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Hi Sonos Crew -

I need some advice/help..?  I recently purchased 2 Wet Sounds VS-8 outdoor wall speakers for my backyard. I have them powered by a Sonos Amp from inside my house.  They are incredibly clear and loud.  Bass is pretty good, but I feel like they are overpowered but the horn loaded compression driver.  Still the best outdoor speakers I’ve owned.  So these face our pool area from the back of our house.   
 

My issue is with the next set up.  I plan to install 3 Wet Sounds VS-6 in some large planter boxes we have surrounding our pool. This will be powered by a 2nd Sonos amp for pool area (so not the same amp that connects to outdoor wall VS-8 speakers). I will also have at least 1 of the 12 inch Wet Sounds outdoor subs buried in 1 of the planter boxes. Currently I have one VS-6 and one sub set up for a test trial. I feel like the sub just isn’t getting enough juice to really make it thump.  I’m thinking of buying another a 3rd Sonos Amp just to power the sub.  As of now I have a 4 cable speaker wire, so the sub is getting the feed from one of the channels (let’s just say left channel). I don’t want to really give the sub a left or right channel, but don’t really have a choice if I’m daisy chain the 3 VS-6 speakers and adding the sub. 
 

Questions:

  1. What is the best way to connect just the 1 outdoor sub to 1 Sonos amp?
  2. Should I get a 3rd Sonos amp to just power the sub? How do I connect for just 1 sub? (FYI…this thing is a beast)
  3. If I connect a single amp to the sub what is the best way to connect the volume of this sub so it sounds good with the volume of all the speakers?  

The pic below shows the planter box that will hold both the VS-6 and subwoofer.  The other 2 planter boxes (not pictured) will only host the VS-6, no subwoofer.  The planter boxes with the subwoofer is the most central so i think its the best placement for the sub  

I’m open to any suggestions on how to connect the whole system should you folks have any better ideas!


 

 

The WET SOUNDS that I discovered are 4 Ohm products. Only one pair of 4 Ohm speakers can be connected to an AMP.

With respect to the subwoofer I recommend using a 3rd party amplifier connected to one of the AMP's subwoofer outputs.

Until the subwoofer is placed in an enclosure (i.e. buried) it will sound wimpy.

Got it. Thanks.  I buried it today and it does sound better, more full and immersive.  Currently I have just 1 VS-6 and the sub connected to the sonos amp and it’s  really loud.  I set up as dual Mono connected to the right side channel. With the 2 VS-8 on the wall it sounds really good, but there are a few dead spots that will be filled with 2 more VS-6. I’ll likely keep this set as is and then buy another Sonos amp to power the 2 individual VS-6 that will be placed in the other 2 palm trees pots.  

How are you providing a crossover for the subwoofer and L/R satellite speakers? Unless something is plugged into an AMP’s subwoofer output, the speaker outputs will provide full range output to connected speakers. Supplying full range output to subwoofers or satellite speakers is way less than optimal. Are crossovers included with the WET SOUNDS?

I don’t believe there is crossover built into the Wet Sounds subwoofer, but you bring up a good point as I can hear some high frequencies trying to play through the sub.  
 

how about this:

1) In dual mono mode I connect the 3 VS-6 speakers to the right channel.

2) For the sub I connect it to the left channel,  and insert a passive crossover like one pictured below

And to confirm…I would only be connecting the sub output on the crossover, there would be no need for the tweeter since the VS-6 is already connected to the right channel normally?

 

thanks….this community has been a big help!

 

 

 

 


 

 

No.

My read is that the VS speakers are 4-ohms. Only one of these can be directly connected to an AMP’s speaker output, however, you could use some sort of impedance matching device to deal with this.

That crossover is designed for raw speakers.

Ok…so I think I’m Running out of options for this system to perform at its optimal.  My last configuration will be the following;

  1. Return the Sonos amp, buy the Sonos Port (connect to Wet Sounds amp). 
  2. Buy the Wet Sounds amp made specifically for the venue series.  ( it’s more money and I was hoping to  get away with just the Sonos amp). I also bought an outdoor wether proof box that works for the Sonos amp, but now I will need to return and get the next size up as the Wet Sounds amp is larger.  I’ve been buying all the wet sounds stuff refurbished on Amazon it’s about 30% cheaper that way.  It is literally brand new, not even a scuff mark!  
     
  3. thoughts?

 

  1.  

 

Also- when connecting the port to the Wet Sounds amp, I assume I just use the port output RCA cable to the input RCA of the amp?  Looks like amp has a button to delineate what channel the low frequency will pass through and it turns on the crossover.  Will I need to place the speakers in. Stereo configuration or can I create a dual mono in the Sonos port so the sound is equal? 
 

see the pics of the amp below…

you’ve been a big help!
 

 

PORT supports dual mono. It is not clear to me whether the amplifier “crossover” blocks the highs or the lows. A true crossover would have one output for highs and one for lows. Maybe the instruction manual has some details regarding which buttons to push.

The amplifier supports two of the 4-Ohm speakers per channel.

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