Existing 5.0 speakers - Add receiver+Port, or Beam+Amp?

  • 28 December 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 79 views
F

Hi,

We have just purchased a home, which was left with 5 passive wired speakers (rears in ceiling, 3 on wall at the front). This is in a basement room, approximately 4x4 metres, where we have installed our TV.

We are keen for Sonos sound in that room (other speakers are upstairs).

Wondering about pros/cons of the following (open to other options as well!):

 

1) Utilise all existing wired speakers by purchasing a home theatre receiver/amp/AVR, and connecting to Sonos via a Port. 

 

2) Buy a Beam (Arc expensive and probably overkill for us / this space) to replace the 3 x front speakers, and an Amp to power the rear in-ceiling speakers.

 

I am leaning towards option # 2, but appreciate any opinions or anything I haven't considered. Many thanks in advance!

4 replies

buzz

How are the three ii-wall speakers placed relative to the TV?

F

How are the three ii-wall speakers placed relative to the TV?

Hi Buzz, thanks for the reply.

The TV is wall mounted. Front speakers are wall mounted on the same wall, near the ceiling, facing forward. Centre speaker aligned with TV, L/R about 3/4 of the way to respective corners.

The rear, in-ceiling speakers are near the opposite wall, aligned with front L/R speakers.

Hope that all makes sense! Sorry I can't provide a diagram right now, out and about so just have my phone.

I
Userlevel 1
Badge +3

Buzz:

 

Opt 1 will work, to manage all existing speaker setup and adding a port will integrate that system to SONOS environment.

 

in case of opt 2 will work. However BEAM output will be not so powerful as 3 separated bookshelf speakers. And adding a nice AMP for satellite speakers  to me it’s a waste of money.

 

Other option as you mentioned is getting an ARC and sub and sell your speakers.

 

finally my recommendation is to make business case between opt 1 and opt 3 because receiver, amp, avr are not so cheap.

buzz

Fitzo,

Operationally, and performance wise Option 2 is best. This would be the minimum clutter option, but would not utilize the existing speakers.

In my opinion Option 1 will sound disjointed because the TV screen and audio don’t coincide. I would not use a pair of SONOS AMP’s (rather than AMP or BEAM), I’ll call this Option 2A, driving front L/R and rear surrounds because the L/R speakers are too far from the TV. Option 2A would not use the center speaker.

Option 1 would be slightly less convenient to operate because you would need to separately deal with PORT and the AVR. Yes, some AVR’s claim “works with SONOS”, but this (sort of) only integrates the Volume controls, you’d still need to select music using the SONOS controller Apps.

---

I don’t know the purpose of the room, the size and quality of the existing speakers, or your tastes. If the existing speakers are large and beefy and this is primarily a party space with casual TV watching, a beefy AVR with a subwoofer would be a better choice.

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings