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Looking for Advice - Best Setup for Ceiling Speakers and Play:1s

  • 22 May 2021
  • 5 replies
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I’m moving soon into a place with 5 wired, in-ceiling speakers, but also have 2 sonos play:1s currently. I was thinking of getting the Sonos amp to utilize both, but not sure if that would be the best way to connect and use all of these speakers (or if that’s even possible). Or I guess I could use 2 of the ceiling speakers and my 2 sonos speakers to create surround too I think.  Let me know if anyone has any advice!

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 30 May 2021, 20:42

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5 replies

Userlevel 7

Where are the ceiling speakers located on your ceiling in relation to your TV and primary seating location? Are two speakers in a good position to be used as rear surround speakers?

FYI… you can connect up to four ceiling speakers to a single Amp (up to six if they are the Sonos Architectural by Sonance speakers).

So there are 3 that are above and just behind the couch in the main sitting area, and 2 that are halfway between the TV and couch. 

 

Also, how do you connect 4 wires speakers to one amp, as each speaker has 2 speaker wires coming from it?

Userlevel 7

Unfortunately, the location of your speakers are not really ideal for a Sonos home theater setup. But here are some options to consider:

Option 1: Get a Sonos soundbar like an Arc or Beam and a Sonos Amp to power two of the ceiling speakers behind your seating area to act as rear surround speakers. The other three ceiling speakers would not be used or you could get another Amp to power the two in between the TV and couch to be used to stream music. Use your Play:1s in another room.

Option 2: Get a Sonos soundbar and use your two Play:1s as rear surround speakers. Connect four of your five ceiling speakers to an Amp only to stream music.

This is how you can wire four speakers in parallel to the Amp:

 

Option 3: Don’t use Sonos for your home theater setup and get an AV receiver that is Dolby Atmos compatible. Purchase a center channel and left and right front channel speakers and use two of the speakers behind the couch as rear surround speakers. The two speakers in between the TV and couch will act as two height channels. Add a subwoofer and you would have a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos setup.

Thanks for the options, and the diagram is really useful as well.

 

In the image you attached for option 2 in connecting the speakers in parallel (again, very helpful), couldn’t I get a center channel and wouldn’t that be setup for TV surround sound?

Userlevel 7
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Hi @johnjo03 

The Sonos Amp only supports 4.1 surround sound at best, so no centre channel is available. For 4.1 or 4.0 sound, you’ll need 2 Amps or 1 Amp and your Play:1s.

The only way to get a centre channel working with Sonos is to use a Home Theatre product like the Arc or Beam, which would mean you’d only want to connect 2 speakers to the Amp for surrounds (or use the Play:1s).