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Christoff
Contributor I
March 13, 2020
Answered

Amp faulting with 3 speakers connected

  • March 13, 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 633 views

Hi,

I have 3 speakers connect to my Sonos AMP;

(I forgot to add the single BluCube speaker is wired to both left + right channels of the amp.)

2 x Peavey WS-82T wall speakers: 150w max + 8ohms

1 x BluCube BCK80 ceiling speaker: 150w max + 8ohms

When i turn the volume up high the amp is faulting (slow flash orange and white).

The manual says the AMP can power 2 sets of speakers with 8ohms resistance, so any ideas what the problem is?

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    Best answer by

     Hello @Christoff. Welcome to the Community. Why @Stanley_4 brought up a fair point, I wanted to let you know that the Sonos Amp is not designed to have three speakers wired to it. This will most certainly cause an amp fault on the Amp. If you remove the third speaker, the amp fault should cease. We also do not recommend wiring speakers in serial connection, but instead through through a parallel connection.

    You can wire two speakers, or four speakers to your Amp. If you have Sonance architectural speakers, you can wire six speakers all together. Though that will only apply to the Sonos Amp, and not the Connect:Amp.

    7 replies

    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    March 13, 2020

    You have the BluCube BCK80 connected to both Amp channels? I just took a quick look and I’m not seeing it as a dual voice coil (stereo) speaker.

    What terminals do you have it hooked to? How many wires coming from it?

     

    ChristoffAuthor
    Contributor I
    March 13, 2020

    Thanks v much for the reply. Tbh I didn’t know there was such a thing to check on the speaker!?

    Anyways, I have just run cables from each channel out of the amp both to the speaker.

    (and cables from each output also to the pair of wall speakers) 

    so in summary there are 2 sets of cables connected to each output from the amp. 1 set to the wall speakers (2 off) and 1 set going to the single ceiling speaker (Blucube) 

     

    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    March 13, 2020

    Cross connecting the two channels is begging for a blown amplifier.

    Switch to a dual voice-coil stereo speaker or just hook it to one channel.

    Anonymous
    Answer
    March 13, 2020

     Hello @Christoff. Welcome to the Community. Why @Stanley_4 brought up a fair point, I wanted to let you know that the Sonos Amp is not designed to have three speakers wired to it. This will most certainly cause an amp fault on the Amp. If you remove the third speaker, the amp fault should cease. We also do not recommend wiring speakers in serial connection, but instead through through a parallel connection.

    You can wire two speakers, or four speakers to your Amp. If you have Sonance architectural speakers, you can wire six speakers all together. Though that will only apply to the Sonos Amp, and not the Connect:Amp.

    ChristoffAuthor
    Contributor I
    March 14, 2020

    Clearly I have no clue what I’m doing.

    thanks everybody for the advice, I’ll disconnect it ASAP.

    cheers

    Chris

     

    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    March 15, 2020

    Something like this dual coil / stereo speakerwould work if you can run a second speaker wire to the location.

    You can find a number of options of varying prices so something may work for you.

    https://smile.amazon.com/ACE840TT-Trimless-Ceiling-Titanium-Tweeters/dp/B012PSJJCE/ref=sr_1_5

    TTS74
    Lyricist III
    June 8, 2020

     

    You can wire two speakers, or four speakers to your Amp. If you have Sonance architectural speakers, you can wire six speakers all together. Though that will only apply to the Sonos Amp, and not the Connect:Amp.

     

    Sonos In-Ceiling Speaker by Sonance,

    Impedance (ohms) 8, Sensitivity (dB) 89

    VS

    B&W CCM663SR 2-way dual channel in-ceiling system

    Impedance Nominal 8Ω (4Ω) (per channel), Sensitivity SPL (2.83V, 1m) 89dB (both channels driven)

     

    Why only Sonance in-ceiling speakers are allowed three pairs+one Amp? Isn’t those 2 ohms also when three pairs together, or is there something else happening, what is different in Sonance? I have 3 pairs of those B&W:s and at the moment 2 pairs in one Sonos Amp and one pair in  Connect:Amp, but those are in the same space (no walls between, although different areas). Is this rule just making sure that at least Sonance is working like this or could some other speakers be connected like this also?

    English is not my native language, sorry about that

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