Hello, I would like to connect the speakers of my Denon AVR home cinema system to my Sonos system via a Sonos Connect.
When I connect my Sonos Connect to my amp, in analog, I can't get my speakers to work. Do you know what the ideal connection is?
Many thanks in advance!
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Can you explain what you mean exactly by
“When I connect my Sonos Connect to my amp, in analog, I can't get my speakers to work.”
Did you connect the Connect to an “in” on the receiver? Not also to an “out”? Do you want sound from the amplifier to the Sonos system?
Thank you very much for the quick answer. And very sorry for my poor knowledge of the audio connections : I am a true beginner : we bought a house with a sonos system and I am still learning how it works.
Regarding the connexion to the Denon AMP, the Sonos Connect is plugged to the “in” “Phono” in the receiver. However, although the music plays, the sound is very bad. Is there a better way to connect the Sonos Connect to the AMP ?
I attach a picture of the system as it is. The Sonos Connect Cables are the white and red ones under the Network Cable.
SONOS has picked unfortunate names for some of its products. “Amp” is a generic term used in the industry that refers to a “box” that can be connected to speakers. “AMP” is also the product name for a SONOS unit that can be connected to speakers. Finally, some slang will also equate “Amp” to the “amplifier” function within your DENON A/V Receiver and this “Amp” connects to your speakers.
With respect to your SONOS CONNECT, It’s “Line-Out” can be connected to any input on your DENON except “Phono”. Only raw turntables can be connected to Phono. I mention “raw” because some turntables contain a preamplifier and these turntables are not appropriate for the Phono input.
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To get sound from Sonos sources to the Denon you should connect the “out” on the Connect to an “in” on the Denon. in your picture I see an “in” labelled “CD” that could be used. If you want to get sound from the Denon to the Connect you need to connect the “in” on the Connect to an “out” on the Denon. in your picture I do not directly see an obvious connection that could be used. What’s Denon do you use?
Thanks again for taking the time. My intention is to use the Denon as a receiver to play music from my Sonos Connect.
I tried to plug the Line OUT for my Sonos Connect to the Line IN labeled CD of the Denon, and even though I select the right channel (CD), I cannot hear any sound.
I show you the Sonos Connect plugs, in any case.
The receiver is a Denon AVR X4400H.
Many thanks again !!
Have you tried optical connection from Connect to Amp?
Not yet. I am ordering an optic cable right no and will try this tomorrow. I will keep you posted !
To get sound from Sonos sources to the Denon you should connect the “out” on the Connect to an “in” on the Denon. in your picture I see an “in” labelled “CD” that could be used. If you want to get sound from the Denon to the Connect you need to connect the “in” on the Connect to an “out” on the Denon. in your picture I do not directly see an obvious connection that could be used. What’s Denon do you use?
In general, even if there is an analog output (perhaps Tape Out), we cannot assume that a DAC will be available for receiver analog line outputs. Some models have an extra DAC, some do not. This results in audio from HDMI inputs not being passed through to an analog output. I’m not certain how TOSLINK outputs are handled if there is no extra DAC.
On this DENON the Zone2 analog output could be sent to the CONNECT. Operationally, this might be frustrating for guests.
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That’s if you would want sound from digital sources to the Connect, yes. Analogue sources (radio or turntable) should be fine.
So you get (awful) sound when playing Spotify or such to the phono connection on the Denon, but no sound when the Connect is connected to the CD connection? What’s the source level set to in the Connect’s settings?
That’s if you would want sound from digital sources to the Connect, yes. Analogue sources (radio or turntable) should be fine.
So you get (awful) sound when playing Spotify or such to the phono connection on the Denon, but no sound when the Connect is connected to the CD connection? What’s the source level set to in the Connect’s settings?
Excactly.
Here is a screen of the Sonos Connect config.
Unfortunately it’s not a very helpful screenshot as it shows the (disconnected) line-in settings, rather than the Connects line-out.
You first need to play an audio source to the Connect ‘room’ using the Sonos App (eg.Tune-In radio or Spotify etc.) Ensure you can see it actually playing in the Sonos App (now playing screen) - check/raise its volume level to approx. 50% and then go to your Denon Amp and select the CD input, as your playing source. Also turn up the Denon’s volume level and then see if you hear anything playing.
Sorry about that.
So I played a song from the Sonos App, put the volume to 50%, selected the right channel on my Denon, turned the volume up, even to the maximum but nothing happened.
The Denon and the speakers usually work as my TV and Apple TV, linked to the Denon with HDMI all work good.
I will try the connexion through optic tomorrow and let you know !
Thanks again for your time !
