Contributor I

Question

Connect:Amp & Playbar

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
February 13, 2013
22 replies
1163 views

Can speaker powered by Connect:Amp be paired with Playbar and SUB to create 5.1 surround sound? I've heard that Play:5 don't work, while Play:3 will. No info out there on integration with Connect:Amp.

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Lyricist III

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

so ridiculous. was very close to checking out at amazon w/ $1500+ in sonos gear (playbar, amp, and play1s for 3 bedrooms but will not do it until they make this work.

Trending Lyricist I

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

thanks for the marketing spiel .... you seem to forget that some of us already over very good subwoofers so don't need to or want to go out and buy another subwoofer no matter how good it is claimed to be.

Headliner II

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

I don't disagree that the sonos Subwoofer would be better but @aleks has a point, the connect:amp can take a powered sub when used as a standalone so why not utilises this in a 5.1 setup. Really £599 is a large chunk when you add in the PlayBar and connect:amp (Plus speakers). I have a Yamaha Sub for under £150 that can run from the connect:amp and sounds good enough for me. So @kmjy although I agree with your comments I think sonos should allow a powered subwoofer to be added to the connect:amp in a 5.1 setup, however if someone can say and explain if there are any technical reasons why this can't happen?

Sonos Boost - PlayBar with Surround Sound Play 1's (Living Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Dining Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Kitchen) - Amp with two Canton 845 ceiling speakers (Bathroom) - Sonos Move - HomePod Mini x1

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

The technical reason is that the Connect:Amp is a two channel component, which only receives the sound for the surround channels. It's is impossible to send the third '.1' channel for the sub and the 2 channels of surround to a system that is only able to receive 2 channel stereo..

Headliner II

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

I kind of understand but when I connect my powered sub to my connect:amp (Bathroom) the Base is isolated from the stereo and comes out the sub, what is different that the Base can't be isolated when a connect:amp is used for surround sound?

Sonos Boost - PlayBar with Surround Sound Play 1's (Living Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Dining Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Kitchen) - Amp with two Canton 845 ceiling speakers (Bathroom) - Sonos Move - HomePod Mini x1

Trending Lyricist I

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

i think what is being implied is that when used as a connect amp there are two channels sent to the amp, the connect amp then splits out the LFE of the two channels and sends it to the sub (if a sub is connected).

To use it as a 2.1 you would need 2.1 channels (3 channels to be sent) to the connect amp,

What I don't get is that the connect amp was already modified to allow it to become the 2 rear channels of a 5.1 setup i.e. somehow it was modified to receive 2 channels of audio that it was not designed to receive.

Why then can it not be sent the rear two channels and the .1 channel mixed in as 2 channels and let it the split out the LFE (as it does when it is being used as a connect amp) for the subwoofer?

In this setup it could support the 2 rear channels and the .1 channel of a 5.1 setup.

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

Using the Connect:Amp as surrounds was an afterthought, requested well after the Playbar was designed. So I doubt the Playbar had the circuitry to combine 3 digital signals designed into it at release, and retooling the entire Playbar for a request which yields no financial gain is a little much to ask of any corporation..

Headliner II

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

Yeh I get that but like you can't see why the same doesn't apply for the SS setup

Sonos Boost - PlayBar with Surround Sound Play 1's (Living Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Dining Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Kitchen) - Amp with two Canton 845 ceiling speakers (Bathroom) - Sonos Move - HomePod Mini x1

Headliner II

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

😞

Sonos Boost - PlayBar with Surround Sound Play 1's (Living Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Dining Room) - Stereo Pair Play 1's (Kitchen) - Amp with two Canton 845 ceiling speakers (Bathroom) - Sonos Move - HomePod Mini x1

Trending Lyricist I

yes it would. I currently have my sonos gear up for sale. I can't spend another $600 just to have bass. That's ridiculous.

If it is not possible to do it then it is not possible to do it, however I am sure it would be possible to either:

a) release a new connect amp that does the leg work
b) release a new sonos playbar that does the leg work

or if it's all about making more money rather than supporting the existing user base:

c) release a new cheap device that does the leg work e.g. £50-ish

PS: (Jgatie) You use the word "doubt" in your response .... I am still not entirely convinced that it is impossible to do this, it seems more like Sonos just aren't interested.

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