to use my turntable with the system without having to screw with the groups to do it. Are they gatekeeping this function for a specific reason? Or is there something I’m missing?

2 replies

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  • Senior Virtuoso
  • January 8, 2026

To answer your question: there’s something you’re missing.
 

In home theatre setups, the front speaker creates a dedicated one-way link to the rears to minimise delays. As it’s a one-way connection nothing can come back to the front speaker. 
When you broke the bond and removed the Amp from surrounds duty, you seem to have used the “group” function, sharing the Amp’s line in source with your soundbar. 
You’re not the first to question this, and there are lots of other threads on the forums. 


jgatie
  • January 8, 2026

I’ll not add to ​@nik9669a’s excellent explanation of surrounds vs a free-standing room, except to say that the Line-in of the Amp doesn’t necessarily play just on the Amp.  It is actually a system source, and like all other sources, it can be played in any and all other rooms on the system.  You can even play one source on the Amp, and play the Line-In elsewhere on the system.