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brucemac
Enthusiast II
June 10, 2019

Sonos Amp right for me?

  • June 10, 2019
  • 12 replies
  • 2286 views
Outdoor renovation underway. Purchased Polk Atrium 6 speakers (8-Ohm). Hooked them up indoors to test and while they sound quite nice, pretty sure I’m going to buy the Atrium Sub100 to fill in some low end.

Original plans were to simply run the stereo pair off Denon X3500H AVR zone 2 speaker terminals, but now that I’m adding the Polk passive outdoor sub, it complicates things a bit. The sub has a dual voice coil and (2) pair of speaker posts (2 for each voice coil) each requiring its own channel, a L&R at 8-Ohm. It also has a passive internal 150Hz crossover.

Since this sub is passive and requires two pair of conductors, would the Sonos Amp work for me for all 3 speakers if I simply wired in parallel to the Sonos Amp binding posts?

Amy guess on wattage to each of the speakers in this 4-Ohm config?

Looking for some guidance/advice here please. If this is not possible or recommended, please feel free to suggest other options. Adding other Sonos speaker components is obviously not an option given this is outdoors.

Thanks in advance!
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12 replies

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brucemacAuthor
Enthusiast II
June 11, 2019
Thanks Kumar,

Just shot you a note back. I’m buying the Sonos Amp and Polk Sub tomorrow. Anxious to test. Sub is a couple weeks out, but I can test the stereo pair off the Amp at 8-Ohm later this week since I’ve already got the speakers.

Will hold off off on the speaker selector with volume control for now, but a good idea and something I can look at if there’s a terrible mismatch while wired in parallel.

Will definitely report back!

Thanks again!
brucemacAuthor
Enthusiast II
June 13, 2019
Update:

I bought the Sonos Amp, the Polk Sub100 as well as the Polk SWA500 amplifier. Already own a pair of the Polk Atrium 6 speakers. This will provide crossover and gain control for the sub and allow me to dial it in at lower volumes with the Atrium 6's.

Based on my research, I can't imagine a better setup for my specific outdoor application and use case. I guess we'll see soon!

I do have a couple of follow up questions though related to the Amp in this application.

Utilizing the LFE out on the AMP to the SWA500, will I be provided a choice within the Sonos App to run the Atrium 6's at either "Large" (full range) or "Small" (high pass), or does the amp automatically apply a high pass active crossover point to the amplified stereo signal? Do I have a choice?

Also, are there independent EQ settings within the Sonos app for both the stereo pair AND the subwoofer? In other words, if I slide the bass level down within the app, does that impact the signal to all channels including the subwoofer or just the stereo pair? Little confused here without actually having it hooked up yet and seeing the GUI.

Lastly, which connection would be best considering I am currently using a Connect with my Denon AVR, phono pre-amp and turntable? I'm guessing option 1, but looking for best practice.

  1. Denon Zone 2 pre-out to Sonos Amp?
  2. Denon pre-out to Sonos Amp?
Thank you and please advise.
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