How to connect ceiling speaker to my existing Sonos system?
Hi All,
Big Sonos fan here and we have them all over our condo.
That said, the condo we bought had an ‘in-ceiling’ speaker installed with an ethernet wire going to the AV closet. I remember from when we were viewing the condo, that the old owners had a Sonos Connect in there, which I’m guessing they used to connect to the ‘in-ceiling’ speaker.
What we are trying to figure out is how to connect the ‘in-ceiling’ speaker to our current Sonos app/system. I’m not sure if still need a Sonos Connect to do this, or if there is a simpler way now? Our existing Sonos products are all wifi (Arc,Sub,Moves).
I’m also unable to tell if the actual in-ceiling speaker is a Sonos product or not. I see grills for in-ceiling speakers being sold on Sonos that look the same, but I can’t find any other images of what we have (see pictures below).
Any help with the simplest and easiest way to get this speaker onto our existing Sonos network is appreciated and cheers!
Phil
Page 1 / 1
A Connect will not power speakers, a Connect-Amp will so that may be what you saw. The current Sonos for that purchase is the Amp.
The amp will power six Sonos speakers, usually four of other brands without impedance matching speaker controllers.
You could use a Port, the current replacement for the Connect and an external multi-zone amplifier that might give you more control over the multiple speakers you have.
Found a picture of the old setup. Looks like:
Sonos Connect
Sonos Boost
Mystery black box on top of the Connect
Not sure if that mystery box is a small amp, an ethernet switch, or something else.
You can take a look for yourself but going by the vent holes in the top of that Sonos I’d be hard to convince that it isn’t a Connect Amp, not a Connect. A Connect will barely drive a set of headphones, for speakers it requires an external amplifier and I don’t see one in that stack.
If you use the same setup you’d actually not need the Boost if you wired thre Connect Amp to Ethernet but if you did want to use one they should be three feet from each other or any WiFi device to prevent interference.
Thanks Stanley, and that makes sense re/ the Sonos Connect Amp. Didn’t even realize that was a thing. Guess I’ll have to figure out if it’s worth bothering or not after I take a closer look this weekend. Cheers!
The new Sonos Amp is a lot nicer than the old ZonePlayer Amp or the Connect Amp so don’t rule it out.
A Port (the Connect replacement) is sweet too, adding a multi-zone amplifier to it adds flexibility and the possibility of more speakers / power.
Ignore the Denon that isn’t what you are looking for.
I suspect that your ceiling speaker is a single point stereo speaker. While there is only one hole, it connects to the system as a stereo speaker. If this is the case, there will be two sets of speaker wires that will be connected as left and right.
You can use a flashlight cell to probe this. At the instant the cell is connected to a speaker, the speaker will “pop”. Likely there are four wires. Once you hear a “pop”, you’ve identified a channel and the other two wires would be the other channel. Now we need to determine which wire is plus for each set of wires. You may need an assistant for for this. By convention, when the plus terminal of the battery is connected to the plus terminal of the speaker, the woofer will jump out. It is important that the plus terminal of each amplifier channel be connected to the plus terminal of the corresponding speaker connection. There will be virtually no bass if you reverse one connection.
Found a picture of the old setup. Looks like:
Sonos Connect
Sonos Boost
Mystery black box on top of the Connect
Not sure if that mystery box is a small amp, an ethernet switch, or something else.
FYI, if you didn’t know already, the small white box on the top shelf is a lutron caseta hub, which likely means you have some lutron smart light switches in the condo as well. They look like the image below. Hopefully the previous owner left the switches installed as well as the hub. If they left the switches but took the hub, it’s definitely worth buying your own hub. The switches are very reliable and the caseta app can be used to control your Sonos system as well, which is great for coordinate lights and music to turn on/off at the same time, on demand or on a schedule.
The new Sonos Amp is a lot nicer than the old ZonePlayer Amp or the Connect Amp so don’t rule it out.
A Port (the Connect replacement) is sweet too, adding a multi-zone amplifier to it adds flexibility and the possibility of more speakers / power.
Ignore the Denon that isn’t what you are looking for.
Stanley,
You seem pretty versed in all things Sonos, so perhaps you can guide me a bit further. So far, I’ve established that the speaker in the ceiling is wired but not powered, so I essentially need a way of powering it and connecting it to my Sonos S2 app.
That said, the simple solution is to get a Sonos Amp … but I can’t justify the price of 899 Canadian for the new Amp. At the same time, I see that the old amps don’t support the S2 app, which I use with everything.
Which brings me to my question … is there a solution I’m not thinking of that gets my ceiling speaker powered and connected to the Sonos app, without spending 899?
Thx in advance! Phil
Take care if purchasing the older CONNECT:AMP. The original version is not compatible with S2. Units manufactured in 2015 or beyond are compatible with S2. The first four characters of the serial number string shown on the unit’s bottom label give the date.
As Buzz said, the proper used Connect Amp might be the solution.
Used S2 Connect Amps look to be selling in the $200 range.
