Home Theatre Setup

  • 16 January 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 48 views

Trying to layout speakers for home theatre in new construction. Need to know how everything connects.
I have never used Sonos. I’m old school AV receiver setup so trying to get my head around this

This is what I was told for a 7.1 setup.

Sonos soundbar connects to HDMI/ARC on tv.

Will have 6 architectural speakers. Two in front, two on sides and two in rear. These will connect to Sonos Amp which will connect to Soundbar. 

I will have 1 Sonos subwoofer which will also connect to Soundbar.

Questions I have.

  1. Is it ok to place Sonos Amp in a utility room and it will be able to communicate via network (wired) to Soundbar?
  2. How will the Amp know what the 6 speakers are? Meaning Front left/right, Side left/right, Rear left/right? Only 4 plugs on back of amp.
  3. Will sub connect to soundbar via wifi or do I need to connect to Amp thru Sub port?

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3 replies

Userlevel 7

You can only add two surround speakers to a Sonos home theater setup. So you will only be able to use the two architectural speakers in the rear as surrounds.

The sound bar alone already includes the center, front left, and front right channels, so you cannot add any more front speakers to this setup.

The Amp and subwoofer will communicate wirelessly with the sound bar via the sound bar’s private 5GHz radio. So ideally the Amp and subwoofer should be in the same room as the sound bar for the most reliable connection.

FYI, speaker wire has both a positive and negative connection to each speaker.  You see 4 connection ports on the back of the amp, meaning you can connect just 2 speakers, left and right.

Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Make that “connect two channels, left and right” as multiple speakers per channel are supported. Two non-Sonos or three Sonos speakers per channel are supported BUT all connected to the Left terminals will play the same audio, as will all the ones hooked to the right. In mono-mode both channels play the same audio so there is no left/right issue.

Multiple speakers per channel usually makes for poor sound localization in stereo or multi-channel but is a good thing for multi-speaker mono-mode for background sound.