Sonos Arc & Amp surround setup

lewisc
Userlevel 4
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When using a Sonos Arc with Amp as surrounds the app now specifies that the Arc needs to be hardwired to the router (regardless of other hard wired Sonos products / Amp). I can’t remeber if this has always been the case or it’s a new requirement.

 

The thing that I don’t understand is that on our shop demo system, neither the Arc or Amp is wired but is setup (and works) as Arc, surrounds w/ Sonos sub. The only difference is a Boost, can you get around it with a boost.

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10 replies

jgatie

The Connect:Amp was required to be wired.  The Amp has no such requirement.

lewisc
Userlevel 4
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The Connect:Amp was required to be wired.  The Amp has no such requirement.

But the Arc does? (This is all current hardware)

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ratty

The Connect:Amp was required to be wired.  The Amp has no such requirement.

But the Arc does? (This is all current hardware)

No. And the C:A only had to be wired to the HT master player because the C:A lacked a 5GHz wireless card.

If the controller gets grumpy about bonding a satellite and talks about wiring, it could be that the system’s in station mode (i.e. on the WiFi) and the satellite is having trouble getting an IP via the HT master.

lewisc
Userlevel 4
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So further investigation. The following occurs on Android +/ iOS and on multiple networks.

Setup 1 (Sonos Net)

  • Sonos Boost (hardwired)
  • Sonos One
  • Sonos Five
  • Sonos Beam
  • Sonos Arc
  • Sonos Sub
  • Sonos Amp
  1. Arc setup with Sub and Amp (as surrounds) ✔️

 

Setup 2 (Sonos Net)

  • Sonos One
  • Sonos Five
  • Sonos Beam
  • Sonos Arc
  • Sonos Sub
  • Sonos Amp (hardwired)
  1. Arc setup with Sub but can’t be setup with Amp (as surrounds) ❌

 

Setup 3 (Sonos Net)

A test to see if it is just a Boost allowing wireless pairing of Arc and Amp (as surrounds)

  • Sonos One (hardwired)
  • Sonos Five
  • Sonos Beam
  • Sonos Arc
  • Sonos Sub
  • Sonos Amp
  1. Arc setup with Sub and Amp (as surrounds) ✔️
  2. Doesn’t need to be a Boost hardwired

 

 

Results

So it seems you need a hardwired product to allow wireless bonding of an Arc and Amp (as surrounds) but the hardwired product can’t be the Sonos Amp 

Authorised Sonos Installer
Ken_Griffiths

@lewisc,
Isn’t it perhaps the case as @ratty mentions, where it appears your router is unable to assign an IP address via the main Sonos HT player to any of its bonded surrounds? It’s probably an incompatibility issue and you simply need to run your system in SonosNet mode to get around the issue, but do not wire a device acting as a Surround/Sub, instead use the Boost, or a standalone speaker instead.

Just out of interest what router is it?

ratty

Setup 2 (Sonos Net)

  • Sonos One
  • Sonos Five
  • Sonos Beam
  • Sonos Arc
  • Sonos Sub
  • Sonos Amp (hardwired)
  1. Arc setup with Sub but can’t be setup with Amp (as surrounds) ❌

 

As @Ken_Griffiths says, this is not a valid setup. A home theatre satellite -- and that includes an Amp driving surrounds -- cannot be the sole wired connection.

 

I don’t see a test with none of the units wired, i.e. in “wireless”/WiFi/station mode. The Amp should have bonded with the Arc fine (unless there’s a router issue with proxied DHCP requests).

lewisc
Userlevel 4
Badge +9

As @Ken_Griffiths says, this is not a valid setup. A home theatre satellite -- and that includes an Amp driving surrounds -- cannot be the sole wired connection.

 

Is there a reason that surrounds can’t be the hub? From our tests, that is the conclusion the I got… but why

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106rallye
Userlevel 7
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It seems the dedicated 5Ghz connection from the soundbar to the surrounds is not really suited for constant two way communication.

ratty

As @Ken_Griffiths says, this is not a valid setup. A home theatre satellite -- and that includes an Amp driving surrounds -- cannot be the sole wired connection.

 

Is there a reason that surrounds can’t be the hub? From our tests, that is the conclusion the I got… but why

As @106rallye says, the satellite connection is not suited for being the main trunk into the system.

  • The bursty traffic demanded by other players in the system could affect the latency on the satellite's home theatre connection, and it has a very shallow buffer.
  • The satellite connections fluctuate -- changing bands and channels -- when the HT setup is idle. 

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3209: “Surround speakers or Sub cannot be used as the single wired product.”

lewisc
Userlevel 4
Badge +9

 

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3209: “Surround speakers or Sub cannot be used as the single wired product.”

Great thanks, this was the thinking but couldn’t find it anywhere in writing

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