Can Connect Amp power rear surround speakers with Sonos Arc?

As far as I am aware it can. The same requirements for wired connections apply as with the Playbar..

You will need to be on S2  and so your Connect:Amp will have to be S2 compatible. 

I am currently utilizing the S2 app and the surround sound has actually gotten better since updating.

@watersheddog I hope you find the Arc does what you need. I’m curious about yours at reply — that you’re using S2 and things are good. My Connect Amp recently stopped working as surrounds with S2 after an app update. I can’t find any way to get it to connect now. Have you noticed any changes in your system recently and if so how did you fix them? 

Whatever the cause, it won't have been an app update. Have you tried just rebooting router and Sonos?

@John B Why would you say it wasn’t an app update? The system was working one day and the next it was not. The app interface changed and the Sonos website said they had put out a new version of the app around the same time my system developed a problem. I’m almost entirely certain it’s because of an app update.

For the record, I have rebooted my router and my Sonos system, I’ve tried reconfiguring my wired connections, and I’ve spoken to Sonos support. I’m now hoping to find other users who have a similar problem.

My reasons are:

1. The app is just a remote control
2. When there has been an update people always blame the update, and it hardly ever is the update
3. If it were generic, there would already be dozens of posts about it.

I could, of course, be wrong and I wish you luck in finding a resolution.

@John B I hope you’re right. Unfortunately I’m struggling to fix it myself and I can’t find too many/any people on here with similar setups who are experiencing problems. I can only assume Connect Amp as surrounds is not a very common configuration. Which again makes me suspect that a team at Sonos has accidentally removed the functionality to manage this through the app interface.

@Gafferbee .  There are probably still thousands of users with this configuration (although still a tiny proportion of all surround setups).  But to prove to you that the functionality has not been disabled, here is categorical proof that one user had it working yesterday.

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/connect-amp-surround-speakers-stopped-working-6851065

A failed unit cannot be ruled out in your case, but let’s put that to one side and see if we can find any other explanation.  Please would you let us know what you have in your Sonos system, and what is wired to what (including router or switches).

Have you tried removing it as surrounds and tested it as a standalone device?

@John B Thank you. That’s very interesting. To answer your final question, yes, the Connect Amp is currently working just fine as a separate device. 

Here is my setup: 

• Beam hardwired to router in the kitchen​​​​​​​
• Playbar in living room
• Connect Amp (S2 compliant) in living room. Hardwired by ethernet to Playbar as per Sonos instructions for surround sounds functionality. (Which worked for 2 years.)
• Play 1 in kitchen
• Connect (S2 compliant) connected powered speaker in bedroom

Previously I would turn on and off the Connect Amp surround functionality as I need the CA occasionally separate from the Playbar in order to use my turntable. Over the past year or so the interface for adding surrounds improved a lot. Then in September it all stopped. I now do not even get the option to add CA as surrounds in S2. The dialog box tells me I don’t have a compatible pair of speakers.

Setup certainly sounds fine. Please would you check in About My System that all devices have WM:0 not WM:1? Just a process of elimination.

Can confirm they are all WM:0 @John B. I don’t know what that refers to but that’s what About My System says.

That tells us that your system is in SonosNet mode, which is the second precondition for using C:A as surrounds.  This results from the connection of the Beam to your router.  I wanted to check that was working because if it hadn’t been, we would have had our answer.

But that’s not it, so next thing to check is that cabled connection from Playbar to C:A.  Do you have another cable you could try for that?  Also try the other ports in the PB and C:A?

I’m having exactly the same problem. Two rear speakers via connect.amp, not working anymore since s2 upgrade. Both the playbase (in my case) and the connect.amp are wired to the router. Connect.amp is working perfectly standalone. In the S1 controller, when adding surround speakers, it would suggest a menu of possible sonos speakers to add (including connect.amp), which worked fine. In S2, when trying to add surround speakers, it immediately gives the error message that no wifi speakers can be found to add as surround… Frustrating...

@John B I have tried both of the solutions you suggest. No joy. Not even close. I am not a technical Sonos expert but I am confident of one thing: it is a software issue. When I try to Add Surrounds in the S2 app I instantly get an error message saying no WiFi speakers can be found. Just as @Michaelsmets reports. It does not seek a wired connection at all. It is as though it’s not an option. I don’t have a solution but as it stands Sonos has ruined my perfectly functional setup and in my view is trying to push me towards spending hundreds more pounds on an Amp that I neither want nor need. 

Perhaps now it is time to call Sonos Support again and see if they can take a look, and ask them directly if this set up is still possible.  If they say yes then they should escalate you through support until a solution is found.

This assumes it is not a failed unit, but they should be able to determine that.  

I have never known Sonos to shut off a possible setup without warning, and I still think that if they had there would have been a deluge of complaints not a trickle.  And we know that others still have this setup operational.  I could of course be mistaken.

You might like to draw Support’s attention to these current Sonos articles, which make no distinction between S1 and S2.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4807?language=en_US

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/2927?language=en_US

@John B Thank you for all your help. I will gird myself to speak with Support again and see how I get on.

You may or may not have seen this further thread 

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/did-the-s2-update-really-mess-up-adding-a-surround-speaker-6851341?postid=16491587#post16491587

I shall be interested to hear how it goes and I hope a solution will be found.

Thanks John. I’ll keep an eye on that thread. It’s exactly the same issue as mine, and in fact the response from Sonia support is exactly what I was was told (after two fairly long troubleshooting calls).