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Contributor I
January 6, 2013

Please make a sonos multi zone amp!

  • January 6, 2013
  • 64 replies
  • 6886 views
I really like my sonos equipment. However, my whole house was wired for speakers in every room (ceiling, walls, patio) with the wiring centralized in a wiring closet/built in audio rack. Instead of purchasing a separate zone amp for every room/speaker pair, I would much rather buy one or two multi zone amps from Sonos. Any chance there is a multi zone amp on the horizon? Please, please, please!!!!
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    64 replies

    December 31, 2016
    If they limit themselves to the "Play" product line going forward..... but I also don't see it going anywhere with a product line consisting only of powered speakers.

    I doubt that they'll get rid of the Connect and Connect:AMP variants at the moment, just don't see that providing anything more specialist would be cost-effective.
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 31, 2016
    I think I've found what I'm looking for, Control4. It will do everything I want to do and I don't have to buy all the individual Sonos amps. Plus it works with all the other media, lights, security, and internet of things.

    Just need their 8 zone amp and controller, interfaces with Sonos as well

    https://www.control4.com
    jgatie
    December 31, 2016
    Be careful. There are some problems with the Control4 and the new Sonos home integration API.

    https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/control4-integration-with-sonos-70-6762342
    Trending Lyricist I
    January 1, 2017
    Be careful. There are some problems with the Control4 and the new Sonos home integration API.

    https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/control4-integration-with-sonos-70-6762342


    https://www.control4.com/press_releases/2016/08/30/control4-partners-with-sonos-in-their-first-ever-endorsed-partner-integration-program

    i suspect it will get worked out. Control4 is an endorsed partner
    January 1, 2017
    I don't think a connected home strategy requires a multi-zone zone player product but I also don't see it going anywhere with a product line consisting only of powered speakers.
    Is the former not a function of the control application and not of the nature of the speakers? If so, play units are fully capable of delivering on a connected home strategy?
    January 1, 2017

    Is the former not a function of the control application and not of the nature of the speakers? If so, play units are fully capable of delivering on a connected home strategy?


    In a word no. There is more to connected home integration than simple interoperability through an API as the current fail with Control4 is demonstrating. Most advanced integrations using Sonos depend heavily on the Connect and Connect Amp to utilize I/O ports, special speaker situations and so on. There aren't many truly connected homes that are at the same time so simplistic that a few powered speakers are all they need for sound.

    If the Sonos definition of "connected home" is simply to let some third party hardware or software provide basic transport control and start playback from a limited list of favorites (as apparently Control4 integration has been reduced to) then I'm afraid they don't really understand what consumers are looking for in this space.
    Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever
    Lyricist I
    April 8, 2017
    So... We are all looking for a Sonos version of the HEOS Drive. Why is this not a thing yet?
    Chris
    Lead Maestro
    April 8, 2017
    Seems a redundant device and more expensive then individual units.
    Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
    Lyricist I
    April 8, 2017
    The bottom of this page has a great summary of why the Drive would be used instead of multiple Amps:
    http://www.audioholics.com/amplifier-reviews/denon-heos-drive-preview
    jgatie
    April 9, 2017
    So, $2499 for 4 zones instead of $2000 for 4 zones? Kind of goes against the theme in this thread about not wanting to pay for individual Connect:Amps when combining them would be less expensive.