HELP - TV Room Speakers with Sonos Connect Amp

  • 13 November 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 352 views
N

Hello Everyone, 

Current Setup

I have a Samsung Q60 TV (HDMI ARC, USB ports, ethernet port, antenna input, optical audio output) Mounted above a fireplace in finished basement

I have a coaxial cable with standard RF connectors running from storage room to fireplace through walls/ceiling

I have a CAT6 cable running from storage room to fireplace through walls/ceiling

I have 4 speaker wires that run from wall/ceiling position to storage room (they do NOT run to TV) - 2 fronts above fireplace, 2 rears above seating area. 

Storage Room has rack and access to WiFi system

Issue

Setup was not well thought out as speaker wires are not running to TV nor is there an HDMI cable running to storage room

Goal

Would like to connect TV to 4 speakers via CONNECT Amp and be able to control volume with a single remote (preferable Samsung remote), WITHOUT having a Sonos Beam/Bar/Arc

 

I’ve done a little bit of research and see there are various types of converter cables on the market. Either coaxial to optical audio or coaxial to HDMI….

Is the solution as simple as adding converters on both ends (at the TV and at the Amp)? 

Not sure how the TV remote plays into this, but the storage room isn’t that far from the sitting area and an infrared repeater/extender would not be an issue (if necessary).

 

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated!!!

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5 replies

Ken_Griffiths

I don’t think it’s a problem (as long as you have no plans to add a Sonos sub to the setup - depending on how far away the storage room is) and the ceiling speakers may not be ideally positioned for TV audio, but that’s a matter for you, I guess?

My suggestion (assuming you definitely want to use the ceiling speakers for the TV audio), is you would need two Sonos Amps. One for the fronts and another for the rear surround speakers. Both Amps can be held in your storage room and wired to the (hopefully compatible) speaker pairs using the existing wiring. 

You then need to connect the Amp’s HDMI-ARC (not HDMI) port to your TV’s HDMI-ARC (or Optical port - not recommended) perhaps using the existing coax or your cat 6 cable - see this below link for one example of devices that are able to do that, over cat 6 Ethernet in this case: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HH1212W/

I’ve never tried these ‘HDMI-ARC extender’ devices personally speaking, so I can’t comment on how well they work and you may find others, with research, which may prove to be better/cheaper, but the important thing is the extenders must support HDMI-ARC or eARC and not just HDMI and I would ensure they also support HDMI-CEC for remote control of the Amp volume with the Samsung TV.

N

@Ken_Griffiths - thank you for the response. Forgive my ignorance, but doesn’t the ‘new’ Sonos amp allow for four speakers? Or is this an issue because it will all be the same audio stream and two amps would provide more of a split between rear sound and front sound? 

One other question, if I connect the HDMI-ARC extender at the TV, does the coax or CAT6 then plug directly into the amp? 

Ken_Griffiths

The extender transmitter/receiver boxes are connected to each other by cat6 cable and then you just use HDMI (HEAC 1.4plus) cables to connect those to your Amp and TV - if you look at the link in my earlier post, there are diagrams on the left of the page that show the actual connections.

One Amp can be connected to the 4 ceiling speakers if you prefer, that will provide you with the three front TV channels - front left/right and a phantom center channel from all four speakers.

Personally speaking, if you were watching the news on the TV, as an example, you might find it strange having the newsreaders voice coming from above your head when they are speaking on a screen in front of you. (I would).

A second Amp would mean you could add the mentioned three front channels to the speaker pair nearest the TV and then have two rear TV surround channels going to the pair of speakers above the listening position - it’s still not ideal, but my thoughts were that it would be the better option - but it’s your decision of course. 

From a personal perspective I’m not keen on TV audio coming from above in any configuration. 

N

Thank you for your help. After further thought and after installing speakers, I decided to go with a Beam.

So now I have a beam with two speakers to the left and right on the TV wall. Also have two speakers overhead in the rear above the couch. Speakers are connected to Sonos amps.

I therefore have a beam with amp 1 and amp 2. I’m trying to figure out the best way to connect this all together as one room. The Beam seems to only allow to choose one set of LS and RS speakers. Is this the case or do I need to somehow remove the already connected speakers from the Sonos app and re-connect/re-configure?

 

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

Ideally, you need to ‘bond’ (not group) the Amp/two ceiling speakers nearest your seated position that are overhead, as the TV rear surround channels.. the Beam will then play the Front Left/Center/Right channels.

Then for music purposes ‘Group’ that ‘bonded’ HT setup to your second  Amp that controls your front (TV wall) speakers for music playback purposes.

The only way to ever bond the 4 speakers to the Beam as rear surrounds, is to attach them all to one Amp only, but really the TV wall speakers are in the wrong place to do that as they will be playing the rear TV channel audio.

You could have gone with just two Amps instead and set aside the Beam, in which case the one Amp linked to the TV, would play the Front Left/Right and (phantom) Center channels. The the second Amp could be ‘bonded’ to that first amp and the second Amp would handle the rear (ceiling) channels, but that  would mean moving the Beam elsewhere in the Home or returning/selling it on.

I hope that helps.

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