Can PLAYBAR be paired with a CONNECT:AMP to Create a 5.1 Home Theater setup?

Pairing two Play:3's to the Playbar without a sub will be a 5.0 system. It would probably be lacking a bit in the bass department, but would otherwise still sound good. The Connect:AMP cannot be paired with the Playbar to provide rear speaker and subwoofer connections for a surround sound setup. You could group the Playbar and the Connect:AMP together like you can group any Sonos players, however the Connect:AMP will be receiving a regular stereo signal, and not act as a set of rear speakers/sub.

Pairing two Play:3's to the Playbar without a sub will be a 5.0 system. It would probably be lacking a bit in the bass department, but would otherwise still sound good. The Connect:AMP cannot be paired with the Playbar to provide rear speaker and subwoofer connections for a surround sound setup. You could group the Playbar and the Connect:AMP together like you can group any Sonos players, however the Connect:AMP will be receiving a regular stereo signal, and not act as a set of rear speakers/sub.
Is this still a true statement after the 4.2 update?
This is in the product manual of the Connect Amp as of 11/5/2013.
"
Surround SpeakersYou can easily pair two PLAY:1 or PLAY:3 speakers with a PLAYBAR to function as left and right surround channels in your Sonos surround sound experience. For more information about these products, please review the product guides at www.sonos.com/support.If you have a CONNECT:AMP and speakers, the release of Sonos software update 4.2 makes it possible to configure the CONNECT:AMP for this purpose. (Both the CONNECT:AMP and the PLAYBAR must be wired in this configuration.)"

What I want to know is can it connect the wired sub out of the Connect:Amp to use it as the sub instead of buying the Play:Sub. Would save me a nice chunk of money.

Pairing two Play:3's to the Playbar without a sub will be a 5.0 system. It would probably be lacking a bit in the bass department, but would otherwise still sound good. The Connect:AMP cannot be paired with the Playbar to provide rear speaker and subwoofer connections for a surround sound setup. You could group the Playbar and the Connect:AMP together like you can group any Sonos players, however the Connect:AMP will be receiving a regular stereo signal, and not act as a set of rear speakers/sub.
MikeV, I think you statement is no longer true. You can use a Connect Amp to drive any 3rd party set of rear speakers as per this article here: https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2248 At the moment you need to use a Sonos sub for the .1 but if this feature is implemented: https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/creating_5_1_with_non_sonos_subwoofer Then you could use any 3rd party sub for the .1 i.e. With a Playbar, Connect Amp, 2x 3rd party rear speakers and a 3rd party subwoofer you could setup a 5.1 system.

MikeV, I think you statement is no longer true. You can use a Connect Amp to drive any 3rd party set of rear speakers as per this article here:
https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answer...

At the moment you need to use a Sonos sub for the .1 but if this feature is implemented:
https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/cr...

Then you could use any 3rd party sub for the .1 i.e. With a Playbar, Connect Amp, 2x 3rd party rear speakers and a 3rd party subwoofer you could setup a 5.1 system.

Pairing two Play:3's to the Playbar without a sub will be a 5.0 system. It would probably be lacking a bit in the bass department, but would otherwise still sound good. The Connect:AMP cannot be paired with the Playbar to provide rear speaker and subwoofer connections for a surround sound setup. You could group the Playbar and the Connect:AMP together like you can group any Sonos players, however the Connect:AMP will be receiving a regular stereo signal, and not act as a set of rear speakers/sub.
Ed, you currently can not use a 3rd party subwoofer to create a 5.1 system, however if enough people like this post https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/creating_5_1_with_non_sonos_subwoofer Then Sonos may implement this feature.

I am in a similar situation in that I already have a subwoofer that I would like to pair with the Connect Amp (and Playbar) to create a 5.1 setup but Sonos do not currently offer this feature. Instead they chose to disable the suwoofer output on the Connect Amp when using it to drive 3rd party rear speakers in a 5.1 setup.

I am trying to figure out a workaround for this but given that the signal being sent to the Playbar when watching movies is encoded I am not sure how to get another signal to my 3rd party subwoofer that would increase/decrease in volume in-line with the Playbar.

I think that Sonos would need to implement this feature in the Connect Amp for it to work seamlessly.

Sonos team - if you're reading these threads, you almost had a customer but i will not buy any sonos products until this subwoofer out feature on the connect amp is enabled for syncing w/ the playbar. $1500 of sonos in my amazon cart and i won't purchase until this you make it work.

I am returning my playbar today because this feature is missing. Too bad - I'm a big Sonos fan.

I will buy playbar only after this

I will buy playbar only after this
As someone posted above, this is now possible as of the Sonos 4.2 software update. See this support article on how to set it up. This setup requires that BOTH the Playbar and Connect:AMP be WIRED to your network (the Connect:AMP does not support the 5GHz wireless that is otherwise required for a surround sound setup).

I will buy playbar only after this
Well sub is still not included

I will buy playbar only after this
And it won't be. There is no way to encode the .1 sub track into the 2.0 stereo track sent to the Connect:Amp.

I will buy playbar only after this
Can a Connect AMP be used to drive some ceiling mounted LEFT and RIGHT speakers for the TV sound to compliment the Playbar's (connected to the TV) own LEFT and RIGHT ?

I take it as long as there is a network cable between the Playbar and the Connect AMP, this is ok as the Playbar can connect wirelessly to the WiFi router or Sonos Bridge. 

I will buy playbar only after this
See this link for information on using the Connect:Amp to power surround speakers:

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2248/kw/connect:amp/session/L3RpbWUvMTQxMDg5NTA4M...

I will buy playbar only after this
Now I was about to invest in Sonos for my house - but if I am cannot use my excellent THX sub with Sonos Connect Amp or Sonos Connect - I am not in, still looking for better option.  I am not buying into a monopoly that does not allow me to use my existing speakers and subs.  Not even apple is this closed. Maybe just a bunch of Apple TVs, it is cheaper, and offers video, 5.1 and also use of any speaker and sub. 

I will buy playbar only after this
You can use your Sub with the Connect:AMP if it is not PAIRED with a Playbar. What you can't do is use your own sub in a 5.1 setup with the Playbar as the front speakers and the Connect:AMP as the rear speakers.

If you want to use the Connect:AMP with just two speakers and your Subwoofer as one zone/room, you're set. Go for it. No problem. You can GROUP it with other zones/rooms too so the music plays in multiple areas at once.

All good and well for some, but I already have rear ceiling speakers installed and a subwoofer of my own which I want to pair with a playbar and a connect amp (£1000 worth of hardware from Sonos that I can't get to work in a 5.1 setup) ..... still waiting for a fix to this, not sure why it is taking so long.

Pairing two Play:3's to the Playbar without a sub will be a 5.0 system. It would probably be lacking a bit in the bass department, but would otherwise still sound good. The Connect:AMP cannot be paired with the Playbar to provide rear speaker and subwoofer connections for a surround sound setup. You could group the Playbar and the Connect:AMP together like you can group any Sonos players, however the Connect:AMP will be receiving a regular stereo signal, and not act as a set of rear speakers/sub.
New TVs don't seem to have pairs of inputs to connect up a Connect Amp, but have digital outputs. Pairing woukd allow continued use of the Connect Amp and quality 3rd party speakers

Seems like Sonos has a new product which would sell really well....it's called Sonos Connect Sub! Just a small module that enables wireless to your 3rd party sub and integrates with the Sonos sounds bar. Brilliant!!
..LIKE THIS POST and it will happen 🙂

"Setting up:

Wire both the PLAYBAR or PLAYBASE and CONNECT:AMP to either your router, a single network switch, or to each other, using an Ethernet cable."

I am a little unsure on the part about wiring the AMP to the PLAYBASE. Is this just for setup or does it have to remain wired for operation?

I am a little unsure on the part about wiring the AMP to the PLAYBASE. Is this just for setup or does it have to remain wired for operation?
It has to remain wired. CONNECT:AMP has no 5GHz wireless, so in order to support the low latency requirements for PLAYBAR/PLAYBASE there must be a wired connection instead.

I am a little unsure on the part about wiring the AMP to the PLAYBASE. Is this just for setup or does it have to remain wired for operation?
It has to remain wired. CONNECT:AMP has no 5GHz wireless, so in order to support the low latency requirements for PLAYBAR/PLAYBASE there must be a wired connection instead.

Thanks. Seems a little silly to be using a wireless based system that requires a wire to use the surround!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. When CONNECT:AMP was first introduced, there was no home theatre offering so no requirement to incorporate the 5GHz radio needed to talk to a PLAYBAR or PLAYBASE wirelessly. The wired connection scheme for surrounds was added later in response to installer demand, often to drive in-ceiling speakers. It even needs a rather arcane procedure via a URL to activate the surround mode.