Hi @thatmatt, thank you for reaching out and welcome to the community.
The main purpose of the Sonos Port is to integrate 3rd-party audio systems to the Sonos system with an RCA connection or digital coaxial output.
So as long as the Port can connect to a receiver either through it’s RCA out, RCA in, or digital coaxial output, it should work.
For the comparison between the Port and Sonos Connect, they both fulfill the same role as mediators for 3rd-party audio systems with the Port having updated hardware and new features.
More information here.
Hopefully, some of the community can give you their hands-on experience.
If you have other concerns and questions, feel free to reach out.
Hi:
Thanks for any insight.
I am looking to upgrade my receiver.
I am looking for confirmation on what the difference might be for a “Works with Sonos” certification for something like an ONKYO vs. a receiver that doesn’t have that distinction i.e. a Denon …
If I purchase along with a new Sonos port, will both systems be able to join my existing Sonos network? Is the difference that I would be able to power on and control the volume of the Onkyo receiver via the Sonos app and with a Denon, I would need to power on and control volume outside of the Sonos app? Thanks for any help with anyones experience with Sonos port and or those who have a receiver that includes the “works with Sonos” distinction. Also, is the port way better than Sonos connect or will both do a similar job.
Yeah the works with Sonos feature is supposed to initiate the receiver to turn on and select the appropriate input on the receiver when you select the port in the sonos app.
Initially there were lots of reports of issues, it not working as designed. But maybe it's better.
What continues to give me pause is most of the documentation and images relating to the works with Sonos is the Connect. If they haven't bothered to update this a long time after port is released to me it is sending the message the works with Sonos program isn't a big priority (imo)
Onkyo and Pioneer are taking this seriously and there are significant advantages to using Works with Sonos equipment.
As noted, Pioneer and Onkyo receivers will automatically fire up and start playing from the right input when you start playing to the via the Sonos app.
Earlier this year, they also rolled out a significant upgrade, which allows the Sonos app to fully control the volume of the receiver which was in fact the last remaining piece of the puzzle to make the receiver fully work as a Sonos-player.
Note that not all receivers were included in that last update. Take a look here:
https://hometheaterreview.com/onkyo-and-pioneer-add-new-sonos-functionality-to-select-avrs/
If you use a receiver which doesn’t support Works with Sonos, you will need to manually (outside the Sonos app):
- Turn on the receiver
- Switch to the right input
- Control the volume some receivers will allow you to fix the volume on an input at a certain level, which will allow you to adjust volume via the Sonos app from that base point - but the Sonos app will not have control of the full volume spectrum of the receiver).
Any updates on this topic? I have a TX-NR686 (which did not get the volume control update) and in it’s current state it will turn on and set the input correctly but the volume control is locked on the Onkyo, so the only option I have that works is to set the Sonos to “variable” output and set what I think is a high volume level on the Onkyo in the 70 level. Will older Onkyo models get an update? Or can I set the volume to fixed and just control volume on the Onkyo (which I can’t do today) like a regular component? It’s like magic when this works and then hair-pulling when the integration is not working.
