Who pre-ordered the new Sonos AMP and what are your plans for it?


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I'm a little surprised pre-orders opened up and nobody is taking about it 🙂 Delivery by Dec 3rd according to Sonos which is awesome.
I'm currently using a Beam and two Sonos Ones for rears and two stereo HomePods for music in the living room and bedroom as well as smart speakers for Homekit etc.
I was planning on buying a Sonos sub tomorrow since they will be on sale for $599. I'm not sure if I will do that now since I am getting the Amp so soon and can use any sub so there seems to be little advantage to the Sonos sub.
The Elacs are on sale right now so I could get tower speakers and sub from them for $669 from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4WFWZF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DL7XWBZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
I will continue to use the Sonos Ones as rears.
Any thoughts on any of that? Any advantage to buying a Sonos sub for the app? I can't think of one.
What are other peoples plans for the Amp?

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113 replies

Userlevel 5
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Since Trueplay won't work with the AMP how do people plan to tune their 5.1 systems?
I've been used to receivers with tuning methods like microphones, Trueplay, and my two sets of stereo HomePods.
I understand you can still do dialog enhancement but I learned to turn that of when playing music with my Beam.
I was just going to ask if anyone is planning on vinyl.

🆒 This guy is!

Purchased a couple of Klipsch bookshelf speakers (RP-500M) this weekend and just need to order the Amp.
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Hi, I am new to the Sonos family. I recently purchased the Playbar and (2) Sonos Ones. I am planning to purchase the Sonos Amp (to connect to my Paradigms) once it is released and looking to setup a 5.1 surround sound. Is this attainable with the setup I have mentioned? If not what is the closest possible surround sound theatre setup that can be achieved with the speakers I have mentioned. I have heard of 4.1 with Sonos Amp (2 fronts) and 2 rears (ie... 2 Ones). But would like 5.1 if possible.
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I ordered mine on Monday, 11/26 - said it would ship by 12/3. Arrived in Maryland from California today! It's in our new sunroom, with a Niles SSCV-2, powering a pair of Klipsch AW-650s (in the sunroom) and a pair of Bose 251s outside (on the pergola, also new). I had a piece of black plexiglass cut to size, that sits on top of the Niles, with the AMP on top of that...looks great! Sounds fantastic. Great front controls. Much nicer than my ZP-120 (yeah, pre-Connect:Amp. See pic.
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Nice 🙂
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I ordered mine on Monday, 11/26 - said it would ship by 12/3. Arrived in Maryland from California today! It's in our new sunroom, with a Niles SSCV-2, powering a pair of Klipsch AW-650s (in the sunroom) and a pair of Bose 251s outside (on the pergola, also new). I had a piece of black plexiglass cut to size, that sits on top of the Niles, with the AMP on top of that...looks great! Sounds fantastic. Great front controls. Much nicer than my ZP-120 (yeah, pre-Connect:Amp. See pic.


Hi DudeDad

Congrats on your new Sonos Amp!. Mine should arrive 11/30/18 via FedEx. Please forgive this next question...The unit looks a bit worn did you order a new unit or did you receive an approved proto-type? May be it's just the picture :?
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No forgiveness required! The plexiglass sheet between the amp and the selector was a bit dusty and I didn't notice it when I took the pic.....the unit is in mint shape...I tried airplay...I told my wife to go to a playlist on her iPhone, touch the airplay icon, choose "sunroom" and she was rocking...she said "I LOVE this feature"....and that makes it worth the price of admission! The ability to swipe left or right on the front to change songs is pretty cool if you happen to be near the amp and want to change songs. It was time to retire the ZP-120 (still in perfect shape and works fine).

Enjoy yours!
If you set the dialogue enhancement on when watching movies, does it stay on when you start streaming music (requiring you to toggle it each time)?

I think the sound setup that works for TV / Movie watching is different than what works for music. Not sure how well the Sonos amp will cope for dual duties to be honest.

I am planning to get a Sonos amp to use for music only (replacing an old Marantz at a spare room). I know a lot of people love trueplay but I have had trouble with it and I could never like it when playing music. No matter how many times I have tried (different iPhones /ipads), it always results in an aggressive sibilant sound. It is however perfect for TV / movie watching. A friend uses trueplay on a playbase and it works great for when watching movies / TV. Switch back to music, it was grating to my ears (sibilance) and I could not stand it. Unfortunately you could not set different audio profile for music vs movie watching.

It is early days but someone will soon share experiences I am sure.


Since Trueplay won't work with the AMP how do people plan to tune their 5.1 systems?
I've been used to receivers with tuning methods like microphones, Trueplay, and my two sets of stereo HomePods.
I understand you can still do dialog enhancement but I learned to turn that of when playing music with my Beam.
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Much nicer than my ZP-120
What's the build quality of the new AMP like compared with the ZP120?

Thanks for posting your impressions. In the UK we have to wait until February to get our hands on these.
Userlevel 2
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Much nicer than my ZP-120
What's the build quality of the new AMP like compared with the ZP120?

Thanks for posting your impressions. In the UK we have to wait until February to get our hands on these.


