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Adauce
Contributor II
July 17, 2023

Sonos for home theatre with Amp(s)

Hi. New to Sonos.

I am not able to find any detailed info on using the Sonos Amp as a home theatre set up.

I have 5.1 conventional setup and thinking of retiring my AV Amp, leaving me with 5 good satellite speakers and a decent sub.

It is easy to see how the rear part works with one Amp. Less clear how the front will work. Left, right and sub can work off the Amo (assuming software\config allows), but how is the critical middle channel (under the TV) made to work?

Will a single Sonos One deliver the middle channel? Or is the middle channel somehow virtual, which sounds like a weak solution that depends on crucial sound stage questions. I don’t want that.

Or am I stuck with having to get a Sonos soundbar? In this case will my front left and right conventional speakers become redundant? Or will they work in concert with the soundbar? Or will the left and right soundbar channels be redundant?

I don’t want to buy a Sonos Amp just to feed a low level signal to my well powered sub. 

Can the sub output for the rear channels Amp  be used to feed a third party sub if I have a Sonos soundbar?

Or is the reality that I will need a Sonos sub with the Soundbar?

Or should I just buy a new proper AV Amp which will drop into place, wires and all, and get a Port for Sonos music?

Is seems more complex than I expected!

Is all this properly documented anywhere?

Happy to reexplain my questions if not clear above.

Adam

 

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14 replies

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Stanley_4
Stanley_4
Grand Maestro
July 20, 2023

I’d really lean towards the Port.

If it will work in your room I’d also plan on Atmos playback at some point. Maybe not add the speakers yet but make sure the AVR will support it.

 

Atmos and Port compatible: 

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_10420/Home-Theater-Receivers.html?fa=1&o=v#&nvpair=FFNumber_Of_Channels|[rank0007]7&nvpair=FFNumber_Of_Channels|[rank0009]9&nvpair=AG_Surround%20Sound%20Formats|YCDolby_Atmos&nvpair=AG_General_Features|FFSonos_Integration

    EnEm
    Avid Contributor I
    July 21, 2023

    Stanley_4. I am 100% going the same way you suggest but will test the Arc first before settling on pure Sonos or Sonos port with AV Amp.

    I don’t like the sound of the AMP as Home Theatre solution (pun intended) and the information that once the AMP is configured in home theatre mode the sub won’t work for music is the final nail in the coffin (assuming I have understood the comments above correctly).

    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    July 21, 2023

    The front AMP will support a subwoofer and Line-In, a surround AMP will not support subwoofer or Line-In.

      EnEm
      Avid Contributor I
      July 21, 2023

      Thanks Buzz. The more I hear, the more I realise that Sonos is best for music, unless you get into the soundbar set up when it is excellent. Totally understandable but not sure if we want a soundbar in our set up. The Playbase appealed back in the day but that is now old news.

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