Question

Integrate Sonos into existing passive home theater sound system?

  • 27 May 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 5289 views
A

Recently purchased a new home that has a home theater setup in living area with already installed wired left/right wall speakers and left/right rear surround ceiling speakers. Not sure on existing wall/ceiling speaker brands/quality yet.  wiring for both sets of speakers is to a central wall plug.

I have a LG OLED tv mounted on the wall that i would like to connect to the 2 sets of speakers. however, i also have a number of Sonos Play 1s throughout the house for audio in different rooms and am looking at having Sonance outdoor speakers installed on patio.

My question is what is the best way to integrate Sonos into this existing passive setup?  I want to use this passive setup for 5.1 surround sound with the TV for home theater, but potentially also use the speakers to play music in that room.  

My understanding seems to be the following options:

  1. I would need 2 Sonos AMP’s to power both the front and rear speakers to get surround sound.  In this case, AMP 1 powering front speakers would give phantom 3.0 sound, AMP 2 would power rear ceiling to get 5.0, and i would plug a Sub into either AMP to get the 5.1. Is this correct?  And in this setup, could i use one of the 2 AMPs to also power a set of Sonance outdoor speakers?
  2. Use a non-sonos receiver and amplifier to power the 5.1 sound on the existing passive speakers with a sub, and then use a Port to connect this system to my Sonos system.  Potentially then also needing a Sonos AMP to then power the Sonance outdoor speakers?

Are there other alternatives/options here?  Am i right in thinking that Option 2 may be more cost effective than running 2 Sonos AMPs just to get the home theater 5.1 sound?

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4 replies

melvimbe
  1. I would need 2 Sonos AMP’s to power both the front and rear speakers to get surround sound.  In this case, AMP 1 powering front speakers would give phantom 3.0 sound, AMP 2 would power rear ceiling to get 5.0, and i would plug a Sub into either AMP to get the 5.1. Is this correct?  And in this setup, could i use one of the 2 AMPs to also power a set of Sonance outdoor speakers?

 

Theoretically, you could use the amp powering the front speakers to also power the outside speakers, but you would need to make sure all speakers are 8 ohm, or using a impedance matching speaker switch.    Personally, I would rather have a separate 3rd amp and cheaper outdoor speakers than try to make this work off only 2 amps all together.

 

  1. Use a non-sonos receiver and amplifier to power the 5.1 sound on the existing passive speakers with a sub, and then use a Port to connect this system to my Sonos system.  Potentially then also needing a Sonos AMP to then power the Sonance outdoor speakers?

 

Potentially yes. There are AVRs that can handle multiple zones, so you could use that feature.  However, they tend to come with limitations that might not work for your case.  A separate amp would be best.

 

Are there other alternatives/options here?  Am i right in thinking that Option 2 may be more cost effective than running 2 Sonos AMPs just to get the home theater 5.1 sound?

 This is what I would likely do as well.  I like Sonos, but if wiring is already done, you can’t really take advantage of the wireless capabilities.  You mostly likely can get a rather nice AVR + port for the same or cheaper.

Danny
A

Thanks - appreciate the response.


Am I also right in thinking that, given the already wired front L/R wall speakers, a center speaker like the Arc or Beam are likely largely unnecessary?  I wouldnt be able to take advantage of the HDMI ARC connection to the Arc if im having to power the passive speakers through an AVR - correct?

Airgetlam

Sonos sound bars are not ‘center speakers’. All four of them, the Arc, the Beam, the PLAYBASE and the PLAYBAR all contain the three front speaker channels, sent to varying number of speakers inside the enclosure. There is not a way to have a Sonos sound bar be only the center speaker. In the case of an Amp, using your own separates, a center speaker is unnecessary, as the Amp creates a faux center channel by combining the front right and front left output. 

Bruce
melvimbe

Thanks - appreciate the response.


Am I also right in thinking that, given the already wired front L/R wall speakers, a center speaker like the Arc or Beam are likely largely unnecessary?  I wouldnt be able to take advantage of the HDMI ARC connection to the Arc if im having to power the passive speakers through an AVR - correct?

 

The Arc and Beam are not center channel speakers, they are soundbars.  They play the front left/right/center channels and there is no way to use separate left/right speakers when you use these soundbars. 

 

The Arc may ultimately sound very good, perhaps better than what you can get out  your existing speakers.  No one really know yet since it’s not been reviewed or released yet.  However, there are AVR out there that are HDMI-ARC capable, so that your AVR can play audio from smart TV apps, if that’s what you were looking for.  And of course, there are Atmos capable AVRs out there.

Danny
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