The ZP-120 is built like a tank...the Amp appears to be built as well...very solid and sleek. While not something I need, the ability to swipe left or right on the front of the unit for forward or back is pretty nifty. The additional power is very nice. It does make the ZP-120 and Connect AMP look a bit dated (not much, but a bit). It's worth the wait for February!
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The ZP-120 is built like a tank...the Amp appears to be built as well...very solid and sleek.
Thanks for the response. Sounds good.

While not something I need, the ability to swipe left or right on the front of the unit for forward or back is pretty nifty.!
For those that might not know, with the older devices including the ZP120, double-clicking the 'mute' button will move to the next track, triple-clicking will move back a track. Nothing like as nice as the swipe controls, but works fine.
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The ZP-120 is built like a tank...the Amp appears to be built as well...very solid and sleek.
Thanks for the response. Sounds good.

While not something I need, the ability to swipe left or right on the front of the unit for forward or back is pretty nifty.!
For those that might not know, with the older devices including the ZP120, double-clicking the 'mute' button will move to the next track, triple-clicking will move back a track. Nothing like as nice as the swipe controls, but works fine.


Thanks for that reminder!! While swiping is cool, I suspect that most of us spend 99% of our time away from the unit (and many have them hidden away). The AMP is driving my indoor and outdoor speakers very well (although it's been in the 30's here, so not much time with the outdoor speakers (for my friends across the pond, yes, we are still using Fahrenheit!).
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I'm getting the AMP in a few weeks.
Has anyone connected ti to a TV yet? I like to strem music from Pandora and Apple Music from my Apple TV and am wondering how it sounds with the AMP and two speakers.
I have a Beam and Sonos Sub in front right now and rears Sonos Ones. It's annoying that two channel music is also coming through the rear speakers and I don't know why Sonos can't fix that but I'd rather use the two front speakers than the rears for music.
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[For those that might not know, with the older devices including the ZP120, double-clicking the 'mute' button will move to the next track, triple-clicking will move back a track. Nothing like as nice as the swipe controls, but works fine.

Off the Amp topic a bit, does anyone have the URL for a page that gives the old style, ZP, Play 1, 3 and Gen 1 Play 5 buttons? I got asked about the functions the other day and realized I had no clue since my ZP and Gen1 5s are out of reach and the buttons never used. Couldn't get the FAQ search to give me anything either.
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Its in the users guides https://www.sonos.com/support/en/sonos-user-guide/index.html#t=sonos-user-guide%2Fplay1%2Fplay1.htm
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Play/Pause
Press once to play or pause music.
Press twice to skip to the next song (if applicable to the selected music source).
Press three times to skip to the previous song.
Press and hold to add the music playing in another room.
Note:You can’t skip forward or go back when listening to a radio station.
Userlevel 7
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The Sonos Amp sounds terrific - much better than the Beam in my opinion TV and music.

Also in general a major improvement over the Connect:Amp
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Its in the users guides https://www.sonos.com/support/en/sonos-user-guide/index.html#t=sonos-user-guide%2Fplay1%2Fplay1.htm

I read the Amp users guide which is a little different from this all in one where it says plays in stereo by default. But if I am playing from my Apple TV connected to the TV by HDMI and the Apple TV is set for 5.1 I think I'll still get some of the music out of my rear speakers as I do now with the Beam and sub in front.
Also not sure why you would play each speaker in mono?
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The Sonos Amp sounds terrific - much better than the Beam in my opinion TV and music.
Also in general a major improvement over the Connect:Amp


I'm looking forward to it. Will be buying it in a few weeks.
Since I can't true play now sure how I will tune everything though.
Bookshelf speakers and Sonos Sub in front and Sonos One rears.

Also not sure why you would play each speaker in mono?


If your zone isn't configure in a way that you can have a true stereo sound stage, some pay prefer to just have mono audio coming out of the speakers. For example, I could use the Amp with ceiling speakers, placing one in the entry hall, and one in the hallways near the bedrooms/garage. I would mono coming out the speakers, not left channel in one hall, right in the other.

I actually will use mine outside, and do have it configured in a way that I think I'd prefer stereo. However, I'll give mono a try.
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OK, interesting.
It sure seems like the AMP is drawing people who want it for outdoors speakers and multiple speakers.
I just want it for better stereo separation than a sound bar like Playbar and Beam. Plus I may use the RCA ports for a turntable.
Which brings to mind is anyone using it for TV and can comment on the "phantom center"?
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I don’t have rears setup with mine but I assume it will work exactly like beam and it treats all hdmi connected sound as surround sound. So even if stereo signal it does a little Dolby prolific type surround mix on.

The reason for setting up in mono is what I’m doing with my outdoor speakers. It is for when you don’t have a traditional stereo setup like speakers outside or say you have one amp runnjnbba speaker in your bathroom and a speaker in your bedroom. You don’t want the bathroom to be a right and the bedroom to be a left channel. You want them combined into mono signal to each speaker.
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Melvimbe beat me to it.
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It has good stereo separation even with hdmi sound
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It has good stereo separation even with hdmi sound

Awesome.:D
I got the sub recently and it has really improved everything and music more than I expected.