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Contributor I
October 27, 2020
Answered

Sonos Amp with existing amplifier

  • October 27, 2020
  • 14 replies
  • 627 views

Hi

 

we purchased Sonos Amp and connected it to our existing amplifier that is connected to 7 in ceiling speakers each with a volume control slider on the wall.  It seems to work but we’re worried about having 2 amplifiers together.  
 

thanks

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Best answer by Kumar

You should be worried, power both down and disconnect them from each other immediately. 

Assuming what you want to do is have a Sonos front end interface to the 7 speakers, the correct Sonos solution is a Sonos Port, wired to the line in jacks on the amplifier.

Or, a cheaper solution to get streamed music play there is by similarly wiring an Echo unit. Either a Dot, or a Echo Show 5 if you also want to see album art for what you are listening to.

14 replies

KumarAnswer
October 27, 2020

You should be worried, power both down and disconnect them from each other immediately. 

Assuming what you want to do is have a Sonos front end interface to the 7 speakers, the correct Sonos solution is a Sonos Port, wired to the line in jacks on the amplifier.

Or, a cheaper solution to get streamed music play there is by similarly wiring an Echo unit. Either a Dot, or a Echo Show 5 if you also want to see album art for what you are listening to.

October 27, 2020

Agree with @Kumar .  Can't quite imagine how you have connected the two but it certainly doesn't sound a good idea.

ChasquadAuthor
Contributor I
October 27, 2020

Thanks for the information.  I’ve now disconnected the Sonos Amp from the Episodes amplifier.

So, now I have a Sonos Amp.  I could keep it and connect it to the one set of unamplified in-ceiling speakers that are not going through the Episodes amplifier.  I could then get a Sonos Port and connect that to the audio in RCA ports on the Episodes amplifier.  Is this all correct?

If so, the one in-ceiling unamplified speakers has a wire coming out of the wall with 4 wires in it (red, white, black and gray).  There are four places on back of the Sonos Amp where these wires could be connected.  2 ports labeled right and 2 ports labeled left.  Does it matter which wires go into each port, color-wise?  I’m assuming that all 4 wires need to be connected to the Sonos Amp from the speaker?

October 27, 2020

In which room is the one unamplified speaker that is not attached to the Episodes? Separate from the rest?

ChasquadAuthor
Contributor I
October 27, 2020

I think it is the master bedroom.  The Episodes amplifier can only do 6 speakers … so the 7th one is not hooked up to it.  When I tested it all out, the only speaker that did not play was the one in the master bedroom.

We bought the house recently and it came with the Episodes amplifier connected to the 6 speakers but it was not connected to anything to get a music signal.

I was wondering if I kept the one speaker (of my choosing) on the Sonos Amp and then the others on the Sonos Port (connected to the Episodes amplifier) then I would have 2 music zones?

October 27, 2020

The port is the correct Sonos front end for the Episodes. 

The sonos amp would work for the 7th speaker pair.

You would then have two music zones.

ChasquadAuthor
Contributor I
October 27, 2020

Nice!  Thank you!

One last question.  For that 7th speaker.  The set of wires coming out of the wall has 4 wires (black, red, white, and green).  The Sonos Amp has 2 sets of banana wire connections, one set labeled Right and the second set labeled Left.

Do you know where the 4 wires for the speakers should go on the Sonos Amp?

October 27, 2020

You also have the opportunity of wiring something cheaper like an echo dot to the episodes and doing a side by side comparison for features with the Sonos amp wired to the remaining speaker and see how they stack up as a basis for the next step of getting a Port.

October 27, 2020

I am struggling to get the answer to the 7th speaker wiring. All I can say for sure is the Sonos amp speaker terminals will be used. 

How the 6 speakers are wired to the volume control sliders should provide a logical answer because it would be the same logic.

ChasquadAuthor
Contributor I
October 27, 2020

I found this that might be worth trying:  http://wiki.gohts.com/tiki-index.php?page=Speaker+Wire+Color+Codes