Amp and Symfonisks to create surround.

Hi @jjb1975.

Welcome to the Sonos community and thanks for reaching out to us. Allow me to share with your some FAQs to help out.

Can I use the TV speakers as the front speakers, and the Symfonisks as the rear? No, As there would be no Sonos home theater speaker necessary to bond your Symfonisk as rears. Here is a guide on how to add surrounds using the Sonos app and the FAQ about surrounds sound guidelines and limitations. You would need the Sonos Amp to act as your main Sonos home theater speaker connected to your TV as discussed in this FAQ. 

Assuming the answer to the above is no, then I am going to have to buy new speakers for the front or back.  I’m a bit confused as to whether the best answer is to buy a beam for the front, or buy two passive speakers.  Any recommendations for good, simple, low-cost solution gratefully received. Nope, Since you already mentioned that you have the Sonos Amp, You can still use the Sonos Amp as your TV main home theater speaker and add the 2 Symfonisk speakers as surrounds while having your Sonos Amp as the Line-in for your turntable as discussed thoroughly on this guide. The only catch to that is you would not be able to do both listening to your turntable and watching TV is you are using the Amp as your Sonos home theater speaker. 

I hope this helps.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I’ll be more than happy to help.

Thanks,

Thanks Paul, 

I’ve had a look at the links you sent but the info wasn’t too clear.

Can I simply ask; assuming I am using the Amp, two symfonisks, and then one or two additional speakers to be purchased (either a beam, or two speakers), what is my best option to create a surround sound system?

Just to be clear - I think the issue is that I want rear speakers as well as front speakers - not just the two symfonisks connected to the Amp as front speakers.

The nub of my question is what is the best way to do this - still using the Amp, but without having to buy another Amp.

Hi @jjb1975.

Thanks for your immediate response. 

assuming I am using the Amp, two symfonisks, and then one or two additional speakers to be purchased (either a beam, or two speakers), what is my best option to create a surround sound system? That would be the Sonos Beam. The Sonos Beam alone is already at 3.0 home theater system acting as your front left, front center, and front right. Add 2 Symfonisks speaker as surrounds makes it 5.0. Add a Sub makes it 5.1 surrounds.

I think the issue is that I want rear speakers as well as front speakers - not just the two symfonisks connected to the Amp as front speakers. The Sonos home theater speaker is currently at a maximum set up or 5.1 using the Sonos Beam. Any additional Sonos speakers you add to the set up using the group feature on the Sonos App is possible however it has a delay which means the audio might not be pleasing to your ears as the grouped speaker is delayed in audio compared to the Sonos speaker connected directly to the TV.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I’ll be more than happy to help.

Thanks,

Thanks Paul.  Could I instead use the Amp to power two front ‘passive’ speakers (wired), and the two symfonisks wirelessly as rear speakers?

The Sonos Amp’s primary feature is powering 2 3rd party passive speakers.  It sounds like you aren’t using it with passive speakers right now, and this is the part you’re missing.  If you do that, then the two speakers wired to the Amp will be your front left and right speakers (with phantom center channel),  You can then setup the ikea speakers as surround speakers.

If you get a Beam, then it would basically be replacing what the Amp is doing in the setup above, for a home theatre setup.  You don’t need it really, and you would not be able to add separate front speakers if you got a Beam since those channels are built into the Beam.

What option is ‘best’?  The really depends on what you’re particular needs are.  The cheapest, and still a good option, would be to just get two good passive speakers.

I think our posts crossed - and please see @melvimbe ‘s response too

The Arc is of course an alternative to the Beam.

Great, thanks very much John and Danny.  The slight curveball is because I also want to plug my turntable in - which means I would rather keep the Amp rather than just get a Beam (which would make things simpler in many ways).  As you say, it sounds like I should wire two front passive speakers, and then power the syfonisks wirelessly as rears.  This means I can keep the Amp, plug in my turntable, and it also sounds like the cheapest option.

Yes that makes perfect sense.

It is up to you, but in the past I picked up all my traditional HiFi gear newish second hand, or ex-demo reconditioned.  You can save quite a bit of money...or get much better gear for your budget, whichever way you want to look at it.  Maybe I was lucky, but never had a problem.

Agreed.  Not to overcomplicate things, but the Port and Sonos 5 also have aux inputs for your turntable.  So you could return your amp and get a Port and Beam, for example.  That  could be cheaper overall, when you factor in the cost of passive speakers (if that’s over $200), or if you prefer a soundbar to speaker wires, want to put the turntable in a different room, etc.  The Five is a good option if you want a Sonos speaker for another room.

Yes, I think I’ll be drifting over to Ebay now - thanks v much John.

Yes, thanks Danny - that’s also a good option - and would probably sound better.  Something for me to mull over.