Try switching the Sonos Connect line-out level between ‘variable’ and ‘fixed’ and see if that solves the issue.
Note do not have the Denon volume-level set too high initially as the Sonos ‘fixed’ volume level is 100% and do not want to blast out the audio and perhaps make you jump… so increase the Denon volume from a low level - you could maybe also go onto try one of your other Denon audio inputs aswell. (DVD etc.)
I note too
Also, make sure that the RCA plugs are fully seated in CONNECT’s jacks. Sometimes more force is required than expected and the plugs are not inserted far enough to make contact.
Hi
You've gotten great advice thus far. Just going to add my voice and hope it doesn’t confuse you 🙂
These are the basic connections (in layman speak) for the Sonos Connect of which there are two Options.
Option 1
The Sonos Connect can SEND audio selected via the Sonos app via a streaming service or music downloaded to your device in the following manner:
Option 2
The Sonos Connect can RECEIVE audio selected from a source on your Denon (such as a Turntable, Radio station, CD or Tape deck) in the following manner:
The aforementioned connections can be setup simultaneously to allow you the flexibility to choose how you want to listen to audio using the Sonos Connect.
The link below will guide you through setting up your Sonos Connect
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/set-up-your-sonos-connect
This link will guide you through steps to get audio from a Denon source component discussed in Option 2 above. NOTE: The article refers to the Sonos Port that replaced the Sonos Connect; however the steps are the same. The article makes mention of that fact as well.
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/play-line-in-on-your-sonos-port
Good morning,
Many thanks again for your interest and help !
To answer to
Unfortunately I have tried to connect the Sonos to every audio inputs of the Denon, but it only works on the Phono one (with a very bad quality audio). I have also tried to connect it through an optical audio cable, but the result is the same : no audio.
I don’t know if the problem comes from the Sonos Connect (maybe the audio compression ?) or from the Denon…
Good morning,
Many thanks again for your interest and help !
To answer to
Unfortunately I have tried to connect the Sonos to every audio inputs of the Denon, but it only works on the Phono one (with a very bad quality audio). I have also tried to connect it through an optical audio cable, but the result is the same : no audio.
I don’t know if the problem comes from the Sonos Connect (maybe the audio compression ?) or from the Denon…
I would maybe try playing a different device to the inputs on you Denon Receiver, an MP3 player or mobile phone etc; and see if those play when you select the correct input - at least that may help you to narrow things down a bit more.
Poor audio quality from Phono confirms that there is output from CONNECT. Only a turntable (without a preamp) will sound correct as the input for Phono.
Some receivers provide options to reassign analog inputs, perhaps allowing the input to pair with a video input. While I don’t know why all analog inputs would be reassigned, this would be something to check in the receiver setup. Testing this hypothesis is tricky because it is common to ignore audio assigned to a video input unless video is actually present.
Always check for silly things, such as CONNECT being muted or at minimum Volume and that the RCA plugs are fully seated.
Hello !
Thanks to your comments I managed to solve the problem with a reset of the parameters of the Denon ampli. The analogical entries input were not activated.
Many thanks for the help !
Hi. I have a 3600h Denon receiver and am running into the same problem with some Sonos Connects I inherited. What did you actually do to the amp to get sound? I’ve tried the optical and RCA analog outs.
Also can you set up an output from the Denon to the Connect and run that sound to other connects on the same system? That would be great.
For most purposes you can use the CONNECT as if it is a cassette deck. CONNECT’s Line-Out should go to a line level input on the DENON and a DENON line level output can be connected to CONNECT’s Line-In.
Since the DENON is an AVR unit, there could be “assignment” issues with its line level inputs. What I mean by this is that you may need to specifically configure analog input jack xyz to play when a particular input is selected via the DENON remote or front panel.
With respect to DENON’s line level output, there may not be an cassette deck appropriate output. You may need to use a Zone2 output and this will have it’s own Volume control and input selector. Some models have a “Party” mode that will always mirror whatever is playing on the main zone -- however, beware of that Zone2 Volume control. There may be a “fixed” output mode for Zone2 which skips the Volume control.
Finally, it is possible that digital input sources to the DENON will not be converted to analog and therefore will not play through CONNECT. As a quick test select the DENON Tuner input because this will always be analog.
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Your Denon manual should have the exact details for setting up the internal Denon switching configuration to meet your needs.
Just pick the input you are using on the back of the Denon and configure it to be connected to the device name you want it to be found as.
I used the Tape in/out on my Denon many years ago but using the CD port also works if you just want sound to flow from the Connect to the Denon.
The best advise I can give you is to reset the assignments and to make sure, in the menu displayed on your screen from the Denon controller, that the correct audio output is assigned.
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