Can I Out Sonos Connect To Another Amplifier in a bid Not to Overload The Sonos Amp?

Could you explain what you mean by 'the second Connect output'. In any case where is the amplification coming from for the second set of speakers?

The wattage of the speakers isn't that important. What you need to know is their Impedance. It's listed in Ohms (Ω).

If the old amp is a 7ch AV receiver, and the speakers aren't any less than 6 Ohm impedance each then you can connect them directly and set the amp to 7ch Stereo A.K.A. All Channel Stereo.

On the other hand, if it's a normal stereo amp then you'd be better off using an impedance matching speaker switch.

Sonos Connects only have a stereo phono (stereo cinch/stereo RCA) output. They don't produce any power to drive loudspeakers directly. Connects need to be hooked in to an amp.

Sonos "Connect Amp" (and Sonos ZP120) have speaker outputs but no Line Out connections. The red and the white phono connections are a Line Input (i.e. a signal-goes-IN-TO-the-device connection, not a signal-comes-out connection) so it's of no use connecting that to an external amp because you won't hear anything.

Sonos ZP100 is the original Sonos amplified player. This is the only model with both a speakers connection and a Line Output.

Could you explain what you mean by 'the second Connect output'. In any case where is the amplification coming from for the second set of speakers?
I mean the speaker out at the back of sonos connect.

Thanks

Could you explain what you mean by 'the second Connect output'. In any case where is the amplification coming from for the second set of speakers?
I mean the speaker out at the back of sonos connect.

Thanks

A Sonos Connect doesn't have speaker outputs. You must mean either a Sonos Connect Amp, or a ZP100.

To do the thing you want to do, which is connect via speaker sockets and via Line Out then you must have a Sonos ZP100 because that's the only player with speaker sockets and a line out.

@Lucid AV,

Thanks for the explanation and the picture. Now I understand the difference. So, from the explanation on my post above, do think It'll be fine with Sonos ZP100?

Thanks everyone!

It's still not clear from the thread whether you have

(A) a Sonos ZP100 + another amplifier of some description

or (B) just a Sonos ZP100

Which is it, A or B?


Also, you haven't said anything about the speaker Impedance values. So, QUESTION: What are the speaker impedance values?

In fact, the 12x40W speakers might even be 70 volt line or 100 volt line speakers so that could change things again.

Here's the bottom line...
Better information is needed, Olan. We need to know EXACTLY what gear you have and the proper specifications. Without it we are working in the dark.

The worst case scenario is that someone else answers your question with "Yeah, sure" because they really don't understand what you're planning or they have poor technical knowledge. You then go off, hook up the gear, and the first time you turn the volume up you wreck the Sonos ZP100. There's a flash, a sizzling sound, and the little puff of magic smoke escapes.

Bad info = bad decision = broken amplifier. It really is that simple. Just to be clear then I'm going to say " No. Don't do it. You will kill the amp. "

That advice might change depending on what information you come back with. The ball is in your court here. It's up to you to do the work needed now so that the community here can help you with technical knowledge that you don't posses.

Hi experts,

Thanks for your support so far. I quite appreciate your responses.

I've been able to figure out the Speakers' impedance (ohm) thus;

100watts/8 ohms X2
40watts/6 ohms X3
50watts/6 ohms X 9

This is the existing locations of the speakers

Living Room
2 sets of 100watts/8 ohms around the TV
I plan to add a subwoofer

Kitchen
1 set of 50watts/6 ohms

Out-back
2 sets of 50watts/6 ohms

Laundry
1 set of 50watts/6 ohms

Garage
1 set of 50watts/6 ohms

Please not: all the wires of speakers specified above terminates under the TV area. (I plan to extend them to a small room in the basement)

Master B/R


3 sets of 40watts/6 ohms
All terminates under the TV in Master B/R (I plan to extend them into the small room in the basement)

Basement

4 sets of 50watts/6 ohms
All terminates into the small room in the basement.

Now, I have decided to go for Sono ZP100

I want to divide the entire home into 4 and control each zone with this analog control knobs

Zone
1 - The living room & the kitchen
2 - Laundry, Garage & Outside
3 - Master B/R
4 - Basement Play Area

I'm thinking of connecting it like I depict it in this diagram:

Please, I need your guide!!!

Suggest a better way if you think I'm not getting it.

Thanks

If you wire the way you've planned then you'll definitely kill two amps!

Music is stereo, and so is the gear
The first issue here is that you're treating stereo amps as mono when they're not. Music is mostly stereo. That means there's a left channel and a right channel. When bands are in a studio the sound engineer uses the controls on the mixing desk to 'place' instruments at specific points in a stereo sound field. Try to imagine listening on headphones; if the engineer pans and instrument hard left then all the sound of that will come from your left ear. If you were able to shut off that left earphone you'd hear no sound from the right because there's be nothing recorded on that channel.

A typical stereo mix has instruments and vocals panned so that they each have a space in this left-to-right arc of sound. If you play only one channel through some of your speakers then you'll lose all the instruments that were panned to the other channel. Some will sound just a little quieter, but others will be lost almost completely. The result will sound very strange. You need to wire your speakers for stereo.

Too much power in to the second amp
Your sketch shows the old amp driven from the right speaker channel of the ZP100. That's definitely kill the input to the old amp, and possibly kill the amp too if it is turned up.

We don't use the speaker connections to drive another amp unless that amp is specially designed for the purpose. Regular amps and receivers are not designed to be driven from the speaker connection of another amp. Line level is what we use: The red and the white phono/cinch/RCA sockets. Connect a stereo phono cable from the Sonos ZP100 Line Out (both plugs; red and the white) to a Line Input on the old amp. This might be labelled CD, Tape In, Tuner, Aux.......... anything but Phono. Phono is a special input for the very low signal that comes from a turntable.

