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Sonos Amp and existing amp

M
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Hi,

Have tried to find an answer to this online, but maybe I’m not using the right search terms. Anyway…

I have a Sonos Amp, with a turntable as Line In (powered by a phono amp). It works fine, but I miss the true vinyl sound. 

So I was thinking - I have my previous amp still. Can I set up a system so that I can play CD and Turntable through the old amp as previously, but connect the Sonos Amp to aux (?) in that amp to stream music to the system. 

Many thanks in advance for your help!

 

Mark

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Best answer by melvimbe 20 March 2024, 17:24

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20 replies

Ken_Griffiths

Yes, a line-level analog audio output from any such product (like your 3rd-party Amp) can be connected to the Sonos Amp’s RCA line-in to play on the Sonos Amp speakers and/or other grouped Sonos rooms.

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AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi

Out of curiosity…what Sonos speakers are you using currently to hear your vinyl? Also, if I read your post correctly you want to stream Sonos music TO your previous amp through the speakers wired to it. Isn’t that correct?

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
K

I miss the true vinyl sound. 

 

How is that different from what you are hearing now, what is the benchmark for the quoted? Assuming that there is such and what you are hearing is audibly not up to that benchmark, the kind of tinkering you are outlining isn’t going to get you any nearer to it, assuming that what you are getting is not the true vinyl sound.

But if that is indeed the case, the areas to address are on the turntable/preamp side, or on the speakers that the Sonos Amp is wired to. The Sonos Amp in itself is transparent enough to not be concerned about what it is doing in the system.

M
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Apologies, I think I’ve maybe explained this badly. I’m not using Sonos speakers, I’m talking about adding a Sonos amp to a traditional hifi set up to stream music through to my Mission speakers. I guess if I was starting from scratch I’d just buy a Port to add to the system to enable streaming, but I already have a Sonos Amp. 

M
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Thanks for the reply Kumar, especially regarding the Sonos Amp’s transparency. I’m sure I can hear the lack of warmth via the Sonos Amp, but that might just be me and 40 years of listening to an analog source. 

M
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Hi

Out of curiosity…what Sonos speakers are you using currently to hear your vinyl? Also, if I read your post correctly you want to stream Sonos music TO your previous amp through the speakers wired to it. Isn’t that correct?

Yes, that’s correct. 

melvimbe

Hi

Out of curiosity…what Sonos speakers are you using currently to hear your vinyl? Also, if I read your post correctly you want to stream Sonos music TO your previous amp through the speakers wired to it. Isn’t that correct?

Yes, that’s correct. 

You can’t do that with a Sonos amp or any of the other Sonos productions with an aux input.  You would need to use a Sonos Port, as that is the only product that can output Sonos audio to a 3rd party audio system.

Danny
M
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Hi

Out of curiosity…what Sonos speakers are you using currently to hear your vinyl? Also, if I read your post correctly you want to stream Sonos music TO your previous amp through the speakers wired to it. Isn’t that correct?

Yes, that’s correct. 

You can’t do that with a Sonos amp or any of the other Sonos productions with an aux input.  You would need to use a Sonos Port, as that is the only product that can output Sonos audio to a 3rd party audio system.

Ah, I see. That’s a shame. I assumed that I’d be able to add it to an existing system (that’s what the guy in the hihi shop told me). Many thanks for your help here. 

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

@Markc553

To clear things up…I’m a bit long in the tooth 😂 I say that because back in the day stereo amps had a pair of extra RCA ports that could used to connect a device of choice. That port was often labeled as AUX. 

So… to your question you could purchase a Sonos Port and run RCA’s from its line-out to your Amp’s AUX port to stream music via Sonos.

In fact I still have an old Panasonic (vintage 1975) with an AUX Port. When tape decks were envogue often times people would have one connected to Tape In and Tape Out ports for recording and another deck connected to the AUX port just for playback.

Of course all I have said hinges upon if the AUX port on your amp is just an unassigned selectable input.

Note: The Aux port still exists. However people today know it as CD” input 😂

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
K

Thanks for the reply Kumar, especially regarding the Sonos Amp’s transparency. I’m sure I can hear the lack of warmth via the Sonos Amp, but that might just be me and 40 years of listening to an analog source. 

Fair enough, I have only about three decades of experience of using many high quality stereo amps with various sources. I am sure that you do realise that what you are suggesting is that your two amplifiers sound different from each other given the same source and driving the same speakers, which means that at least one of them does not meet the criteria defined decades ago for quality amps being a straight wire with gain, by adding or taking away nothing that is audible to/from the source signal.

K

As a footnote Mark: All I have said applies to known brand solid state amps that have never been found to have a sound signature if operating within design limits, in an objective blind test. It is possible that your amp uses valves and offers a subtle level of distortion that can appear to be warmth, leading to a subjective preference for what is mild distortion. If you are sure that you are in this boat there is a way to wire the speaker terminals of the Sonos amp to the line in jacks of your amp, by interposing an inexpensive voltage attenuator between the Sonos speaker terminals and line level inputs.

Your other concern, in theory, could be that the ADC to DAC that happens to the sound signal inside the Sonos amp removes the warmth. No one has been able to show that it does so in a blind test, so if that is happening in your situation, it might be worth ensuring that this isn’t a subjective thing perceived from pyschoacoustic outcomes.

