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New Sonos Arc owner surround options with older Sonos equipment

  • 2 February 2021
  • 7 replies
  • 1524 views
N

Hello community,

I purchased a new Sonos Arc and removed a lot of my gear to create a more simple surround sound system.  I was forced to update from Sonos S1 to the S2 system.  It was necessary for me to remove several Sonos products from S1 to do the upgrade.  I removed 3 Sonos connect, a Sonos Bridge and a Sonos Connect:amp.  I am able to re utilize those products by running a split system but this leaves me with no way to drive my in-wall surround speakers.  I was counting on using the connect:amp to do this.  I am also unable to run my Velodyne Sub which I am willing to leave out of the system for now.  It appears to me, this is not possible.  I find myself in a frustrating position without having surround sound and feel quite abandoned by Sonos.  I know some of my components are old but that is why I have tried to invest in high quality product.  I never looked at it as a “rental agreement” with Sonos.  As a worst case, it looked like I might be able to receive a 30% credit towards upgrading to an S2 compatible Sonos Amp with the trade in of my connect:amp which is a potential way forward for me to again have a surround sound system.  I'm hoping someone can steer me to a viable option as my Sonos Connect:Amp is not showing up as available for upgrade.  Without an acceptable upgrade or work around path, I will have to send the Arc back as a return.  I don't have a lot of time to still do this but right now I feel like I have made a serious downgrade to my movie viewing enjoyment.  All my old equipment is functional a d can be reinstalled.  I do enjoy the clean and simple installation this new Sonos Arc provides and I haven't calculated the proceeds from recycling all that copper wire I removed ;-)

I will be very appreciative of any hints and suggestions you folks can give me.  I'd rather not send this ARC back.

NC Rick

Fletcher, NC 

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Best answer by NC Rick 2 February 2021, 23:22

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7 replies

melvimbe

You can use a Sonos amp to power your rear surround channels.   Of course, you can also use Sonos Ones, One SLs, 3s, and 5s...on S2 of course.

 

Regarding the 30% trade up discount, if the connect:amp isn’t compatible with S2 then it must be eligible for trade up discount.  If it is compatible with S2, then you should be able to use it with the Arc and get a 15% trade discount (while keeping the connect:amp).   How are you concluding that it’s not eligible?  If you log into the Sonos site, it should tell you that the product is eligilble, or that you’ve already applied it to the program and can use it.  Perhaps you already used the discount?  Did you use it with the Arc?

Danny
N

Thank you Danny,

 

I have not used any discount.  I had to reinstall my Amp which is not S2 compatible, I think I got it in 2013.  It shows up in the system after resetting it but doesn't show being upgrade eligible like my connect, bridge and play 3s do.  If it won't work on S2 it can't provide my rear channel speakers as part of the ARC, right?  I was using discrete amps and speakers for 5.1.

rick

N

Okay folks, this problem seems to be resolved after leaving the connect:amp reconnected for several hours, the green upgrade button appeared and I went ahead and rented another piece of gear from Sonos :grinning:

now, to recycle all the copper!  What about the box ARC comes in!  I can't throw it out.  That is some fancy packaging.  Getting a discount on a replacement amp is a reasonable solution I am willing to settle for and I am keeping the ARC.

 

thanks for reading and responding!

now the subwoofer...

N

Hi Rick,

I’m not quite clear on how you were able to resolve the issue?

Did the connect:amp work in the end to drive the surround speakers for the arc? I’m thinking of buying an arc and using my existing connect:amp as surround speakers so I’m keen to know if this setup works using S2. 
 

Thanks!

G
Userlevel 7

@Ncphysio A Connect:Amp will power a pair of surround speakers for the Arc. Just be sure it is the Connect:Amp (Gen 2) so it is compatible with the S2 app. You also need to use either of these two setups:

  • Both the Sonos home theater speaker and Connect:Amp are wired to the router with an Ethernet cable.
     
  • The Sonos home theater speaker is wired to the Connect:Amp with an Ethernet cable and another Sonos product is wired to the router.
"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
N

@GuitarSuperstar thanks for your reply. I had read this article on the Sonos site but have seen a few complaints about this setup not working and was wondering if @NC Rick was able to overcome the issue. 

N

@GuitarSuperstar thanks for your reply. I had read this article on the Sonos site but have seen a few complaints about this setup not working and was wondering if @NC Rick was able to overcome the issue. 

I actually overcame the issue only today.  My Connect:amp was a generation 1 and would not work with the arc.

sonos offered a discount on the new Amp.  So throwing more money at it works! :yum:

to be fair, I'm happy with the 30 percent discount and as far as I know, I can still use my old connect:amp for something else in a split system (Sonos 1 controller).  I dint plan to spend so much but I'm much more happy with the Arc sound bar.  The surround speakers really enhances the arc compared to them not being working.  The system can't have the same sound as what I replaced but it works all the time and my wife can even use it!  Now if I could only use my 900w Velodyne subwoofer.  I have a lot of old equipment I'm not going to use even though it's perfectly good.

im a happy customer, I have what I wanted for the most part.

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