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I have existing wired surround sound including a front center that is imbedded into my fireplace (5 speakers total plus wired sub). I have three Sonos amps to power all of them (and some outdoor speakers) using the ARC HDMI input as suggested/required. I don’t always love the way the voice can get a bit dampened and hard to hear due to the background noise or music with this set up. However, I LOVE when it plays music with this set up.

I have considered getting the Arc sound bar for better voice quality and because my TV mount has an empty place for it and looks funny without one. My questions are:

  1. Will all of this work together or will it be an either/or scenario?
  1. If it all will work together, is this going to be massive overkill or will it sound great? I am not so much worried about cost (spending $$ for the ARC beam, I mean), as I already have a lot invested and just want the best option. Because my wired speakers are imbedded and visible and great, I do not want to upgrade to wireless surround.
  1. Is the Sonos ARC completely wireless or will it be plugged into HDMI or OPTICAL audio cable? 
  1. If it has to be wired and the HDMI ARC is already taken by the amp, where do I plug in the Sonos ARC?
  1. If the SONOS ARC is entirely wireless, how do they all work together?

Thank you for your help!

1] No. Sonos doesn’t have a solution in which you can have a discrete center speaker. If you’re going to add an Arc to your situation, it will be the front left, front center, and front right speakers, plus the extra speakers if you supply it an Atmos system.

2] Judgement call, I’d say yes.

3] It must be wired with either an optical cable to the adapter, or use an HDMI ARC cable to the TV set.

4] Another ARC output on the TV. If it has one. This could be a reason to use the optical connection, but restricts you from getting an Atmos signal to the Arc.

5] moot question. 

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