Sonos Arc Ultra in group plus Sonos Amp

Yes, you could add two more speakers of your own choosing, assuming they match with the Amps output (most do). Yes, there would be a 75 ms delay between the (software defined) rooms of the Arc Ultra and any other Sonos ‘room’ .

The only way to deal with that delay is to either ‘bond’ the Amp so that it serves as the surround speakers to the Arc Ultra (only one ‘pair’ is allowed) so they’ll be in perfect sync, or delay the Arc Ultra’s output in the controller, altering the lipsync in order to get closer to the extra ‘room’,  which would be a stereo signal, not a surround, or any other type of output. 

Sonos only provides a 5.2 software solution, you can’t add additional surrounds or Atmos speakers to their system. 

This might be helpful: the Sonos terminology thread.

The delay would be a minimum of 75ms, and you cannot reduce the delay.  Grouping, especially grouping of TV sources, is meant to group disparate rooms.  Use cases like hearing the football game in the bathroom or outside deck, for example.  Grouping is not meant to add additional speakers to a room to achieve an extra set of surrounds, or front left/right speakers in a home theater setup.  

Note: Besides the obvious delay, a separate room grouped to a TV source will play L/C/R, surround L/R, and Atmos L/R channels all downmixed to a stereo 2.0 L/R signal.  Which means besides the delay, any grouped speakers placed in the same room will be messing up the surround/Atmos effects by repeating all channels that are meant to be discreetly placed.  In short, it would be a mess, even if one could eliminate the echo from the delay.

If you nave the Arc Grouped with your Ones you already have the delay with them, so adding an Amp to the Group would be similar. I don't think you mean Grouped.

If you have the Arc Bonded to the Ones and Sub in a home theater Room there is no delay. You could remove the Ones from the Room and add the Amp instead.

When Grouping for TV audio tne Grouped speakers always have the delay, there no way of avoiding it

There is no way (supported by Sonos) to have more than one set of surrounds with the Arc and Subs. 

Just to be clear as some confuse “Grouping” (which is combining two Sonos Rooms) with “Bonding” (which in your case could be a Sub bonded to your Arc Ultra and the Ones bonded to your Arc Ultra as surrounds). Could it be the latter with the Arc Ultra creating a Room that is your Home Theater?

If the latter you can purchase an Amp and use your own wired speakers to create another Sonos Room.

You can then create a Group with the ArcUltra and the Amp. When playing music to that Group there will be no noticeable delay as the rooms will play music in sync. However, sending TV audio originating from the ArcUltra will cause the 75ms delay to the Amp and wired speakers. The same would be true when sending TV audio to any Sonos Room (speaker) outside of the ArcUltra room.

So once again please clarify if the ArcUltra, sub and Ones are “Bonded” together creating a Home Theater.

Thank you for your responses. And yes, I do have the sub and the Ones bonded to the Arc Ultra. I’m quite convinced that this is a bad idea, and would muddy the sound. 

jgatie Thanks for your direct frankness. Messed up ain’t what I’m goin’ for. 

Take care all. 

It’s not a bad idea to purchase an Amp and wire speakers of your own choosing. You just have understand that it can’t be part of your Home Theater.

You can set it up as another Sonos room and place it any where you like in your home. You can group it with your Sonos Home Theater to play music.

Heck, I have an Amp with wired speakers in the same room as my ArcUltra with subs and surrounds. However the Amp and wired speakers are for my Turntable.

What you should not do is group the Amp with your Home Theater for TV audio. That will cause a 75ms delay to the Amp. 

Some will do so anyway if the speakers are out of range of the Sonos soundbar to listen to play by play of a sporting event. The delay is typically not noticeable in that situation.

I hope this explains things for you. If not please come back for further clarification.

The Arc with Sub and surrounds bonded to it does not give muddy sound, that is the best combination for TV listening. Perfect synchronization, surround channels and enhanced bass response. 

Grouping additional Rooms when listening to TV,  not streaming audio, is where the delay is present.

The ‘difference’ we’re talking about is between ‘bonded’ and ‘grouped’. See the link in my original post.