Hey community. I am wondering if it is possible to set things up in this arrangement in a new build. I have the idea in my mind, but I'm not sure if it actually works.
In the living room, I want to set up the TV to be connected to a Playbar, then bond a Sonos Sub to it. Then where things will get funky is that I also want to bond a new Sonos Amp (powering 2 in ceiling speakers which happen to be way behind the TV) to be the surrounds. Effectively a 5.1 channel setup for the TV (as long as the 5.1ch signal is fed through the optical in to the Playbar, which decodes it to the sub and in ceiling surrounds.
If this works, the idea is also that whenever I play music to this zone, it will fire up all the speakers; Playbar, Sub, and Amp (in ceiling) at the same time as well. Can a Sonos Amp even just act a part of a zone and not be its own??
Does this work? Has anyone tried something similar with a Connect:Amp, Sub, and Playbar?
Also, another reason for this sort of arrangement is that the Sonos Amp will be sitting in the mechanical room in the basement, so I am going to forget about using the HDMI ARC. I also don't want this system to be on wifi at all. I plan on running inwall CAT6 to both the Playbar and the Sub. I've lived with the Sonos buffer overruns too many times!!!
Thank you,
Jeff
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1) Yes, that set up should work, based on what we currently know from Ryan S' comments on the new Sonos Amp.
2) When you "bond" the Sonos Amp to be surround speakers, it's a more permanent thing, and would be a pain (but not impossible) to unbond the Amp and use them as stereo speakers without being connected to the PLAYBAR. And it would (currently) blow away any TruePlay tuning, each time you "bonded" or "un-bonded" them. Much better (IMHO) to just set them in the controller app as "Full" rather than "Ambient" speakers when being used as music speakers. It's in the room settings, under advanced audio.
3) Yes, lots of people have done this setup with a CONNECT:AMP, although it does require a ethernet cable between the PLAYBAR and the CONNECT:AMP. See more data here: Setting up CONNECT:AMP as surround speakers But it sounds like you're planning to run cable anyway, which is good, as the 5Ghz signal might be absorbed by the mechanical room walls.
Hope this helps.
2) When you "bond" the Sonos Amp to be surround speakers, it's a more permanent thing, and would be a pain (but not impossible) to unbond the Amp and use them as stereo speakers without being connected to the PLAYBAR. And it would (currently) blow away any TruePlay tuning, each time you "bonded" or "un-bonded" them. Much better (IMHO) to just set them in the controller app as "Full" rather than "Ambient" speakers when being used as music speakers. It's in the room settings, under advanced audio.
3) Yes, lots of people have done this setup with a CONNECT:AMP, although it does require a ethernet cable between the PLAYBAR and the CONNECT:AMP. See more data here: Setting up CONNECT:AMP as surround speakers But it sounds like you're planning to run cable anyway, which is good, as the 5Ghz signal might be absorbed by the mechanical room walls.
Hope this helps.
And by the way, I wouldn't consider that to be a funky setup at all. Pretty much exactly the way it was designed to be used (with the possible/slight exception of wiring it all, which to me is a good thing)
Excellent thank you Bruce!
This is exactly what I’m after. The sub, amp, and playbar will all be wired via cat to the router.
Interesting it requires those extra steps on a desktop though!
This is exactly what I’m after. The sub, amp, and playbar will all be wired via cat to the router.
Interesting it requires those extra steps on a desktop though!
Just an ancillary point. It isn't generally a good idea to wire the Sub in a Sonos Surround Setup. A 'bonded' Sub will get its data from the Playbar over 5GHz, and you just muddy the waters by wiring it.
Really?? I thought sonos wifi was only 2.4ghz
For most uses, it absolutely is. That's the frequency it uses to connect to your wifi, and to play music.....with one exception, as John B said. When you "bond" surround speakers or a SUB with a PLAYBAR, PLAYBASE, or Beam, they then communicate on the lower latency (and shorter distance) 5Ghz frequency with the soundbar. But when playing music, the soundbar will connect with your wifi on the 2.4Ghz wireless channel....and then pass on the data to the SUB and surrounds on 5Ghz.
Ah good to know! Does this mean I need to locate the Amp close by as well then?
Btw I do have 5ghz waps everywhere too. Still not as robust as cat!
Btw I do have 5ghz waps everywhere too. Still not as robust as cat!
Not if you wire it with Ethernet cable, hard to tell if you rely on 5Ghz...
Note.... the whole 5Ghz thing is why a CONNECT:AMP requires Ethernet cabling....it doesn’t have a 5 GHz receiver in it. The new Sonos Amp will, apparently.
Awesome! Thanks again for your help.
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