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Third Party Speakers

  • March 29, 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 272 views
J

Just moved into a new home that has a set of ceiling speakers and a set of outdoor speakers already in place.  I picked up a Sonos Amp with the hopes of tapping into those existing speakers.  I already have a Playbar and two Sonos Ones.  The specs on the outdoor speakers are Episode brand ES-AW-5, 4 ohm, 120 watt.  I don’t know what the ceiling speakers are at this time.  I’m not getting any sound out of either set, but it looks like the specs of the speakers don’t match up with what the AMP requires.  I just wanted to confirm that this is in fact the issue, and if so, does anyone have any ideas on any way to utilize these existing speakers within the Sonos environment somehow.

Thanks.

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5 replies

G

How many total speakers do you have outside? How many ceiling speakers?

If you want to connect more than one pair of speakers to the Amp, they need to be 8 ohm speakers. Try connecting just the outdoor speakers or just the ceiling speakers to the Amp.

FYI… an Amp acts as one zone, meaning all speakers wired to a single Amp will play the same content at the same volume.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
J
  • Jplabriola
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • March 29, 2021

Thank you for the response. There are 2 outside speakers and two ceiling speakers. I have connected only one pair at a time to the amp to test them. I did read in other responses about the way the 4 ohm speakers need to be connected.  I don’t really have a need to have them all connected simultaneously, so if I’m able to get them to work at all, I’ll probably just pick up a speaker switch box to control which ones are connected.  I’m really just trying to determine if the specs of the Episode speakers are inline with what the amp requires.  Is the 120 watts a problem?  

G

The wattage shouldn’t be a problem. Too much power is better than too little power.

And the Amp works with a pair of 4 ohm speakers:


Be sure you follow these instructions when connecting your speakers to the Amp and double check your connections:
https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4717?language=en_US

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
J
  • Jplabriola
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • March 30, 2021

Yeah… I followed those procedures properly from that link you sent.  The way I read that chart you sent, isn’t it saying that if they’re 4 ohm speakers that they need to be a minimum of 250 watts?  Not a maximum?  Since these Episode speakers are only 120 watts, is that not the problem then?  The Amp is requiring a higher wattage speaker than I have installed.  Unless I’m misunderstanding that chart completely.  What do you think?  Thanks

 

K
  • Kumar
  • March 30, 2021

Nothing of what has been discussed should result in NO sound from the speakers - is that what you are seeing? Check all the connections - first step if that is the case. Then make sure the amp is streaming music and volume levels are not at zero.

Also; there is no reason for those specs for the speakers not suiting the amp, if you wire just one pair at time.

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