Number of Speakers

 Only those speakers listed on the Sonos website are recommended for 3 pair use (6 speakers). Sonance designs a proprietary speaker for Sonos...hence Sonos Architectural Speakers by Sonance.

Sonance is an independent company that promotes their own (in-house) line of speaker. You can use up to 4 of the Sonance (in-house) brand speakers not specifically designed for Sonos that meet the Sonos Amp use parameters.

That makes sense. So basically I need to decide if I want the wall-mounted Sonos speakers where I can operate six or Sonance ceiling speakers that only operate 4. 

If I went with these, where would you recommend placing them and how many?

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/amp-and-outdoor-set.html

You can use 3 pair (6) of the speakers in the link. They are my preference as they can mounted on a wall to project the audio outward (with a slight down tilt) or from ceiling (with proper support) to project audio downward or outward. 

Recommended placement would be 2 on back wall (upper and lower deck) and 3rd speaker if desired  as previously shown. You may not require the 3rd speaker with back wall placement of two (upper and lower deck). If uncertain you can purchase 6 to try out the need for a 3rd speaker. Sonos has a 45 day return and most retailers 15 to 30 days. 

After further thought here’s what I was thinking.

1. For the upstairs I do 2 ceiling speakers in each section, so a total of four. (VPXT6R Sonance) I would do this in order to allow me to you use the ceiling speakers as TV speakers as well. Do you think not having a sound bar and using only the ceiling speakers as my TV sound would be odd?

2. For the downstairs speakers I use these. 

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/outdoor-speaker-pair.html

I would put 2 on the basement wall facing toward the pool and then 2 on the complete opposite side of the deck but facing toward the basement wall.   Pic attached.

I feel 4 of these wall mounted speakers could work by how the sound disperses/positions of speakers vs 3 or 4 of the ceiling mounted ones. 

Hi @coreyal80 

If you are wanting to use certain speakers for TV and others for music simultaneously depending on the level (upper or lower) you’ll need two Sonos amps. They can be grouped to play music on both levels. Grouping for TV audio is possible but may cause a 70mms delay for those speakers not nominally used for TV audio.

Sending TV audio to overhead speakers is OK as long as you are not wanting precise sounding dialogue  that is anchored to the screen. Such mounting can also have an adverse effect for action sound as well. Note: In-ceiling speakers for TV (home theater) sound is usually reserved for surround speaker use.

Typically in-wall speakers are used for TV audio on either side of the set (left and Right). Doing so creates a “phantom” center for dialogue to anchor it to the screen.

In any case you can not drive more than 6 Sonos Architectural speakers per Sonos Amp or 4 non-Sonos speakers per Sonos amp. However, given that you want dedicated speakers for TV on one level and speakers for generic use on the other level...you’ll have to purchase 2 Sonos amps.

Yes, with what I am trying to do I knew two would be required but wanted to avoid having to get three.  I see what you are saying about the TV sound coming from the ceiling speakers. I really think the best thing to do is to get a sound bar.

I attached a picture of the I-beam I’m talking about that separates the rooms. This is why I was thinking 4 total speakers upstairs.

Do you agree with the 4 speaker wall mounted set up I described for the downstairs?

Would you recommend I do 4 ceiling speakers upstairs or 2 wall mounted?

I sincerely appreciate all the time you have taken to answer my questions. This has been extremely helpful.

Hi @coreyal80 

A dedicated sound bar for the TV is a great idea. You might consider a Arc or Beam or discontinued Playbar or Playbase (if you can find one). The latter are still supported by Sonos with updates for at least 5 years. You can also add Sonos surrounds and a Sub. 

I think two Sonos outdoor Architectural speakers mounted along the rear wall of each level would be sufficient. You could use one Sonos Amp and install volume controls for each pair. If you want to add a 3rd speaker to each level you could as well. I’d just run the wires and terminate them with a plate cover to add them latter to see if the two rear mounted speakers on each level are sufficient. 

FYI, for volume control each pair along the rear walls would have a control. The 3rd speakers facing the outside would be on a separate volume control as a pair. All six speakers would run off a single Sonos Amp.

Note: A Sonos Sub used for a TV setup with a Arc, Beam, Playbar or Playbase cannot be easily re-routed to be used with the Sonos Amp. It could...but would require bonding to the TV soundbar / unbonding from the TV soundbar / bonding to the Sonos Amp / then repeating the process to re-bond to the TV soundbar...the process is very labor intensive.

I hope this answers all your questions. If not...come back 

Cheers!

Megan. So, if I understand you correctly you believe upstairs having a Sonos Arch outdoor wall-mounted unit in each back corner would be the optimal set up. With that being the case, do you not think the downstairs that is double the size should also have two additional speakers at the far end corners? My really bad drawing here shows you what I’m talking about. An X on each corner where I would put speakers. This space as mentioned is about 25 x 26.  As an FYI, the area outside of this is where my pool is going to be with about 2500 ft.². I plan to do the Sonos 8.2 speaker system there.

Also, a person at magnolia I am speaking with recommended that I purchase 

MAGO6SYSV2 which is $999.98.  This bundle includes 2 outdoor system speakers, a Sonos AMP, and 1 Keypad all in this bundle packaged together. Curious if you have a comment one way or another on those vs the Sonos outdoor speakers that has a bundle which is 2 speakers and Sonos amp for $1,448