Very nice, up power and speaker support at 8ohms.
more reading here:-
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/29/sonos-releases-new-speaker-amp-partners-with-sonance-for-in-wall-speakers/?guccounter=1
Looks like a solid update! I'm very interested and look forward to more details and reviews. The only disappointment is waiting till February 2019!
Good news!
I guess still no multichannel stereo on TV output, isn't it?
It can handle DD5.1 through hdmi arc, though you may need 2 x amps for full surround.
I guess still no multichannel stereo on TV output, isn't it?
When using two new Sonos Amps for your home theater, you'd get 4.1 (no audio is discarded, but you wouldn't have a dedicated center channel).
You could also use Amp with a Beam/Playbar/Playbase as the rear channels (wirelessly) to get 5.1.
Very nice, up power and speaker support at 8ohms.
Just checking in, are you asking for more power than the 125W per channel at 8 Ohms? That's over twice what the old Connect:Amp had (55W).
In your description you state this: "with a pair of Sonos One, Play:1, Play:3, or Play:5 to become a surround sound setup that you can use with your TV."
Which I read as capable of 5.1 if I added additional Sonos speakers. But sounds like from your comment above this actually isn't the case?
While not interested in the Amp, hopefully this means a new Connect sometime in 2019/2020.
In your description you state this: "with a pair of Sonos One, Play:1, Play:3, or Play:5 to become a surround sound setup that you can use with your TV."
Which I read as capable of 5.1 if I added additional Sonos speakers. But sounds like from your comment above this actually isn't the case?
It is a surround setup with a phantom center channel, as opposed to a dedicated center. The Amp has a lot of versatility and options especially since you can pair two together, or add surrounds like the other home theater speakers.
First off, I like it on first impression.
- Can it be bonded with a Sonos sub? I see that you can connect a non-Sonos sub, but haven't seen anything about the normal bonding of a Sonos sub.
- For HT, Is there an option to have passive speakers as the front speakers and then bond with 2 Sonos speakers as rear sounds? Is the opposite setup also true (Sonos speakers in the front, passive in the back)?
- Is it possible to create a 4.1 setup using only Sonos speakers. Say play:5s in the front, play:1s in the back, and a Sonos sub? Would you possibly need 2 Amps to get that done? (I know you, you're not using the Amp at all in this configuration)
- For any configuration where you use 2 Amps, or the Amp + Beam/Playbar/Playbase...will you be able to use 2 Subs, either Sonos or non-Sonos?
- Will you be able to set it so the RCA line in and/or the HDMI/ARC input will automatically switch to that source?
- Will it come with an optical adapter as the Beam does?
- Will there be an option to turn off the simulated center channel when using HDMI-ARC as input?
Sorry, lots of questions.
Hi Sonos team - Product looks amazing and may be a perfect fit for a setup I'm doing. We are doing only three front speakers for a TV (no surround). Would the new amp be able to channel center-left-right? Thanks!
Can it be bonded with a Sonos sub? I see that you can connect a non-Sonos sub, but haven't seen anything about the normal bonding of a Sonos sub.
Yes. The Sub can be bonded with all amplified Sonos players, including the Amp.
For HT, Is there an option to have passive speakers as the front speakers and then bond with 2 Sonos speakers as rear sounds? Is the opposite setup also true (Sonos speakers in the front, passive in the back)?
Yes, and yes, assuming you're powering those passive speakers with a Sonos Amp.
Is it possible to create a 4.1 setup using only Sonos speakers. Say play:5s in the front, play:1s in the back, and a Sonos sub? Would you possibly need 2 Amps to get that done? (I know you, you're not using the Amp at all in this configuration)
To make a surround sound setup for Sonos, you need to start with a home theater speaker (Sonos Beam, Playbar, Playbase, and now Amp). You can add to that any of the ones that can be used as surrounds (One, Play:1, Play:3, Play:5 gen2, Connect:Amp, and now Amp). The Amp can be stereo front channels and or stereo rear channels. Also, it's worth noting that center channel audio that is sent to the Amp is going to be split by left and right sides to give you a simulated center channel.
For any configuration where you use 2 Amps, or the Amp + Beam/Playbar/Playbase...will you be able to use 2 Subs, either Sonos or non-Sonos?
