Question

Do I need separate Amps?

  • 19 August 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 3984 views
V

Hi everyone!

I am in the process of building a home and plan on pre-wiring for speakers in the outside patio, living room, and kitchen. Since it’s more of an open concept floorplan, the kitchen and living room is essentially one big room.

The builder offers pre-wiring for a 5.1 / 7.1 setup, but I didn’t want all my speakers to be in-ceiling so I am planning on using the Arc and two in ceiling speakers in the living room. I plan on putting 2 of the other speakers in the kitchen and the patio will have 2 in ceiling and 2 mounted speakers for TV & music. My goal is to be able to watch TV in the living room while someone else is watching something else in the patio, but have the ability to have synchronized audio in all the spaces whether it be TV or music.

My question is: if I want a Sonos 5.1 setup in the living room and have the ability to play synchronized music throughout the home, do I need separate Amps for each space? Or can I use one Amp to power 4 speakers (2 in the living room, 2 in the kitchen) and one Amp for the 4 outdoor speakers?

Is it feasible to achieve this with an AVR with multiple zones? I was thinking about that because I want all of my components in the home but have the ability to access them on the TV patio.

Thanks everyone

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4 replies

O
Userlevel 4
Badge +6

The Amp can power a “left” and a “right” speaker. Therefore you will need one Amp to power the living room surround. An additional Amp for the kitchen speakers. The third Amp can power the four outdoor speakers if you wire two speakers in parallel for the left channel and the other two speakers in parallel for the right channel.

Make sure that you use speakers of the correct impedance and power. I suggest you look at the Amp’s FAQ. 

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi @vinhvo 

Congratulations on you new home!

Please note that any pre-wiring for 5.1 or 7.1 will not be fully utilized with Sonos. Sonos does not support a dedicated 3rd party speaker used as a center channel in home theater.

Using the Sonos Arc which has left/center/right channels in addition to upward and side firing speakers all front channels are covered. Two in-ceiling speakers can be powered by one Sonos Amp for the surround channels. A Sonos sub can be bonded to the Arc. Note: In-ceiling speakers used as surrounds will limit repositioning of seating in order to maintain the optimum surround effect. 

If you are planning on using 3rd party speakers for the patio TV then you would need a dedicated Sonos Amp for it. 

You could use one Sonos Amp to power the two in-ceiling speakers in the kitchen and the two on the patio. I would recommend that you employ separate speaker level controls for the kitchen and patio speakers x2. Note: Kitchen and patio will play the same audio as they would essentially be the same room as far as Sonos is concerned.

The Sonos Amp powering the kitchen and patio speakers should be set to Dual Mono mode and not stereo. In that configuration no matter the position of the listener no audio is lost to the ear as might be the case in stereo mode.

Total Sonos Amps required = 3

A Sonos sub can be bonded to the Sonos Amp used to power the TV patio speakers. The sub would of course need to be shielded from the elements.

I also suggest that you consider Sonos Architectural in-ceiling and outdoor speakers by Sonance. Note: Sonos in-ceiling speakers used outdoors are not weather resistant.

 

Not really understanding this question/statement ...

Is it feasible to achieve this with an AVR with multiple zones? I was thinking about that because I want all of my components in the home but have the ability to access them on the TV patio.

However….The Arc can be setup with either the Alexa or Google voice assistant to command other Sonos. You can employ Alexa or Google home devices to command any Sonos.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
V

Hi @vinhvo 

Congratulations on you new home!

Please note that any pre-wiring for 5.1 or 7.1 will not be fully utilized with Sonos. Sonos does not support a dedicated 3rd party speaker used as a center channel in home theater.

Using the Sonos Arc which has left/center/right channels in addition to upward and side firing speakers all front channels are covered. Two in-ceiling speakers can be powered by one Sonos Amp for the surround channels. A Sonos sub can be bonded to the Arc. Note: In-ceiling speakers used as surrounds will limit repositioning of seating in order to maintain the optimum surround effect. 

If you are planning on using 3rd party speakers for the patio TV then you would need a dedicated Sonos Amp for it. 

You could use one Sonos Amp to power the two in-ceiling speakers in the kitchen and the two on the patio. I would recommend that you employ separate speaker level controls for the kitchen and patio speakers x2. Note: Kitchen and patio will play the same audio as they would essentially be the same room as far as Sonos is concerned.

The Sonos Amp powering the kitchen and patio speakers should be set to Dual Mono mode and not stereo. In that configuration no matter the position of the listener no audio is lost to the ear as might be the case in stereo mode.

 

Total Sonos Amps required = 3

A Sonos sub can be bonded to the Sonos Amp used to power the TV patio speakers. The sub would of course need to be shielded from the elements.

I also suggest that you consider Sonos Architectural in-ceiling and outdoor speakers by Sonance. Note: Sonos in-ceiling speakers used outdoors are not weather resistant.

 

Not really understanding this question/statement ...

Is it feasible to achieve this with an AVR with multiple zones? I was thinking about that because I want all of my components in the home but have the ability to access them on the TV patio.

However….The Arc can be setup with either the Alexa or Google voice assistant to command other Sonos. You can employ Alexa or Google home devices to command any Sonos.

Wow thank you both for all your thoughtful and helpful comments!! After talking to the builder today, they consider the kitchen and living room separate spaces (even though they’re technically not). Therefore, they would charge for pre-wiring two rooms - go figure.

If I were to consider two mounted Play 1’s instead of in-ceiling speakers, I would just need to add outlets on the ceiling of the living room. That would cut the need for a separate amp and pre-wiring, right? If so, that’ll free up some money to pre-wire and power the kitchen and patio separately! Also, if I went the 5.1/7.1 pre-wiring route, I don’t like the idea of having speakers that aren’t being fully utilized. 

You mentioned if I went with 3rd party speakers (in this case Klipsch is what’s included in the package), I would need a separate amp. Are there powered speakers you recommend that wouldn’t need an amp to power them?

 

Sorry if my last statement was a little confusing. Let me go in a little more detail.

I plan on having TVs in both the patio and the living room. I would prefer all my components (blu-ray, streaming devices, games, etc) to be tucked in my media cabinet in the living room sheltered from the elements. However, I still want the ability to access and use the devices in the patio. The goal would be to watch and listen to different things in those spaces, but also have the ability to mirror and combine them as well. At first, I thought my only option would be to invest in an AV receiver that supported multiple zones. Since the Arc and Play 1’s don’t need to be powered, the AV receiver would just be a glorified HDMI switch. I did some research and it seems like a HDMI matrix switch is the way to go. Have you had any experience with these? Are they reliable?

 

Thanks again!

V

The Amp can power a “left” and a “right” speaker. Therefore you will need one Amp to power the living room surround. An additional Amp for the kitchen speakers. The third Amp can power the four outdoor speakers if you wire two speakers in parallel for the left channel and the other two speakers in parallel for the right channel.

Make sure that you use speakers of the correct impedance and power. I suggest you look at the Amp’s FAQ. 

Thank you, good to know about running the speakers in parallel and selecting compatible speakers

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