Any gotcha's with using Amp in 4.0 system?

  • 21 July 2022
  • 3 replies
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HI all. I’me looking to move away from my Yamaha AV receiver which i use to power 2 towers and 2 bookshelf surrounds.

I’m thinking of getting an amp to power the fronts, and either a second amp to power the surrounds or 2 * one’s.

Looking for input from anyone that has done this and experienced any gotcha moments.

Thanks.

 


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3 replies

Userlevel 7
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Hi @Darren.Hastings 

Thanks for your post!

At home, I have an Amp and 2x Play:1 as my surround system. No issues at all with it, and a second Amp powering the rears would work just as well. You could, however, keep the following in mind:

  • If you use 2x Amps, they should ideally be kept 1m apart, at least. Only the front Amp needs to be connected to the TV, so this shouldn’t be a problem. 
  • Using Sonos speakers as rears, and third-party speakers connected to the Amp, I do notice a slight difference in frequency response - though perhaps only because I know there must be one. If your rear bookshelf speakers are the same brand as the front speakers, and if this kind of thing is a concern to you, perhaps 2x Amps would give a more balanced sound reproduction. Personally, I don’t think it’s much of an issue, but I don’t really use my Amp for music.
  • If you want to add a Sub at a later date, this won’t be a problem for either setup. Sub is always wireless.
  • Choosing to go with 2x Ones adds the ability to have a voice assistant - Alexa, Sonos Voice Control, Alexa + SVC, or Google Assistant. Amp will respond to Voice Assistants, but cannot host one.
  • You can save some money by buying 1x One and 1x One SL - the SL stands for SpeechLess (kind of) and it has no microphones. Or save even more by getting 2x SLs if you’re not interested in Voice Assistants.
  • Your Yamaha AV receiver undoubtedly takes audio from sources connected to it and passes the picture to the TV. Amp doesn’t work like this - it connects to the HDMI-ARC port on your TV, and source devices connect to the TV. This is something to consider when moving over. My TV only has 2 HDMI ports, with one being used by the Amp, so I had to get a HDMI switch to connect more than one source device - but it works without issue. Just make sure to connect the Amp directly to the TV if you go down this route, as switches likely won’t handle ARC.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate. I hope this helps.

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Many thanks Corey.

One Amp would be at the front of the room, and the other at the rear feeding the 2 surround speakers if I go down that path.

I’m not quite sure I understand your comment regarding frequency response? Does this mean there is a slight sound output delay? Or are you referring the frequency range available? My towers and surrounds are different brands and different sizes, so have different frequency ranges.

Voice assistance would be nice but not essential. I have enough trouble getting SVC to do what I want on my Beam2. Not sure I want the hassle in another room :)

THe only accessory I have is an Apple TV. It plugs into my TV and i then run thorugh eARC to the Yamaha. So any new install would follow the same path - Apple TV to TV, then to Sonos. I am thinking of ditching the ATV as the TV apps on my LG C1 give what I want - Youtube, Apple movies, Netflix, Spotify.

Out of interest what speakers does your Amp feed? I have Epos Epic 5 at fronts and Difinitive Technologies D7 as surrounds.

 Thanks again.

Userlevel 7
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Hi @Darren.Hastings 

I’m not quite sure I understand your comment regarding frequency response? Does this mean there is a slight sound output delay? Or are you referring the frequency range available? My towers and surrounds are different brands and different sizes, so have different frequency ranges.

I just meant that compared to the rather aging Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers I have connected, the Play:1s at the back of my room sound just a little, um, richer. It’s not in any way annoying, and could be a different story if I were to pump up the volume somewhat.

Voice assistance would be nice but not essential. I have enough trouble getting SVC to do what I want on my Beam2. Not sure I want the hassle in another room :)

This will be improving.

THe only accessory I have is an Apple TV. It plugs into my TV and i then run thorugh eARC to the Yamaha. So any new install would follow the same path - Apple TV to TV, then to Sonos. I am thinking of ditching the ATV as the TV apps on my LG C1 give what I want - Youtube, Apple movies, Netflix, Spotify.

There shouldn’t be any problem with either. The settings on your TV and ATV can make significant changes to what you end up hearing, however.

Out of interest what speakers does your Amp feed? I have Epos Epic 5 at fronts and Difinitive Technologies D7 as surrounds.

At least, I think they’re called M2s. 25 years old, or thereabouts. Sound good to me though.