@Tejs Dyrvig Ernst Great post for the Sonos Community. I myself do not use the Sonance Architectural speakers with an Amp. You mention the Amp as surrounds, what will be the front to your Home Theater setup to bond with your Sonos Sub?

Let’s see what the Community can offer as feedback to their experience with this surround setup.

Thanks John. 
 

I will be using two AMPs. One will be driving two in-ceilings for the front and a Sonos Sub. This first one will be connected to my tv via HDMI.
 

The other AMP will be driving two in-ceilings as rear-channels for the surround. 

I will actually be buying a third AMP and two more in-ceilings for the dining area which is downstairs from the living room but connected to the living room via an open area. 

Bump

I am currently in contact with various Hifi-installers, as I am trying to decide on the right contractor and setup for a new house we are building. 
 
I have explained each of the installers that I was leaning towards the Sonos-speakers as I would be using Sonos AMPs (meaning I could use Trueplay) and also because of their ability to pivot both tweeter and woofer which would be good in a surround-setup. 

To my surprise, all of the installers I’ve spoken with strongly recommend agains the Sonos in-ceilings despite all of them being in favor of the Sonos AMP. 

Their claim is that the sound is significantly inferior to other in-ceilings of similar price, e.g. from Klipsch, Dali or Cambridge.

Most of these alternatives include a tilting tweeter, but not a tilting woofer. Most of them do however include a larger woofer (8” vs 6.5” on the Sonos). 
 

I have still yet to hear the Sonos-speakers myself, but these recommendations are making me look in other directions.   

Installers will recommend what they can mark up the most, which means what they can buy at the lowest cost under retail price.  Often this means items they buy in bulk to save on costs, or they have relationships with certain suppliers that give deals on certain brands. Never take an installers' recommendations at face value.

I fully agree and more often than not, the guys on the floor don’t really know much about the stuff their selling. They just know how to calculate their profits.
 

But I was surprised about the consistency - all of the recommended the AMP but recommended against the speakers. 

Allow me to let out some steam:

One of the installers just prepared me a whole presentation with a proposal costing more than 4x the budget I gave him…

Told him I had Sonos Sub I would be reusing, but he still suggested another sub at about 4,000 USD and that was just one of many weird suggestions.
 

The presentation also spoke greatly of his expertise and how great Sonos was (although I told him I have been using Sonos for 10 years)… 

One of the points he highlighted was that I would “soon” be able to voice-control my Sonos. I couldn’t help laughing as I asked Alexa to turn up the music...sigh.

Why call yourself an expert when you are nowhere close?

Unfortunately, they make a lot of money off those who are uneducated. You’re probably in the minority of those they deal with, an educated consumer. 

I’ll share my experience for those considering the Sonos/Sonance In-Ceiling Architectural speakers.  I recently added the Amp + In-Ceiling speakers to my home theater setup to be used as rear surrounds. These In-Ceiling speakers replaced my Sonos One’s previously used as rear surrounds. My current setup is: Playbar, Sub, and Amp + In-Ceiling pair. Overall, I am very happy with the In-Ceiling speakers as rear surrounds and for music playback in general.

I have not found a way to pivot the tweeters independently from the woofer. I’m still not sure if it’s user error (me not pressing the tweeter at the correct angle), or if the tweeters are actually fused/fixed to the woofer. The user manual and Sonos reps claim they move independently, but the image provided in the manual does not clearly show or explain how the tweeter pivots. Also, I cannot find any videos or pictures to date online. Hopefully, I can find something in Sonance’s manuals or documents. On a positive note, I can confirm, the whole assembly (woofer+tweeter together) pivoting functionality works well for my vaulted/angled ceiling setup when combined with Trueplay tuning.

After several months of use, I am impressed with the sound from the Sonos/Sonance In-Ceiling Speakers. My initial worry was they would sound small or tinny and be unable to fill the room with sound, but they actually sound surprisingly full-bodied with impactful bass when used for music playback! I leave the “Music Playback” setting set to “Full” (within the Sonos app), and these speakers fill my fairly large living room with sound very well for their size.  Also, Trueplay tuning made a noticeable difference (be sure to run Trueplay again if you decide to rearrange furniture in the room). 

For my application, the In-Ceiling speakers sound better AND fill the room with more sound than my two Sonos Ones. I’d describe the sound as more immersive… as if the living room is better covered in a blanket of sound compared to the more directional sound I was getting from my One speakers.

Thank you for the mini review. There is really not much info on the quality of the speakers online so that is much appreciated. 
 

As I will be using four identical in-ceilings and a sub as my main speakers for the living room, I do think the 6.5 inch Sonance speakers will be too small for my needs although they seem to be a great pick for rear-channels. I need them to be identical for me to have some flexibility to flip my living room seating area :)

I will likely be getting some 8inches from Klipsch (Reference series) or B&W (CCM683 or 682).