The Sub can only be bonded to a single Sonos room. A single Amp or a pair of them will count as a single Sonos room, so you can't bond multiple Sonos Subs to it. If you're using a single Amp, you can bond a Sonos Sub with it, and use the subwoofer output to connect a non-Sonos subwoofer as well. I believe they'll both use the same crossover frequency settings. A Sonos Amp that is being used as the rear speakers for a home theater setup (with any Sonos player) has the subwoofer output disabled.
Will you be able to set it so the RCA line in and/or the HDMI/ARC input will automatically switch to that source?
Yes. The HDMI-ARC will take priority, but I believe it can swap between them.
Will it come with an optical adapter as the Beam does?
It does not, but they are available to purchase from our shop if you need one.
Will there be an option to turn off the simulated center channel when using HDMI-ARC as input?
If your source audio is stereo, you'll get stereo :)
Hi Sonos team - Product looks amazing and may be a perfect fit for a setup I'm doing. We are doing only three front speakers for a TV (no surround). Would the new amp be able to channel center-left-right? Thanks!
Kind of answered above as well. The Amp has left and right channels to power speakers. You could connect up the right and left speakers and it'll simulate that center channel when you're getting an audio source that has dedicated center channel audio.
Another question:
I assume that anything connected through HDMI-ARC will play without any delay in order to be sync with video. With this be an option for sources connected to the RCA inputs as well? It's not crucial, but I can see an advantage for older TVs that don't have ARC or optical, as well as syncing with video from phones and tablets.
Is it possible to create a 4.1 setup using only Sonos speakers. Say play:5s in the front, play:1s in the back, and a Sonos sub? Would you possibly need 2 Amps to get that done? (I know you, you're not using the Amp at all in this configuration)
To make a surround sound setup for Sonos, you need to start with a home theater speaker (Sonos Beam, Playbar, Playbase, and now Amp). You can add to that any of the ones that can be used as surrounds (One, Play:1, Play:3, Play:5 gen2, Connect:Amp, and now Amp). The Amp can be stereo front channels and or stereo rear channels. Also, it's worth noting that center channel audio that is sent to the Amp is going to be split by left and right sides to give you a simulated center channel.
So based on what was bolded above. You can create a 5.1 (with simulated center channel) with a Sonos Amp, 2 Sonos speakers for front, 2 Sonos speakers for rear, and the Sonos sub? (No passive speakers involved and no need for second Amp).
Will there be an option to turn off the simulated center channel when using HDMI-ARC as input?
If your source audio is stereo, you'll get stereo :)
The scenario I'm thinking of is an outdoor tv where the Sonos Amp is connected by HDMI-ARC, but the speakers are located somewhere out in the yard, not to the left and right of the TV. In that scenario, I wouldn't think simulated center would be desired.
I assume that anything connected through HDMI-ARC will play without any delay in order to be sync with video. With this be an option for sources connected to the RCA inputs as well? It's not crucial, but I can see an advantage for older TVs that don't have ARC or optical, as well as syncing with video from phones and tablets.
The HDMI-ARC input doesn't have any noticeable delay, as expected, though when grouped with other players (not as a home theater setup) you may get a little sync delay between the rooms. The RCA analog input does have a bit more of a delay and functions just like it does on other Sonos players today, it may have a delay that's a bit more noticeable depending on several variables.
I guess still no multichannel stereo on TV output, isn't it?
When using two new Sonos Amps for your home theater, you'd get 4.1 (no audio is discarded, but you wouldn't have a dedicated center channel).
You could also use Amp with a Beam/Playbar/Playbase as the rear channels (wirelessly) to get 5.1.
Very nice, up power and speaker support at 8ohms.
Just checking in, are you asking for more power than the 125W per channel at 8 Ohms? That's over twice what the old Connect:Amp had (55W).
Hi Ryan thank you!
I was referring to stereo TV sound signal, in a Sonos 5.1 configuration (any) is not yet possible to have an "ambient" option for TV as well like with music, isn't it?
With stereo TV signal surround speakers will remain silent?
Thank you
Camillo
Thanks for clarifying, Camillo. There are some options with the Sonos Amp that you can use to get this setup. The easiest thing here is by using a single Sonos Amp with a Sub, you could hook up two speakers to the left and right terminals and you'd have stereo surround in the sense that left and right would be mirrored in the front and back. Sending it stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 would have similar mirroring out of all channels.
The Sonos Amp also has the option to play mono, so you could have the same audio playing out of all of the speakers connected with it.
There isn't a new setting for Sonos home theater players that will allow for the surrounds to mirror the front channels when playing TV sourced audio.
This looks like a great update. Thanks for integrating a lot of the community feedback.
I have two questions for pro-audio setups:
1. I see you can do some bonding with other speakers for a home theater setup but for whole-house audio, can you bond two amps together as a single zone with locked volume (set prior to bonding)? This is one of the reasons I've not been able to use Sonos amps for large room installs with more than 4 speakers. Having to manually group 4 living room zones is not an option for rich people.
2. Are you going to enhance the EQ features in the app? I'd like to see a full range eq slider but at least 5 or so frequencies would be a start. High/Low filters?
I love the rack integration features and no wifi setting! Many of the installs I do for high-end home audio require some EQ tuning for ceiling speakers and the bass/treble slider is not enough. I would suggest taking a look at Audio Authority's old ADX 16-16 software and check out their zone settings with EQ presets and filters. It's what I use at home with Connects and Dayton amps to resolve these issues.
Love what I'm seeing so far. The hardware looks fantastic.
The old Connect Amp was capable of powering up to 4 speakers at 8 ohms. With the increased power, will this amp be capable of driving more speakers simultaneously? I'm thinking of large outdoor zones that might have 6-8 speakers or grouping several stereo pairs until more Sonos Amps can be purchased. These would be ambient music/sound zones where volume levels are unlikely to be pushed like they would in a home theater setup.
I used to run 6 speakers off a connect:amp, using a speaker switch for impedance matching. I would think you'd be able to do that and more with the Sonos Amp. I would think you may trouble trying to connect 3 wires to the same post though, so a switch would be a good idea.
I have my tv connected to the current amp - will the new amp solve these two issues: 1) tv sound disappearing when movie is very silent, 2) not always 100 pct lip sync. If so I am buying!
This looks like a great update. Thanks for integrating a lot of the community feedback.
I have two questions for pro-audio setups:
1. I see you can do some bonding with other speakers for a home theater setup but for whole-house audio, can you bond two amps together as a single zone with locked volume (set prior to bonding)? This is one of the reasons I've not been able to use Sonos amps for large room installs with more than 4 speakers. Having to manually group 4 living room zones is not an option for rich people.
2. Are you going to enhance the EQ features in the app? I'd like to see a full range eq slider but at least 5 or so frequencies would be a start. High/Low filters?
Great questions, glad you're liking what you see!
1. The only bonding option currently is a home theater setup, which would allow you to bond two Amps together as a single "home theater room". There isn't a per player setting for max volume, but if you have the two bonded together you'd be able to control the volume of the two with just one slider. I'll pass along the request for some more settings and options here for bonding. The team is always listening for what people want to see added.
2. Again, there aren't any advanced EQ features here, but I'll pass along the suggestion.
I have my tv connected to the current amp - will the new amp solve these two issues: 1) tv sound disappearing when movie is very silent, 2) not always 100 pct lip sync. If so I am buying!
Yes, and yes. The Amp would be best to connect to your TV with the HDMI-ARC input which is designed for TV connections, and even has CEC for controls to be sent to the TV like the Beam does.
I'd like to know what the "get better with age", and the Sonance partnership means for the potential in the future to support better home cinema setups, such as full Dolby Atmos by connecting multiple amps together, maybe? Although, at the price point for each Amp, it's still probably best to get a dedicated AV receiver for that full Atmos setup... But it'd still be nice to know
For any configuration where you use 2 Amps, or the Amp + Beam/Playbar/Playbase...will you be able to use 2 Subs, either Sonos or non-Sonos?
Nope. The Sub can only be bonded to a single Sonos room, If you're using it was one Amp or two, it's still one Sonos room. The Sonos Amp being used as the rear speakers doesn't have the subwoofer output enabled.
This article suggest you can use 2 subs: https://www.techhive.com/article/3301498/software-music/sonos-amp-important-new-product.html
For projector owners - can the Sonos Amp be in the rear (powering 2 passive speakers and sub) with the HDMI plug from the source coming into the Sonos Amp.
Then ….. A playbar/beam as the front 3 speakers. No HDMI connected up front to the Beam.
