Retired Sonos Staff

Introducing Sonos Amp

Details and Specs

Physical Specs Amp comes in Matte black with black and silver banana plugs all in a standard rack fit size. The dimensions are 8.54 x 8.54 x 2.52 in. (217 mm (w) x 217 mm (d) x 64 mm (h)) and it weighs 4.6 lbs. (2.1 kg). Custom banana plugs that accept 10 - 18 AWG speaker wire and the Class-D digital amplifier sends a maximum of 125W per channel at 8 Ohms.

The subwoofer output is auto-detecting RCA with adjustable crossover (50 to 110Hz).

Capable of using two line-in sources, analog RCA audio input, and HDMI-ARC inputs. Amp plays Dolby Digital 5.1 or PCM stereo sound over HDMI-ARC.

Versatile Design

Use Sonos Amp to power your installed speakers as a separate Sonos room, or bond it with a pair of Sonos Ones, Play:1s, Play:3s, or Play:5s to become a surround sound setup that you can use with your TV. You can also use Amp to add your speakers as rears to a Sonos home-theater setup (by wirelessly bonding an Amp with Beam, Playbar, or Playbase) or use two Sonos Amps (one for the front right and left channels, the other for the rear channels) for surround sound.

The Sonos Amp drives left and right speakers, and it will create a phantom center channel when sent discrete audio for that channel.

Sonos Amp has all the features of Sonos in a powerful package:

Sonos supports over 100 services. Choose the ones you want and listen to music, podcasts, radio, and audiobooks. You can also play all the music stored on your computer or other devices.
Sonos has built a software platform that enables hundreds of partners and gives our customers unparalleled freedom of choice. Amp features AirPlay 2, access to home automation partners, and voice control when wirelessly connected with Amazon Echo or Alexa-enabled devices, including Sonos One and Beam.
Use the Sonos app on your phone or tablet, your TV remote, keypads, AirPlay 2, or your voice with Amazon Echo and Alexa-enabled devices.
New APIs and deeper integrations with our platform partners let you create seamless smart home control.
Sonos is a system. Start with Amp and expand into more rooms with additional speakers through WiFi.
Sonos regularly updates with new features, voice services, and API integrations, so your options are always up to date and improving.

Availability

General availability on February 5, 2019 for $599 USD (£599 GBP, €699 EUR). Early access for installed solutions professionals on December 1 in the United States and Canada. Sign up to be notified of availability on Sonos.com.

For more details, check out our blog post on the Sonos Amp here.

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K

Kumar

So the online reviews and others comments on the same issue are all hearing things? Could this amp not have default settings of some sort that are boosting the high end too much?

Other than defective units and/or out of phase wiring, there is no reason or excuse for this kind of behaviour, assuming also that the default position of all the EQ settings is flat, ie, in the centre positions.

pwt

Virtuoso

So the online reviews and others comments on the same issue are all hearing things? Could this amp not have default settings of some sort that are boosting the high end too much?

Other than defective units and/or out of phase wiring, there is no reason or excuse for this kind of behaviour, assuming also that the default position of all the EQ settings is flat, ie, in the centre positions.

I can report that I'm hearing no difference in tonality of the Sonos Amp versus the Connect:Amp. Note that I'm not using a subwoofer in either case, however. Certainly no hint of it being 'bright'.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300

G

gtrance

Enthusiast I

My experience has been that AMP sounds better (to me) than CONNECT:AMP. I have seen a few reports of disappointing initial results from AMP that were resolved after rebooting. Make sure that the speakers are wired in phase. In my opinion it is too easy to connect the speakers out of phase.

I'm not sure what out of phase means. I took banana plugs straight out old amp and into the sonos amp. This should be okay?

I'll try rebooting just in case.

pwt

Virtuoso

I'm not sure what out of phase means. I took banana plugs straight out old amp and into the sonos amp. This should be okay?

It just means that the ‘red/black’ connections are reversed to one of the speakers compared to the other. This means that the left and right speakers will cancel each other out to some extent, instead of reinforcing the sound.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300

buzz

Grand Maestro

“Phase” involves the +/- markings on the speaker. At the instant one connects a battery to the speaker’s terminals, the cone will jump towards or away from the basket (the metal part). By convention, when the cone jumps out, the (+) terminal of the battery is connected to the speaker terminal that should be marked (+) and is often marked with a red band. The (+) terminal of the speaker should be connected to the (+) terminal of the amplifier.

A speaker is “out of phase” when it’s +/- connections do not match other speaker connections in the system.

In my battery test above, you can think of a positive pressure wave created as the speaker cone jumps out and a negative pressure wave created when the battery is connected backwards. When connected to an amplifier, a speaker cone will follow the signal, creating positive and negative pressure — sound waves. If one of the speaker connections in a system is reversed (out of phase), its positive pressure wave tends to be cancelled by the negative pressure wave generated by the other speaker(s). This cancellation is not perfect and some sound will still be emitted, but cancellation is more complete for the bass notes. If cancellation was perfect, no sound would be delivered into the room. Hence, our suggestion to check speaker phasing when bass suffers after changing connections or amplifiers.

K

Kumar

I can report that I'm hearing no difference in tonality of the Sonos Amp versus the Connect:Amp. Note that I'm not using a subwoofer in either case, however. Certainly no hint of it being 'bright'.

That is what I would expect from a company of Sonos caliber.
I too read some reviews that spoke about sound changes when using a Sonos Amp, but I passed those off as the usual reviewer thing of finding something to say when there actually is little to say, as there ought to be for a product that only does what a Connect Amp does other than providing more signal gain. Since my Connect Amps have adequate grunt to drive my speakers/sound level needs, I see no reason to try the Sonos Amp when it becomes available, and will not be able to say anything from actual use of one, but I see no reason to so test the above quote. From the published spec, it seems like this is another fine product from Sonos. And the "digital" amp thing is a red herring; there is no reason why these cannot be engineered to have no sound signature other than gain.

T

toholio

Lyricist II

Now that Amp is released to the general public does anyone know when the optical to HDMI-ARC adapter will be available in the Australian store.

Support sent me one when I contacted them. I'd recommend calling because the online chat rep said all I could do was sign up for the newsletter and wait. Did't get directed to the phone support until I had posted a grizzle about that on Sonos' Facebook page.

Now I'm trying to resolve my next issue: the IR remote sensor only works when the remote is within 20cm of the Amp. There is at least one other person with this issue in another thread. Hopefully it isn't a common defect.

G

GuitarSuperstar

Lead Maestro

Can the Sonos Amp be used as a "single-mono" amp rather than a "dual-mono" amp by connecting one mono speaker to only the left channel terminals and leaving the right channel speaker terminals open? Will this setup cause any damage to the Amp?

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi

Ryan SAuthor

Retired Sonos Staff

@GuitarSuperstar, that shouldn't be a problem. The Amp won't be damaged by not outputting to one of the channels. The setting is the same, "dual-mono", as that just applies to the audio output, and doesn't necessarily know what's connected to either port.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

K

kamilkonrad

Lyricist I

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?

Moderator edit: removed invalid link

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Details and Specs

Versatile Design

Availability

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