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AdamY
Contributor II
May 5, 2020
Answered

Sonos in Wall Surround Sound

Hi All, 

After some conflicting information I’m looking for some guidance.

 

Essentially I had planned 2 purchase:

2 x In Wall Sonos Speakers & AMP to power

2 x Sonos One

1 x Sub

 

I’d planned to set these up as a Surround Sound System, with the In Wall Speakers creating the Phantom Centre Channel, and the 2 x Sonos Ones being the rear left and right.

 

Apparently this can’t be done?

 

I don’t want to purchase a Beam or Playbar as the TV currently sits on a chimney breast and the wall is flush without plug sockets. I haven’t opted for the ceiling speakers either as I want a speaker as part of the surround sound setup to have Alexa built in I can group.

 

Any assistance before I go spending a few 1000 is great.

 

Thanks,

 

Adam

 

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    Airgetlam
    AirgetlamAnswer
    May 5, 2020

    That should be doable. What makes you think it can’t be done?

    The challenging part will be running the HDMI cable from the TV to the Amp, but that’s not impossible, and could be easy. 

    Bruce
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    13 replies

    Airgetlam
    AirgetlamAnswer
    May 5, 2020

    That should be doable. What makes you think it can’t be done?

    The challenging part will be running the HDMI cable from the TV to the Amp, but that’s not impossible, and could be easy. 

    Bruce
    AdamYAuthor
    Contributor II
    May 5, 2020

    That should be doable. What makes you think it can’t be done?

    The challenging part will be running the HDMI cable from the TV to the Amp, but that’s not impossible, and could be easy. 

    Thanks for the prompt reply.

     

    When you say ‘should’, how confident are you? Apologies, not keen on getting it wrong.

     

    What makes me think it can’t be done…..the dude in the shop that said I could only create a 4.0 stereo using 2 amps, 2 ceiling and 2 wall.

     

    We have a Samsung The Frame, with a One Connect Box hidden in a cupboard, so can plug the AMP straight into the One Connect Box.

    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    May 5, 2020

    Well, barring any issues with the Samsung and lipsync, 100%. I’m not overly fond of in wall speakers as fronts, but there’s no technical reason why your proposal wouldn’t work. Again, what makes you think it can’t be done? 

    Bruce
    AdamYAuthor
    Contributor II
    May 5, 2020

    Well, barring any issues with the Samsung and lipsync, 100%. I’m not overly fond of in wall speakers as fronts, but there’s no technical reason why your proposal wouldn’t work. Again, what makes you think it can’t be done? 

    Again, thanks for your prompt response.

     

    Well to be honest, as an absolute novice, I called my local AV provider who said, this can’t be done. You need to connect it to a Beam or Playbar, and use them as rears.

     

    According to him, the best I could get using In Wall and 2 x Ones would be stereo for the TV. 

     

    Thanks.

    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    May 5, 2020

    The AV provider is wrong.  When you use a Amp for your front speakers, there is no requirement to use an Amp for the rear speakers as well.   You can use  pretty much any pair of Sonos speakers you want except Sonos Move, or a second Amp.

    Danny
    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    May 5, 2020

    Odd. Your installer is incorrect, and just doesn’t understand the new Amp. Perhaps they were thinking of the CONNECT:AMP, in which case they would indeed be correct. 

    Bruce
    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    May 5, 2020

    Odd. Your installer is incorrect, and just doesn’t understand the new Amp. Perhaps they were thinking of the CONNECT:AMP, in which case they would indeed be correct. 

     

    The Connect:amp can only be used for rear speakers though.  I don’t know how he could conclude that would result in stereo.

    Danny
    AdamYAuthor
    Contributor II
    May 5, 2020

    The AV provider is wrong.  When you use a Amp for your front speakers, there is no requirement to use an Amp for the rear speakers as well.   You can use  pretty much any pair of Sonos speakers you want except Sonos Move, or a second Amp.

    Danny/Bruce, thanks so much for this.

    I had a small meltdown when told it couldn’t be done, as we’re currently having an electrician pull wires through the walls. 

    Another one, I hear that when the Sonos Ones are setup as surrounds Airplay is then disabled. I presume Airplay would still be enabled on the AMP for stereo to all 4 speakers?

    Thanks again.

    Adam

    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    May 5, 2020

    The AV provider is wrong.  When you use a Amp for your front speakers, there is no requirement to use an Amp for the rear speakers as well.   You can use  pretty much any pair of Sonos speakers you want except Sonos Move, or a second Amp.

    Danny/Bruce, thanks so much for this.

    I had a small meltdown when told it couldn’t be done, as we’re currently having an electrician pull wires through the walls. 

    Another one, I hear that when the Sonos Ones are setup as surrounds Airplay is then disabled. I presume Airplay would still be enabled on the AMP for stereo to all 4 speakers?

    Thanks again.

    Adam

     

    That is correct.  For home theatre room, airplay is going to communicate to the ‘master’ speaker, which is the one that plays the front speaker channels.  So that speaker must be airplay enabled, and the Sonos Amp is. 

     

    FYI, the reason this issue comes up is that the current playbar is not Airplay compatible, so using Sonos Ones as rears with a playbar isn’t an airplay compatible room.

    Danny
    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    May 5, 2020

    Yes, AirPlay 2 would be enabled on the Amp, and be playable to all speakers. 

    Bruce
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