Spreading too thin
You're asking the Sonos amp to supply power to a lot of speakers. That means dividing the power up between all those speakers, and so each speaker will get very little. You'll also lose a big percentage of the power in the wiring. Not only will this make the sound level very quiet but you also risk the amp being driven too hard all of the time just to get enough volume in to the speakers. You're also planning to add volume knobs which themselves will absorb a little power. You're asking too much of a small 2 channel amp.


I'll come back with alternative suggestions and some gear a bit later when I have more time

Here's a solution for wiring up your Zone 1 (Living room TV + Kitchen)

This uses a Russound SS-4.2 Impedance Matching Speaker Selector to allow you to drive the living room and kitchen speakers from your old amp without blowing it up in the process. [Russound SS-4.2 speaker switch @ $99 USD]

There are a couple limitations with this set up...

1) depending on the make and model of your old amp and the TV, the TV sound out may need to be converted from Optical to analogue stereo

2) the volume for all the Zone 1 speakers is controlled by the old amp. You can turn off living room or turn off kitchen, but you can't have the living room playing quietly with the kitchen playing loud even if you add a volume control in the kitchen

3) depending on the make and model of your old amp and the sub (if you have one yet) then they might not work together


There is an alternative...

Purchase a used 7.1channel AV Receiver. Buy one that has a feature called Powered Zone 2. This allows the amp to be configured to drive its "Zone A" as the main surround system; and in your case that means your 4x 100Watt speakers plus a subwoofer if your wish. The "Zone B" can run the kitchen speakers.

The clever thing about these older home cinema AV receivers is that the two zones can work completely independently of each other. For example, you can have the main zone off and just run the kitchen speakers, or vice versa. You can have both on at the same time and listening to different or the same sources. You can change the volume of each zone on its own, or in party mode all together.

What's more, and AV Receiver has the right output to drive a subwoofer as part of Zone A, so you can get some real kick with your movies.

The sort of amps I am talking about are available new for around £600 ($750 USD) and up, or if you don't need 4K Ultra-high-def TV compatibility and smart phone control then older receivers that were £1000+ new ($1300~$1500 USD) are available for around £150 ($200-$250 USD) in the used market.

There are a whole load of extra features such as HDMI connections, DD/DTS/HD audio decoding, digital inputs and more besides.

Here's how it would wire up

Hi everyone,

Lucid,

Thanks for your time in analyzing solutions for me here. I quite appreciate it.

You're welcome. Please press the LIKE button on each of the useful posts. That is a good way to say thank you :)

In your solutions, you only take into cognizance, only the living room & kitchen. Please note that I still have 4 50w speakers in the basement (Termed Zone 4), 3 40w speakers in the bed room (Termed Zone 3), then in the laundry, garage & Outside (termed Zone 2)
No, I hadn't forgotten the other zones. Giving you this level of detail, and doing the graphics just for you so you can see how things would connect exactly takes a lot of time. I have a business to run and a family too, so you have to wait in the queue I am afraid.

I did start my last post by saying this was just for your Zone 1.


I have decided to get 7.1 used amp and a ZP100, will this work well with the whole house?
No, not for the whole house. This is just for your Zone 1. A solution for Zones 2,3 and 4 is to follow.

You also realise I hope that ZP100 is not available new. You will need to buy one that is used.

Please I'm low on budget for this project, I'll appreciate every kind advice.
Yes, I kind of picked up that you were working with limited funds. That's okay, so long as you realise there are limits to what you can do.


I have a goal in mind, to control some zones volume with my smartphone while others with the control knobs on the wall. Also to be able to play music from a mobile source.Those are great goals, but I think you need to be realistic.

Smartphone volume control and manual controls together does not work for individual zones. You can change the whole house volume by controlling the the main Sonos device, but there is no smart phone control that can change the volume of a manually-operated volume knob. Either you need to install a Sonos zone player per house zone, or you need a wired keypad system with smart app integration. Both those solutions need more money.

The mobile phone as a music source, that's easy. Just plug in a cable or play from the controller app.


Please note that the house audio has been wired in-wall already and I can't afford to re-wire it except some adjustment as I stated above.

PS: I'm a low voltage tech too but not into audio before now.
Yes, I understand that from your earlier posts. You can extend wires but not change what is already in wall.

With that in mind, you should probably spend some time working out how each the speakers are wired (series, parallel or something else) and then map out the wiring. The impedance load that the speakers present to the amp is a very important factor. Too many Ohms means the speakers won't perform their best. Too low Ohms means damage to the amp. Do you understand series and parallel resistance?



Thanks everyone so far. I quite appreciate you Lucid.
English is not your native language so I respect that I can talk to you in English, thank you for that.

Just a small point; the phrase "I quite appreciate" means I only appreciate your help a small amount. If someone has helped you a lot then we usually say "I very much appreciate your help" :)

Best regards

Chris

Lucid AV

Here's a solution for Zones 2, 3 and 4.

BTW, your speaker numbers don't add up properly. You said you have 9x 50W speakers, but your description of the locations accounts for just 8. I have planned based on 8x 50W speakers.

olan, do you realise you marked your own reply as the Best Answer?

Is that really what you intended to do?

Lucid,

I so much appreciate your efforts here. Believe me, I treasure it. I mistakenly marked my own comment as best answer, please it's not intentional. I've tried to correct it but don't know how to do that.

You have schooled me in audio distribution systems. I appreciate you!

I'm planning the system now based on your opinion. THANK YOU!!!

Thank you so much! I don't take you for granted. If there's a way for me to correct this, pls show me.

Gracias