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Sonos sound bar

  • 25 February 2023
  • 8 replies
  • 200 views

Hi,

I am hoping you guys can help me solve this conundrum. 
 

Situation - I have 6 ceiling speakers (Not Sonos) in my lounge powered by a Sonos Amp. All these speakers are hard wired back to my comms unit which sits in my garage. This comms unit also houses the Sonos Amp. Currently I can play all my music/YouTube on these speakers. 
 

I also have a TV (LG OLED) in my lounge which is not currently connected to these ceiling speakers and hence the sound output is not great. It’s a large lounge and open space with vaulted ceiling. The TV does have an Ethernet connection powered by a switch which again sits in the same comms cabinet. 

I would like to achieve the following - 

  1. Connect the TV to the existing ceiling speakers. 
  2. If that is not possible, buy a sound bar for the TV however make the sound bar part of the existing ceiling speaker system if possible. 

What would you recommend as an option for me? 
 

Regards

Manny 

 

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Best answer by Stanley_4 26 February 2023, 17:53

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Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I don’t recall seeing anything that would carry the ARC HDMI signals over Ethernet, you might go searching but I’d bet it is expensive if it exists.

Adding to the above post, I use Play 1s and Sonos One SLs for my surrounds, the Ikea lamp or frame speakers are also a possibility. Fives are overkill as surrounds.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

No, they connect via a dedicated 5Ghz link to a Sonos soundbar or Amp that connects to your TV. If the Amp is fa away from the surrounds (as probably in your case) the 5Ghz link could not be working very well.

If you can find something that transmits HDMI over ethernet, be reminded that the Amp need HDMI-ARC so the transmitter must be HDMI-ARC capable.

Note that audio uses a different set of pins on HDMI compared to HDMI-ARC or HDMI-eARC. The SONOS soundbars are not compatible with HDMI.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

When you would connect the soundbar and the Amp, the Amp would do surround duties. I doubt if the results of using a soundbar with the Amp and six speakers pumping out the same surround sound would sound very convincing. The same goes for using only the Amp + ceiling speakers for TV duties: TV sound needs to appear to be coming from the TV. Ceiling speakers will not do that - using six of them on different places (and high above you) in a room will sound even less convincing.

I’d probably keep using the Amp + ceiling speakers for music. For TV duties I’d use an Arc (since I gather you have a fairly large room) connected to the TV. If you want surround you could bond a couple of One SL’s and/or a Sonos Sub to the Arc (or wait for the new possibly Atmos-capable new speakers Sonos is expected to introduce).

You could even group the Arc and the Amp for music if you’d want to.

I don’t recall seeing anything that would carry the ARC HDMI signals over Ethernet, you might go searching but I’d bet it is expensive if it exists.

Adding to the above post, I use Play 1s and Sonos One SLs for my surrounds, the Ikea lamp or frame speakers are also a possibility. Fives are overkill as surrounds.

Do the IKEA lamp speakers connect via Bluetooth to the TV? I don’t really have the option to do any hard wire connections except for a sound bar due to aesthetic reasons. 

Hi Stanley,

Thank you for taking the time out to address my query. 
 

Unfortunately, I can’t get a HDMI cable from the TV to the comms cabinet. However, I already have a spare Ethernet cable available which goes from my TV to the comms cabinet. Can I do something with this perhaps? Ethernet to HDMI perhaps? 

There is converter easily available in local market. I also try this but there is error sometime in connection.  

Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Can you get an HDMI cable from the TV to the Amp?

If you can use a Sonos soundbar you can use the Amp and speakers as TV surrounds.

You could Group the Amp and soundbar for music with no problems. For TV use the delay in the Amp sound may not work for you.

Hi Stanley,

Thank you for taking the time out to address my query. 
 

Unfortunately, I can’t get a HDMI cable from the TV to the comms cabinet. However, I already have a spare Ethernet cable available which goes from my TV to the comms cabinet. Can I do something with this perhaps? Ethernet to HDMI perhaps? 

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