Question

Sonos AMP, ARC and 7.2 setup


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Hi

I am contemplating purchasing a Amp and ARC. I have the living room pre-wired for 4 speakers and the patio has 2 speakers (Klipsch). I want to connect all the 3 pairs of speakers (i might buy sonance in-wall speakers for living room next year) to the Amp. Trying to replicate a 7.2 set up with a second powered zone in the patio (without running the 7.2 receiver+port/connect set up). Will connect AMP, DVD player and cable box to TV through HDMI. I have 2 questions

 

  1. Can i power the patio speakers separately from the living room speakers if i do this and only use them when required?
  2. How can I connect the TV to Sonos ARC? I only have 1 HDMI Arc outlet on TV

I am trying to do this with 1 AMP rather than buying 2 AMPs. 

Thanks in advance


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15 replies

No, Arc does not support 7.2. Arc would handle the front and AMP would handle the rears. You could connect two pairs of speakers to AMP, however, when playing TV audio AMP will deliver only the surround information. You could configure AMP to deliver stereo audio when listening to music. You’ll need an external means to independently adjust the volume for the two pairs of speakers attached to AMP. Overall, I don’t think that you would enjoy operating this configuration.

TV’s only have an HDMI-ARC connection and this will be connected to Arc. The other input devices will be connected to the TV’s regular inputs.

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No, Arc does not support 7.2. Arc would handle the front and AMP would handle the rears. You could connect two pairs of speakers to AMP, however, when playing TV audio AMP will deliver only the surround information. You could configure AMP to deliver stereo audio when listening to music. You’ll need an external means to independently adjust the volume for the two pairs of speakers attached to AMP. Overall, I don’t think that you would enjoy operating this configuration.

TV’s only have an HDMI-ARC connection and this will be connected to Arc. The other input devices will be connected to the TV’s regular inputs.

I can use a 7.2 Pioneer receiver and a port. In that case, can i use a Receiver HDMI Arc out and Sonos Arc to a HDMI switch and HDMI switch to TV. I would want my receiver to use Arc functionality as well as I would be connectig non-sonos speakers to receiver in this configuration

No. Sonos HT systems replace receivers, they don't work with them. The Port only does stereo. Sonos doesn't do 7.2.

You can either choose a standard Sonos HT setup of Arc for front, Sonos Sub and Amp + passives or Sonos amplified speakers for the rears, or not have Sonos HT at all. There is no hybrid solution. 

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buying $650 amp to drive the wired speakers in patio seems insane. I thought a port connected to a pioneer or onkyo 7.2 receiver would get me the stereo in patio and front and rear speakers in the living room connected to 5.1 channels on the receiver give me surround. 

Hi again.  You cannot manufacture 7.2 from a stereo input. (Although what you seem to be asking for is a 5.1 surround and a stereo output from a stereo input.)

The Port is designed to feed a HiFi Amp to play stereo music.  It is not intended for use in AV applications or for surround sound.  

I can only repeat what i said before.  You either have a proper Sonos HT setup using products that Sonos has designed for this purpose or a ‘traditional’ wired set up with no Sonos.  

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Hi again.  You cannot manufacture 7.2 from a stereo input. (Although what you seem to be asking for is a 5.1 surround and a stereo output from a stereo input.

The Port is designed to feed a HiFi Amp to play stereo music.  It is not intended for use in AV applications or for surround sound.  

I can only repeat what i said before.  You either have a proper Sonos HT setup using products that Sonos have designed for this purpose or a ‘traditional’ wired set up with no Sonos.  

Thanks John

 

While Port is only for stereo, consider the below alternate configuration. 

Arc as front, 1 pair of wired speakers to pioneer sonos ready 7.2 receiver via port as rear. Patio speakers connected to 2nd powered zone via port for stereo 

 

Above will allow me to get away with port,arc and a 7.2 receiver. 

 

 

The Port cannot be used for rear speakers. The Port has no role to play in a Sonos HT setup. It cannot be made to carry just the rear channels and would not sync.

