Who pre-ordered the new Sonos AMP and what are your plans for it?

Hi Shepdog

That’s great that you are enjoying Sonos and congratulations on getting the Sonos Amp!

However, in reading your post you indicated that you are using a projector. Getting sound from your projector to your current amp is probably straight forward…either HDMI or coaxial out. Or...Maybe you feed the sound from the source straight to your amp and video straight to the projector.

With the Sonos Amp you'll be limited to HDMI_ARC (generally used with a compatible TV) or with the optional optical adapter available through Sonos. If forced to use coaxial or HDMI out from your projector you’ll also have to invest in a Coaxial/HDMI to Optical Converter. The same may be true if you are splitting sound and video from the source component to the projector and Sonos Amp. That means you’ll have a box in between your projector/source component and the Sonos Amp. Point being you may experience a bit of sound degradation to the Sonos Amp caused by the intermediary converter. Maybe?

Now, all I’ve said may be a moot point if you are considering another way to get DD4.1 to the Sonos Amp. Then again your projector/source component may have an HDMI_ARC port…if so…sweet! 😉 I’d be interested to know your solution. Pictures by all means:8

Cheers!

Hi Shepdog

That’s great that you are enjoying Sonos and congratulations on getting the Sonos Amp!

However, in reading your post you indicated that you are using a projector. Getting sound from your projector to your current amp is probably straight forward…either HDMI or coaxial out. Or...Maybe you feed the sound from the source straight to your amp and video straight to the projector.

With the Sonos Amp you'll be limited to HDMI_ARC (generally used with a compatible TV) or with the optional optical adapter available through Sonos. If forced to use coaxial or HDMI out from your projector you’ll also have to invest in a Coaxial/HDMI to Optical Converter. The same may be true if you are splitting sound and video from the source component to the projector and Sonos Amp. That means you’ll have a box in between your projector/source component and the Sonos Amp. Point being you may experience a bit of sound degradation to the Sonos Amp caused by the intermediary converter. Maybe?

Now, all I’ve said may be a moot point if you are considering another way to get DD4.1 to the Sonos Amp. Then again your projector/source component may have an HDMI_ARC port…if so…sweet! 😉 I’d be interested to know your solution. Pictures by all means:8

Cheers!

My amp has not arrived yet. It will probably arrive Monday.

My current setup does not have a HDMI ARC setup on my receiver or the projector. I also have a LG 60” plasma that we use when not using the projector which of course does not have a ARC. I will use the optical adapter for audio.

The projector is a Epson 5040u
The plasma is a LG-60PK950
I use a Atlona AT UHD EX 70 2PS 4K/UHD HDMI over HDBaseT Tx/Rx kit to connect HDMI to the projector. This has worked great. The Epson accepts 4K material and sending it over cat has eliminated dropouts.
I use a E-SDS 1X2 HDMI splitter4k*2k/60HZ HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2 to send a signal to plasma
I use a YAMAHA RX-A840 receiver basically as a preamp and provide power to the surrounds and I have a Emotiva XP3 to power my Thiels

As you can see I already have a few boxes. I see no dedication in sound or audio. In the bedroom I have a brand new LG 65” with a ARC connection connected to a Sonos beam, sub and (2) play 1’s. It sounds and looks great and I’m very happy with it but when the ball is kicked off on Saturdays and Sundays we are all in the living room watching the projector. Really no comparison

I’m more worried about the amp having sufficient headroom to power the Thiels than any audio degradation from the optical converter cable. The Thiel 1.6 can get into the 3 and 2 ohm range which is a challenge for a lot of amplifiers

I

@Shepdog

Looks like you've got the connection thing taken care of. Kudo's! As far the Sonos Amp handling your speakers I'd say that an occasional dip into the forbidden 3 and 2 ohm range may not be an issue. Any sustained load in that area may have dire consequences. To be sure I'd contact Sonos. Not that this would occur but damaging the Sonos Amp due to improper use beyond specified parameters might void the warranty and compromise your return options. Just food for thought.

Cheers!

Interesting. Why do you still have the Beam?

One more reason...The Beam provides Alexa voice to allow me to control the Sonos Amp.

Can they, or could they be enhanced to, run in a pair, one for left channel, one for right? I have some speakers that need a lot of power to perform well and using them as monoblocks could be interesting.

@Shepdog

Looks like you've got the connection thing taken care of. Kudo's! As far the Sonos Amp handling your speakers I'd say that an occasional dip into the forbidden 3 and 2 ohm range may not be an issue. Any sustained load in that area may have dire consequences. To be sure I'd contact Sonos. Not that this would occur but damaging the Sonos Amp due to improper use beyond specified parameters might void the warranty and compromise your return options. Just food for thought.

Cheers!

Good points. Thank you for the advice.

As for the connections, I bought my stuff before ARC was official. I didn’t want to try and sell my gear and get new stuff. Fortunately once it was all hooked up we’ve been happy

Interesting. Why do you still have the Beam?
I prefer my music closer to what was intended with 2 speakers up front and sub. Therefore, the Sonos Amp was purchased for the tower speakers and large sub you see in the picture. I have a similar setup in my main media room using All Sonos for HT and Play 5 x 2 (up front) with sub for music. That is where the Pro-Ject Debut TT will be used via line in to a Play 5.
Never could quite get with the program/idea of using surrounds set to Full for music with them being positioned behind the listening position. I'm just finicky about using a Sonos HT setup for my music. I might add that I'm blessed to be able to indulge that quirk :8
Cheers!
Definitely agree with that. If you can turn off the rears easily with the amp it wouldn’t be necessary though.
I’ve gone to using 3rd gen dots for living room and bedroom Sonos just so I don’t have to worry about what works with Alexa and what doesn’t and the voice response seems faster with the dots too.

Just going to preorder

Ordered the Sonos Amp on 12/9, it's currently backordered but supposed to ship Friday 12/14. Keeping my fingers crossed. I plan to use the Amp to power four in-ceiling Polk Audio RC80i's in my outdoor pavilion. The four RC80i's will be setup as left/right pairs. The Amp will be connected via HDMI to a TV in the pavilion and serve as the primary TV audio. But will likely be used more often as a standalone zone for streaming music. I have two Connect Amps powering two different sets of Polk Audio Atrium 5's in our backyard and would have went with the Connect Amp for the pavilion if it supported HDMI in. The Connect Amp and Atrium 5's sound great at low volumes which is what I often use when sitting in the spa.

Digital trends review.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gadget-reviews/sonos-amp-review/