M
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Thanks for the reply Kumar, especially regarding the Sonos Amp’s transparency. I’m sure I can hear the lack of warmth via the Sonos Amp, but that might just be me and 40 years of listening to an analog source. 

Fair enough, I have only about three decades of experience of using many high quality stereo amps with various sources. I am sure that you do realise that what you are suggesting is that your two amplifiers sound different from each other given the same source and driving the same speakers, which means that at least one of them does not meet the criteria defined decades ago for quality amps being a straight wire with gain, by adding or taking away nothing that is audible to/from the source signal.

Apologies - the 40 years point wasn’t to try and demonstrate some kind of expertise or experience (or sound snarky), just that my ear might be tuned in a certain way after so long (I’m no hi-fi expert!). I felt that converting the analog vinyl sound to digital loses something, and I wondered whether there was a solution in which I could have both. As you say though, it might be (probably is) a psychoacoustic outcome. So I might just keep it as it is. My next thought is how to get both a CD player and record player going through the Sonos amp!

K

My next thought is how to get both a CD player and record player going through the Sonos amp!

You need a thingy where both sources are plugged into the input ends that are switchable to select what is sent to the output end of said thingy, the end that is wired to the Sonos amp. 

PS: HiFi experts still claim, minus any objective evidence, that what you think happens in digital conversion, happens. So you are in august company there.

M
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My next thought is how to get both a CD player and record player going through the Sonos amp!

You need a thingy where both sources are plugged into the input ends that are switchable to select what is sent to the output end of said thingy, the end that is wired to the Sonos amp. 

Yes, that’s exactly what I thought. Literally looking online right now to find a suitable component!

K

On Amazon India. You should get something similar in your country and it should be cheap as well because all are now made in one country!

https://www.amazon.in/Microware-Multi-Box-Converter-Switcher-Selector/dp/B0974K8RP3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1RAUZZU4SG0GF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GxAUDSFM_EJhZUfTSsQXOmmghBVRsYG3r8UCcl8Xta0PaitnQ6JbX2EiK9DfdVd-CO-yMwl9B3iRK96o6uDUDmaJagzq8wt59mbtT0KFvVzPiBULCnpCEOIQsWfCxaYwhg5LVG0W_NXl9ThdpqZobBp37i2QlQqFVvaWMGm_DKzoB3LlyIxcPqLraYiSXkGW6d4uATEFQvlOZF_tWMUk3t1aSBeXMAAmFHd341EWLrw.4jHE6R912dn-uxONodGeCOEkdWdaabE5wXg3O2ofUWg&dib_tag=se&keywords=rca%2Bswitcher%2B2%2Binput%2B1%2Boutput&qid=1711012437&sprefix=RCA%2Binput%2Bswit%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-4&th=1

M
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On Amazon India. You should get something similar in your country and it should be cheap as well because all are now made in one country!

https://www.amazon.in/Microware-Multi-Box-Converter-Switcher-Selector/dp/B0974K8RP3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1RAUZZU4SG0GF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GxAUDSFM_EJhZUfTSsQXOmmghBVRsYG3r8UCcl8Xta0PaitnQ6JbX2EiK9DfdVd-CO-yMwl9B3iRK96o6uDUDmaJagzq8wt59mbtT0KFvVzPiBULCnpCEOIQsWfCxaYwhg5LVG0W_NXl9ThdpqZobBp37i2QlQqFVvaWMGm_DKzoB3LlyIxcPqLraYiSXkGW6d4uATEFQvlOZF_tWMUk3t1aSBeXMAAmFHd341EWLrw.4jHE6R912dn-uxONodGeCOEkdWdaabE5wXg3O2ofUWg&dib_tag=se&keywords=rca%2Bswitcher%2B2%2Binput%2B1%2Boutput&qid=1711012437&sprefix=RCA%2Binput%2Bswit%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-4&th=1

Thanks great - really appreciate your help. 

K

Sure; and just out of curiosity, what make and model is the other amp?

M
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Sure; and just out of curiosity, what make and model is the other amp?

It’s a Denon 900. Although I’m now thinking about selling the Sonos Amp and buying a Mission 778X to solve the whole problem in one box. 

K

What problem will it solve other than not needing the cheap thingy that the Sonos Amp needs because it has just one pair of line in jacks? Sonos Amp is almost twice the power delivery, so if your speakers can handle Sonos Amp, why go a step down on power? Finally, how will you integrate - assuming you wish to - Sonos into Mission?

I would go a different direction, that just needs a used Echo Show 5/8. Used, because the latest versions don’t have a line out jack. Wire said Show to a line on the Denon, and the turntable to another such. You can now get album art for what you play via Spotify on the Show, with sound quality as good as what your present speakers can deliver via the Denon. 

The Denon probably has a third pair of line level jacks to which a CDP may be connected, and there is still no need for the cheap switch.

The Sonos amp then becomes surplus and you cannot hear the music in that zone on any other Sonos speaker, but that would be the case with the proposed new buy as well?

Of course you could wire TT/CDP/Show to Sonos Amp as well, via the 3 into 1 switch. That makes the Denon surplus.

K

As a general comment: the built in streaming implementation from boxes like Denon/Mission etc tends to be a lot less slick than that by specialist folks like Amazon/Sonos. The thing to do is wire the front ends from the latter and bypass the built in streaming. That then begs the question as to why pay for that clunky feature in the first place.

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