My advice?  Buy an Arc and two Sonos One SLs for the rear surrounds.  Get another pair of One SLs for the patio.  Sell the receivers.

Or forget Sonos.

Edit: OK - if you have a receiver and speakers you could use a Port purely for stereo music on the patio instead of the second pair of One Sls.

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The Port cannot be used for rear speakers. The Port has no role to play in a Sonos HT setup. It cannot be made to carry just the rear channels and would not sync.

My advice?  Buy an Arc and two Sonos One SLs for the rear surrounds.  Get another pair of One SLs for the patio.  Sell the receivers.

Or forget Sonos.

Edit: OK - if you have a receiver and speakers you could use a Port purely for stereo music on the patio instead of the second pair of One Sls.

Thanks for your patience. One more I thought was Arc for front. Amp driving the rear speakers in the living room and patio speakers. I already have volume control for patio speakers on the wall. If i incorporate a speaker switch before the amp, i can turn off rear speakers if i need to. 

I dont need to re-invest in a 7.2 receiver for the above set up. Just AMP, ARC and a switch

 

Thanks

 

Raj

A switch for the rear speakers is OK, but you will not be able to mute Arc independently of the switched OFF rears.

If you rarely use the Patio, you could un-bond AMP and use it independently from Arc, however, this will become a chore over time.

Userlevel 7

Hi @matrix170181 

Sonos does not do 7.2 surround. The Arc will downmix a 7.1 signal to 5.0.2  or add the sub for 5.1.2 which is:

  • Arc
  • Sub
  • Two surrounds (Play 1 x 2 or Play 3 x 2 or Play 5 x 2 or Five x 2 or Sonos Amp 3rd party speaker x 2 or any combination of Sonos One or Sonos One SL x 2) *

Regarding the 4 speakers in living room and 2 speakers on patio….

  • You can only run 4 speakers off a Sonos Amp. Therefore you would need two Amps to power all 6 speakers (i.e. one for the living room x 4 and one for the patio x 2).
  • You can run 6 speakers off of one Amp using Sonos Architectural Speakers by Sonance. See them here. So in theory although the 3 pairs of speaker would play the same music you could employ a switch for living room and a switch for patio to control the volume separately.

If you were to use Sonos Architectural Speakers by Sonance you’d have to decide what to do with any speakers you’ve previously purchased for the living room and patio.

 * The Sonos One SL x 2 is the best choice over the Sonos One x 2 when used as surrounds with the Arc or Beam as the voice assistant is muted in the Sonos One. So save your money.

Cheers!

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Hmm, if i have to ditch the receiver looks like I have to run new HDMI cables behind wall to go from cable box, DVD player and AMP to go to the TV and separate HDMI cable from TV to Sonos Arc. need to get fishing I guess

Userlevel 4
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Here is what I would do. 
 

Don’t get the Arc or the Amp. 
 

Get/keep a Pioneer receiver which works with Sonos. Could be the VSX-LX304. Typically priced at about the same as a Sonos Amp. 
 

Buy two Sonos Ports (or two used Sonos Connects second gen (with Play-buttons rather than Mute-buttons on the front). 
 

Buy the amount of third-party (or Sonance in-wall/in-ceiling) front and center speakers as you want plus one or two subs as you prefer. You could consider just using two floor standing speakers or bookshelves with updating speakers.

 

Now:

Connect the speakers in the living room to the Pioneer - leave two speaker-ports for the patio-speakers.

 

Use the Pioneer-receiver for HT. You will get 5.1, 5.2, 7.1 or 7.2 as you please. It will power up with your tv connected with HDMI and support any codec you like including Atmos, DTS and Dolby Digital Plus. The Pioneer has several HDMI inputs, so you can connect your Blu-ray player etc directly to that and only run a single HDMI-cable to the TVs HDMI Arc port. 
 

Connect the patio-speakers to the last speaker-ports on the Pioneer. It can run two zones. One will be the living room and one will be the patio. 

