Hi Community, interesting thread, I am however looking to embark on the Sonos journey and what I am looking at is similar to the OP. I have a Smart TV running all things Kodi, Spotify and live TV with PVR capabilities and an Xbox One console. What I am looking to do is introduce an AV receiver which will allow me to feed all the above into and then compliment them with a Sonos 5.1 Home Theatre bundle. I would like to position the playbar under my TV, then 2 Play 3 speakers around the room and if possible 2 smaller Play 1 speakers for additional surround sound. I have not decided on any specific brand receiver, but I need something that works well sound wise, is not too heavy on the wallet and allows for expansion, ideally it will have all the wireless connectivity such as DLNA, Bluetooth, airplay (a bonus)



Can someone advise if this is possible and any recommendations for the receiver and what I would need?



Thanks again



Mark

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I would like to position the playbar under my TV, then 2 Play 3 speakers around the room and if possible 2 smaller Play 1 speakers for additional surround sound

Not possible. Only one pair of speakers (and a SUB) can be bonded with the PLAYBAR, as surrounds.



In theory you could set up an additional pair as a separate 'room' and group them with the PLAYBAR, but they wouldn't play in sync for TV sound.

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Hi Ratty, thanks for the reply, I have had similar experience with an Azatom soundbar and air speakers in multi-room, it would only play in airplay mode and when I added more speakers it started to get jitters, so if I just went with the playbar, sub and single pair of speakers, would I be able to add any surround speakers to a receiver to extend the surround capability?

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if I just went with the playbar, sub and single pair of speakers, would I be able to add any surround speakers to a receiver to extend the surround capability?

No. You can't use a non-Sonos receiver in conjunction with a PLAYBAR like that. However you connected it, there'd be a time offset of some magnitude which would ruin the experience.

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Understood, thanks Ratty.... so I think for my scenario then, I would be better off just getting a receiver and a decent set of surround speakers and lay some cables to the speakers around the room and not bother with the Sonos bundle? unless of course I could output the sound from TV and the Xbox one to the Sonos?



Thanks

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IMO a receiver and PLAYBAR don't really make sensible bedfellows. You can't play through them both at the same time, for reasons already stated, and to front-end the PLAYBAR with an AVR and simply use it for source switching is rather a waste.



If you're looking for home theatre beyond the basic capabilities of the Sonos soundbar/sub/surrounds I'd suggest you look at a conventional AVR, supplemented with a CONNECT.

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Ok, so if I am hearing you correct, conventional receiver with surround speakers positioned around the room to give me the spatial sound, then a sonos connect... what would or could I use the connect for?

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You have 2 options with the audio - As they are all Video inputs they will plug to the TV so many TVs will pass DD5.1 through the optical out and as long as you make sure the input is 5.1 you will be fine.



Me, I plug my PVR, sat box, Xbox One into an HDMI switch that splits the audio and video - My TV doesn't pass 5.1



That works well

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The connect will allow you to play Sonos music on the 5.1 receiver system and will allow TV sound from that system to be fed to other sonos units around your house.

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Well, I'm assuming that you like the Sonos concept, of multi-room, multi-source, multi-controller network audio. A CONNECT enables you to 'Sonos-ify' conventional equipment, providing digital (optical/coax) and analog outputs. http://www.sonos.com/shop/connect.html

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Thanks everyone for your replies, given me a lot to think about.... All I am looking for is decent sound around my living room from my TV and Xbox One for movies and music and have the ability to play music from a tablet or mobile into that setup... I don't want to add anything that will just be a waste for sure, I get by right now with just a soundbar connected via HDMI and that connects to a wireless sub as they are the same make and paired, it works quite well and I can stream music to the soundbar and my TV which outputs to the soundbar and the sub and sounds pretty good, I would just like to extend the surround capabilities around my living room.

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You don't need Sonos then, many av receivers have Bluetooth or DLNA these days.

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Hi All - I have read through this thread and have found it useful; however, I am not sure I quite understand how this flows.

My previous set up was a TV + Denon Receiver and 5 speaker Surround Sound. I used the typical inputs into the receiver of cable box and DVD player and the single HDMI connect to the TV from the receiver. I just moved into a new place and have begun investing in Sonos around the house.

My new set up for the lounge is getting rid of the 5 wired speakers. I have installed two high end speakers in the ceiling and have my subwoofer that will go along with it. My goal here is to understand how installing a CONNECT will work with the new set up for speakers. These two speakers and the subwoofer will by my audio for all things in this room (Sonos Streaming and TV audio output).

I've failed to find examples of how users have installed the CONNECT to work with their legacy wired speaker system.

1. What cables connect the CONNECT to the Receiver - how does the CONNECT talk to the Receiver to input the Audio? Is it the RED/WHITE Audio IN?

2. Does the Receiver need to be on a particular input selection to play SONOS streaming instead of TV? Or is the output Audio automatic as long as the receiver is powered ON?



Thank you!

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@NewUser4251. For question 1, you are correct. the red/white RCA cables are what you will use. The audio out on the CONNECT will go to the audio in for one of the inputs on your receiver. You also can connect by coax or optical cables if your receiver can handle it. You'll have to consult the owner's manual of your receiver to answer that question. For question 2, yes, you will need to set your receiver to whatever input you connected the CONNECT to. Unless your receiver has some sort of audio sensing tech that automatically sense what inputs are receiving a signal.



So to sum it up, wants you have your sonos connected, if you want to play music from sonos in the room your receiver is in, you will need to use the sonos app to select music for the room, then turn your receiver input to whatever sonos CONNECT is connected to.



You could also have the sonos CONNECT be in between your tv and receiver, but this is unlikely to give you the best sound quality available since CONNECT can only input rca cables, limiting your entire system to RCA quality...if that makes sense. Your receiver, TV, and other devices can likely do HDMI, coax, or optical...better quality.

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