Contributor I

Add Sonos to house with wired speakers in 12 zones

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 30, 2023
17 replies
2709 views

I have recently moved into a house that was wired for multi-room audio several years ago (15+ years). I am looking to upgrade the system and would appreciate some advice/input.

There are 12 zones all controlled by the devices in the above picture. One Onkyo stereo receiver and 4 Niles boxes. 6 of the zones have a control pad (connected to one box) and the other 6 zones (connected to the other box) just have a volume dial. Each zone has 2 speakers

Seems a shame to remove the speakers and all the wiring that has been done.

My goals are to

Have a simplified system with less zones (don’t need speakers in most of the zones and will probably only go for 2 zones; inside and outside). I would leave more of the zones but the cost may be prohibitive?
Ability to turn on or off, select source and control volume without having to go into the closet
Ability to stream from normal sources (Apple, Spotify) without needing a phone to be nearby (don’t have any other sources) but also want to stream from a phone
Ability to control volume from a wall dial/control pad if possible
Playing different sources in different zones at the same time is not a priority

I think that to maintain the 12 different zones I would need 12 amps and they would all need a port as well? If that is the case then anything more that 2 zones (with 2 amps and 2 ports) is probably off the table. Also how many speakers can I connect to one amp? I believe it is 4 so I could combine 2 zones (4 speakers) into 1 and all 4 speakers would play at the same time. The zones I would like to keep are kitchen, living room, dining room in zone 1 and porch and pool in zone 2.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions.

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K

khac6114Author

Contributor I

The picture is inconclusive. The model number will tell the tale. An “impedance matching” control might incorporate a small switch or set of jumpers that can be set to safely interface multiple pairs of speakers to an amplifier. Presently, most controls that you’ll encounter are the impedance matching type with jumpers or a switch. When this system was installed other types of controls, some without a switch, were common.

Thanks for all the questions. Has several models numbers on the dial. SCW-1D, SCW-1S, SCW-1U, SCW-2, SCW-2A

buzz

Grand Maestro

There are lots of moving parts in this drama.

The various model numbers denote different mounting schemes. Unfortunately, I’m not able to find the data that we need. I doubt that this is an impedance matching control. The images that I’ve found do not show any jumpers or switches. Let’s assume that these are 8-Ohm units and the SPS-6 is required if you want to run all six rooms. You may be able to get additional information by contacting NILES directly.

The MRZ-6 will be troublesome to replace because Volume is controlled by the keypads. We could be approaching end of life for the keypads. I can imagine that a button or two have stopped working. It is unlikely that speaker wire has been run to the keypad locations, otherwise the keypads could be simply be replaced with impedance matching Volume controls.

That receiver is so old that it’s only practical use would be as an input selector switch for a CD player, Phono, or Radio.

A quick and easy plan would be to replace the receiver with PORT. There would be one Line-In to accommodate an analog source. All speakers would play the same music and PORT would integrate with other SONOS units, if any.

You could use a second PORT as the input to the SI-275 or replace the SI-275 with an AMP. Either scheme would give you two independent sources and a second Line-In. All of the speakers connected to each amplifier will play the same music. I don’t know if this will yield the “right” music in a given location.

If you only want to use a couple rooms that are now attached to the SPS-6, you could replace the SPS-6 and SI-275 with an AMP. The audio quality of these two rooms would be improved somewhat. I don’t know if this is important to you or not.

K

khac6114Author

Contributor I

Thanks both for you comments and walking me through the issues, I did manage to get a picture of the intellipad (and agree they are approaching end of life). Looks like it only has connections to the IR Data and the Status, no speakers.

So think my plan is t

Replace the SPS-6 and SI-275 with a Sonos amp and connect speakers from Living room, Kitchen and Dining room (thpought this is 6 speakers (3 sets)
Replace the MRZ-6 and SI-1230 with a Sonos amp connected to speakers pool and porch
Remove all the Intellipads and volume controls
Remove the onkyo TX-8511
Remove speakers and wires from other rooms not being used
(Incidentally I plan on also replacing 1 or 2 of the Intellipads with Brilliant home smart controls as they integrate with Sonos and RIng)

buzz

Grand Maestro

I recommend replacing the in-wall controls for the speakers formerly connected to the SPS-6 with modern impedance matching controls. Three pairs is not then an issue.

I’m a wire freak. Keep the wires, remove the unused speakers, Volume controls, and pads if you like.

If you are on a major remodel track, run network wires everywhere. I know that “isn’t everything wireless now?” is the claim, however, wired is faster and more robust. Depending on the size and arrangement of your home, you’ll be using WiFi mesh points. Wired mesh points are much faster and more reliable than wireless. At this point any new wireless system should be WiFi6. I know that WiFi7 is waiting in the wings, but I think that it’s a bit early to jump on that wagon unless you are open to replacing any WiFi7 units installed now in a couple years as the technology shakes out. We are years into WiFi6 and it is just now becoming pervasive, but there’s still a lot of WiFi4 and WiFi5 stuff out there (such as older SONOS units).

K

khac6114Author

Contributor I

I recommend replacing the in-wall controls for the speakers formerly connected to the SPS-6 with modern impedance matching controls. Three pairs is not then an issue.

I’m a wire freak. Keep the wires, remove the unused speakers, Volume controls, and pads if you like.

If you are on a major remodel track, run network wires everywhere. I know that “isn’t everything wireless now?” is the claim, however, wired is faster and more robust. Depending on the size and arrangement of your home, you’ll be using WiFi mesh points. Wired mesh points are much faster and more reliable than wireless. At this point any new wireless system should be WiFi6. I know that WiFi7 is waiting in the wings, but I think that it’s a bit early to jump on that wagon unless you are open to replacing any WiFi7 units installed now in a couple years as the technology shakes out. We are years into WiFi6 and it is just now becoming pervasive, but there’s still a lot of WiFi4 and WiFi5 stuff out there (such as older SONOS units).

Thanks. I am separately removing the telephone (and intercom) and coaxial cables and replacing them with cat 6 ethernet in every room and a TP-Link AP (EAP615). But these are at floor level and couldn’t think how this could save me effort with the existing speakers which are all in the ceiling.

G

grl

Contributor II

I am looking to upgrade my system, which is similar.

I recommend replacing the in-wall controls for the speakers formerly connected to the SPS-6 with modern impedance matching controls. Three pairs is not then an issue.

Question - What speaker volume knobs are best and how do you match impedance ?

buzz

Grand Maestro

Use this sort of control.

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