 

Connect the two Sonos Ports (or Connects) to the Pioneer and set up Works with Sonos. You can pair one with Zone A being the living room and one with Zone B being the patio.

 

Now, you will find both both Zones (the two Ports/Connects) in your Sonos app. If you stream to either, they will turn on the receiver and start playing. An update earlier this year even ensures that you can control volume via the Sonos app so they will work as any other Sonos speaker.
 

 

Badge +1

Here is what I would do. 
 

Don’t get the Arc or the Amp. 
 

Get/keep a Pioneer receiver which works with Sonos. Could be the VSX-LX304. Typically priced at about the same as a Sonos Amp. 
 

Buy two Sonos Ports (or two used Sonos Connects second gen (with Play-buttons rather than Mute-buttons on the front). 
 

Buy the amount of third-party (or Sonance in-wall/in-ceiling) front and center speakers as you want plus one or two subs as you prefer. You could consider just using two floor standing speakers or bookshelves with updating speakers.

 

Now:

Connect the speakers in the living room to the Pioneer - leave two speaker-ports for the patio-speakers.

 

Use the Pioneer-receiver for HT. You will get 5.1, 5.2, 7.1 or 7.2 as you please. It will power up with your tv connected with HDMI and support any codec you like including Atmos, DTS and Dolby Digital Plus. The Pioneer has several HDMI inputs, so you can connect your Blu-ray player etc directly to that and only run a single HDMI-cable to the TVs HDMI Arc port. 
 

Connect the patio-speakers to the last speaker-ports on the Pioneer. It can run two zones. One will be the living room and one will be the patio. 

 

Connect the two Sonos Ports (or Connects) to the Pioneer and set up Works with Sonos. You can pair one with Zone A being the living room and one with Zone B being the patio.

 

Now, you will find both both Zones (the two Ports/Connects) in your Sonos app. If you stream to either, they will turn on the receiver and start playing. An update earlier this year even ensures that you can control volume via the Sonos app so they will work as any other Sonos speaker.
 

 

This sounds good. I wish I could have seen this in time. i decided to buy a Arc and AMP for now . I might buy a spekaer splitter to go between Amp ---(living room rear speakers and patio speaker). Decided not to buy front speakers for living room.  I already have a move and Play 5 so will keep building on the sonos system. Above soudns perfect however I am still not sure if we can connect 2 ports to drive a receiver like VSXlX304

This sounds good. I wish I could have seen this in time. i decided to buy a Arc and AMP for now . I might buy a spekaer splitter to go between Amp ---(living room rear speakers and patio speaker). Decided not to buy front speakers for living room.  I already have a move and Play 5 so will keep building on the sonos system. Above soudns perfect however I am still not sure if we can connect 2 ports to drive a receiver like VSXlX304

 

Whether you can use 2 ports or not, I think you might be over complicating things a bit, at least in terms of control.  A slight modification to that plan, would be to use a Port with a Pioneer AVR that meets your home theatre needs, and use a Sonos Amp for outdoor speakers instead of a Port and the 2nd zone of your AVR.  The Amp is $200 more than a Port, but you won’t have to deal with trying to run a second zone off your AVR, and you likely will have more power to the speakers with the option of adding another pair if you wish.  You can also add a TV out there later on if you wish.

 

Userlevel 4
Badge +7

All of the new Pioneer Elites can run up to three zones using three Ports. Pretty smart for installers.  The main benefit is of course the cost difference between the Amp and the Port.
 

But you will of course be limiting the speaker ports - and draining power from the receiver if everything is playing at once. 
 

In the house we are currently building, I actually purchased a couple of used second gen. Connect:Amps for a couple of stereo speakers which are not connected to a TV. The second gen. Connect:Amps will be upgraded to S2 and only cost me a little more 200 USD a piece. Great value. 
 

In the living room, I will be getting a third party receiver from Onkyo or Pioneer and hooking up a single Port or Connect just for that one zone.