Best Options for my layout please.

  • 17 November 2018
  • 6 replies
  • 556 views

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Hi all, I've recently finished having my home refurbished and now time has turned to updating the sound...
Each bathroom and hall way i've wall level cables ready for sonos ONE's. Additionally I'll add a Sonos ONE to my bedroom. So thats four Sonos ONE's required.

Next though and the biggest dilemma I have is in the open plan living room.
The room is 9.4m x 7m so its a pretty big space. Its also a minimalist space and I'd like as far as possible to keep it this way.

I have a record player on a unit under the TV and this needs to be connected to the new Sonos system. I read the best way is to use a PLAY:5 as this will allow me to use headphones? The headphones need to be able to run wireless, so potentially I'm wrong and a connect or connect:amp would be best for this?

Now i don't mind dropping the money on a PLAY:5 and adding 2 more PLAY ONES for rear surround whilst watching movies but does this work or is it only the PLAYBars that can effectively give surround? If so how do i add the vinyl and wireless headphone play back in to the mix? The last thing i want is both a PLAY5, two PLAY:ONES and a PLAY:BAR all in the same room? Although the more i read the more it seems Sonos has engineered this to be necessary if you want both surround sound and hi-fidelity ?

So i guess the question is can a PLAY:5 and two PLAY:ONES work as a surround experience?

On a side note: Going with the minimalist approach i'd like to dump my current 7.1 Marantz amp and cable TV. And literally have the record player, wireless headphones, PS4, TV and Sonos speakers.

Uploaded a few photos showing the room in question. (Note TV will be replaced at the same time with a wall mounted larger TV in the same location).

Potentially I'd add a third PLAY:ONE in the kitchen.

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6 replies

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So I'm thinking the 2 rear PLAY:ONEs would be positioned one either on the kitchen counter or on a stand behind the the sofa on the back wall, and the other placed on the small black nestle tables you can just see on the right handside of the first photo.

Play:5 or PLAYBar in the position the existing TV central speak is at.

I've a open mind to the solution, so really just want the forum opinion on what my setup should really be for that room to play (including voice control) TV, Vinyl, PS4 and wireless headphones.

Many thanks as i appreciate people must ask the same question daily.
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Play 5 Gen 1 has a headphone output, Gen 2 doesn't. None of the Play units work well with direct TV audio.

There is no Play One, only Play 1 and Sonos One, very different abilities.

If you need audio outputs the Connect supports that, headphones will work off the RCA output but for high volumes a headphone amp may be needed. You can connect a Bluetooth transmitter to the Connect but there may be a delay in the headphone output.

For your setup you might want to look at the Sonos Amp (coming soon) for the front as it will work with the TV and record player. Use your own choice of front speakers and Play 1s at the rear. No headphone option though.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/amp.html
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Thanks and sorry that was my mistake I meant Sonos One’s.

The Sonos Amp I hadn’t heard about so also thanks. Although am I right in assume my current reciever plus a connect would do the same job with far more connection options than the Sonos Amp?

One photo should three Sonos amps stacked, as if the more you want to connect the more expensive Sonos amps you buy?

It sounds like I’ll need a connect to enable use of the record player and the head phones. Am I right in thinking the PS4 would connect straight in to the playbar. But wouldn’t work with the play:5 direct?

It seems I should maybe think about the connect, two rear play ones. And then keep my front three speakers? Or rather my front two stereo speakers and introduce the playbar for surround? The rears won’t work as surround without the playbar? Or would they if via my reciever? Would be mighty cheaper if I just need a connect plus to rear ones ?
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Also if I had Sonos one rears but the front three speakers connected to my reciever and a Sonos connect. Would voice activation work? Ie could I ask Sonos to play spotify and it’s play from all speakers if my reciever was on?
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I can't answer a lot of your questions but for the ones I can...

If your receiver has a TV input that doesn't introduce lag then yes it and the new Sonos Amp do pretty much the same job. The Sonos Amp has the phantom center channel in surround mode and will work with other Sonos speakers for a 3.1 or 5.1 system, your receiver won't work with Sonos speakers.

You can stack or better in my opinion set the Sonos Amps side by side to get the number of channels of amplification you want. Same if you get a Connect and external amp, you can buy more channels to meet your needs. You won't get surround sound out of the Connect though.

PS4 and Playbar I don't know but if you feed it to a Play or Connect there will be a delay in the output sound.

I'd think a Play Bar/Base or Beam for the front, two Play 1s for the rears and a Sub would be a good setup.

If you have really nice speakers looking at the Sonos Amp in surround mode might be worth doing but I have no info on doing that past the posts here and on the Sonos.com site.