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Question

Before I Buy Port to Go with Older Receiver

I have an existing Sonos system with a Beam (Gen 1) and two separate Play:1 speakers.

I have 3 old receivers. I would like to integrate any 2 of them with 2 Ports in 2 independent stereo systems with wired speakers. There appears to be no way to add an attachment of PDF spec sheets here. Receivers are:

2002 Harman Kardon HK 3375 stereo-definitely has tape in/out

2002 Denon AVR-3802 7-channel-think has tape in/out

2010 Onkyo TX-NR708 7-channel-don’t think has tape in/out but not sure

From another thread @smghifiguy said:

“Yes, a Sonos Port will plug into ANY receiver (just like a CD player will).  However, without “Works With Sonos” means that in order to adjust volume for that Room, you either mess with 2 volume controls (receiver and app) or “fix” the volume on the Sonos and only use the receiver volume.”

Can I also fix the volume on the receiver and adjust volume from the Android app? I can live with that? 

I see in some other threads an issue with latency delays in some receivers. Would that apply to any of my listed receivers? Any other items I need to be concerned with before buying 2 Ports? Thanks.

 

11 replies

B
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Forgot to mention:

I will use one Port/receiver for Sonos streaming only and the other for Sonos streaming & CD player.

BIC
buzz

There is always at least a 75ms delay between a SONOS Line-In and audio output from the SONOS system. This can be very annoying if you are attempting video lip sync. If the playback rooms are physically separated such that you cannot hear other rooms. The 75 ms is not usually significant. If you Group SONOS rooms playing music, all of the Grouped rooms will be time aligned with each other.

I’m not familiar with the receivers that you mentioned. Yes, there can be Volume Control wars. One usually establishes a handy output level for each receiver, then uses the SONOS Volume control.

Note that some A/V receivers introduce additional latency of their own.

Any line level receiver input is appropriate, don’t use Phono. A Tape Out would allow you to connect the receiver’s analog inputs to PORT, but remember the 75ms latency introduced by Line-In.

Bumper

You can fix your receiver volume and adjust the volume with the Sonos app. But There is currently a very bad bug affecting volume control that some users are experiencing so this may be an issue if you experience it. hopefully it is fixed within say the next 6 months to a year (🤣estimate based on how quickly they are dealing with issues now. 

If you have sound delays you can usually remedy this through the receiver’s direct or pure sound feature. Pretty sure all 3 of yours have this  

buzz

Controlling receiver power ON/OFF might be tedious.

B
Badge

Lip sync would not be an issue as this is for music only.

Hmm. Sounds like I may be better off with the (unfortunately more expensive) Sonos Amp for one or both situations and ditch the receiver idea.

Room 1: Basement rec room with 4 JBL wired ceiling speakers. A mono setup is fine. Would also like to use 6-CD player but could probably just live with Sonos streaming. I assume I can hook 2 speakers to the Right & 2 speakers to the Left AMP output.

Room 2: Master bedroom with 2 in-wall wired JBL speakers. Stereo setup. Sonos streaming only.

The basement would have easy access to the electronics for turning on/off. The bedroom would have the electronics remotely in the next room, so on/off receiver would be a pain.

 

BIC
buzz

Your CD player would be welcome in PORT’s Line-In and can play through any combination of SONOS units.

PORT offers a “12V trigger” that can be used to inform connected units that PORT is playing something.  Unfortunately, receivers do not usually respond to a 12V trigger. As a DIY project you could use an external device to switch power to the receiver in response to the 12V trigger. Before embarking on such a project, first verify that the receiver will power-up and select an appropriate input after simply being connected to power. Don’t assume that the receiver will do this by default — some will, some will not.

Bumper

The basement would have easy access to the electronics for turning on/off. The bedroom would have the electronics remotely in the next room, so on/off receiver would be a pain.

 

You don’t need to buy an amp for this. I own one and it’s awesome but it’s late in it’s product cycle and way to expensive for what it is IMO. WiiM amp is way better value if the music service and other features meet your needs IMO. 

To turn off your receivers you could use smart plugs. 

B
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@Bumper 

Yes, the WiiM Amp appears to be a new and superior product overall for less than half the price of the Sonos Amp. Thanks for that tip.

Hypothetically, if they were about the same price, which way would you go?

One edge for the Sonos is 125 wpc vs 60 wpc for the WiiM Amp. Presumably, I can double up the speaker wires of 4 speakers to the stereo speaker outputs. Is that correct? Will the power difference really matter for casual listening? Thanks.

 

BIC
G
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

@Bumper

Yes, the WiiM Amp appears to be a new and superior product overall for less than half the price of the Sonos Amp. Thanks for that tip.

Hypothetically, if they were about the same price, which way would you go?

One edge for the Sonos is 125 wpc vs 60 wpc for the WiiM Amp. Presumably, I can double up the speaker wires of 4 speakers to the stereo speaker outputs. Is that correct? Will the power difference really matter for casual listening? Thanks.

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, watts are measured using a logarithmic scale which means that 125 is not actually that much louder that 60.

Much more important is the distortion figures because only guitarists want an amp that distorts 🤣

G
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Should have added that when plugging multiple speakers into a single outlet it is impedance that matters. Most modern amps can handle variable impedances but this will also impact the distortion figures. Also note that if the speakers are not the same impedance and/or efficiency the level of sound from each will be different.

buzz

At the risk of stating the obvious, watts are measured using a logarithmic scale which means that 125 is not actually that much louder that 60.

🤣

At the risk of being pedantic, the power in watts is linear, it’s the human response to sound pressure level is somewhat logarithmic. 120w is twice as much energy as 60w, but the human does not claim “twice” as loud. For many listeners, depending on the material playing, the difference in loudness is barely perceptible.

Certainly, if you give a 60w amplifier a 120w job, the 60w device will grossly distort and the human is sensitive to this.

We have been conditioned to equate distorted with “loud”. To many listeners a 60w amplifier attempting to execute a 90w job will sound louder than a 120w amplifier executing the same job.

In my college apartment we could run at levels that made verbal communication very difficult, but the sound was clean. We’d have guests yell (hands cupped around their mouth) in our ear, “Turn it up”, because it did not seem “loud” yet. That same crew of listeners in another apartment, playing a cheap compact system, pushed well beyond the gross distortion level, was accepted as “loud”. Conversation was easy.

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