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Hello Sonos Community!

I am considering setting my home up with Sonos, and I was hoping to get some specific answers/advice.

  1. I have 2xSonos One (G2) speakers in my kids’ rooms. I found that in order to use Alexa and Spotify independently (and not have the need to have ipads/phones in their rooms), I needed to setup 2 separate sonos systems entirely. This includes separate sonos, spotify,  and Alexa accounts. It works well, but was confusing to figure out how to set it up. My assumption is that I’ll be setting up a third Sonos system (call it ‘Home’) to control the remainder of my speakers and setup.
     
  2. I have a Marantz receiver and wired 5.1 surround sound speakers hooked up already in my living room. I don’t think I’m interested in completely swapping this setup for Sonos speakers, but it’d be neat if I could incorporate the Sonos setup to leverage it.
     
  3. I would like to put some outdoor / all-weather speakers outside on my rear patio.
     
  4. I would like to add some speakers to my kitchen and master bedroom.

Here are my questions:

  1. Is there a way to connect my existing receiver/speaker setup with the Sonos system? How would I do this? Is this what the Port is for?
     
  2. I see the outdoor speakers by Sonos/Sonance. Are they ok to be painted a different color than white? Also - are they wifi enabled smart speakers, or do I need extra equipment to plug them into? I have power outside, but I haven’t run speaker wires - and I would prefer to avoid that if possible. I’m unclear on how to set these up. It seems like I need to connect them to a Sonos Amp, which aren’t weatherproof. Does this mean I’d need to also buy an Amp and run speaker wires back inside of my house in order to set this up?
     
  3. If I need to wire everything into a Sonos Amp from the outside anyway - is there anything preventing me from just buying cheaper/different outdoor speakers and wiring those into the Sonos Amp? What’s the benefit of sticking with Sonos for the outdoor speakers if this is the case?
     
  4. Similar question(s) on the in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. I love the look, but if they require speaker wiring and/or an Amp, that’s probably a non-starter. Is the setup basically to install the speakers and wire them to a Sonos Amp?
     
  5. It looks like the Sonos Amp only supports 2 speakers, is this correct? Does this mean if I bought 2 outdoor speakers, 2 for my Master Bedroom, and 2 for my kitchen...that I would require 3 Sonos Amps to get everything working?

I am pretty sure that I could go low-brow, and buy a couple of Sonos One units, and maybe a Move for outside...it’s just not nearly as elegant.

At 3x$700 per Sonos Amp, 2x$659 per pair of architectural indoor speakers and $879 for the outdoor speakers, it seems like I’d be spending ~$4,300 (plus another $449 for the Port maybe). Cost aside, if my assumptions above are correct, I’d also have a somewhat large speaker wiring project in addition.

Compared with 2 Sonos Ones and a Move (2x$219 + $399 =  $837) that seems extreme.

I just wanted to confirm all of these assumptions/understandings, and seek some advice if anyone has any. Thanks very much!

 

Here are my questions:

  1. Is there a way to connect my existing receiver/speaker setup with the Sonos system? How would I do this? Is this what the Port is for?

Yes the Port is what you need to incorporate your existing Receiver/Speaker setup.

  1. I see the outdoor speakers by Sonos/Sonance. Are they ok to be painted a different color than white? Also - are they wifi enabled smart speakers, or do I need extra equipment to plug them into? I have power outside, but I haven’t run speaker wires - and I would prefer to avoid that if possible. I’m unclear on how to set these up. It seems like I need to connect them to a Sonos Amp, which aren’t weatherproof. Does this mean I’d need to also buy an Amp and run speaker wires back inside of my house in order to set this up?

Yes, an Amp is what you need for this and you can (if you want) put it into a weatherproof enclosure. Then run speaker cable to your passive weather-proof speakers. I assume most speakers can be painted but you may need to double-check that. I would just look around to see if there are any compatible speakers that do not require you to paint them.

  1. If I need to wire everything into a Sonos Amp from the outside anyway - is there anything preventing me from just buying cheaper/different outdoor speakers and wiring those into the Sonos Amp? What’s the benefit of sticking with Sonos for the outdoor speakers if this is the case?
     
  2. Similar question(s) on the in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. I love the look, but if they require speaker wiring and/or an Amp, that’s probably a non-starter. Is the setup basically to install the speakers and wire them to a Sonos Amp?

Yes that’s the way - you will need to cable them to the Amp.

  1. It looks like the Sonos Amp only supports 2 speakers, is this correct? Does this mean if I bought 2 outdoor speakers, 2 for my Master Bedroom, and 2 for my kitchen...that I would require 3 Sonos Amps to get everything working?

The Sonos Amp will support 4 x 8-ohm speakers or up-to 6 Sonance architecture speakers. However without a switch they all play together as one room. However you might like the idea of using something like this with one Amp, perhaps? See this YT video:

https://youtu.be/2E0dYvihv_w

I am pretty sure that I could go low-brow, and buy a couple of Sonos One units, and maybe a Move for outside...it’s just not nearly as elegant.

At 3x$700 per Sonos Amp, 2x$659 per pair of architectural indoor speakers and $879 for the outdoor speakers, it seems like I’d be spending ~$4,300 (plus another $449 for the Port maybe). Cost aside, if my assumptions above are correct, I’d also have a somewhat large speaker wiring project in addition.

Compared with 2 Sonos Ones and a Move (2x$219 + $399 =  $837) that seems extreme.

I just wanted to confirm all of these assumptions/understandings, and seek some advice if anyone has any. Thanks very much!

Hope the above assists. I guess others may chip in here too with their suggestions.

In answer to your questions:

1): PORT is similar to a cassette deck. There is a ‘Line-In’ and ‘Line-out’ that you can connect to a traditional receiver. Note that this is not quite as straight forward as in past eras because current A/V receivers don’t usually include a “Tape” function. Which model receiver are you using? Does it offer a record out?

One consideration if you intend to send a receiver source to the SONOS system: There is a 75ms latency between Line-In and output from a SONOS player. This is  not an issue for rooms than cannot simultaneously be heard by a listener, such as outside speakers, but speakers driven by the receiver and SONOS speakers in the same room will be a problem.

2): The SONOS outdoor speakers are passive and would need to be wired to an AMP. Painting of any metal grill speaker is possible, but requires good technique or the results will be second rate.

3): Any 4 to 8-Ohm speaker can be wired to AMP.

4): Any 4 to 8-Ohm speaker can be wired to AMP. With respect to wires, you’d need power for self amplified speakers in any case. With a little imagination wiring the speakers might not be so hard. For example, since AMP does not need a wired network connection you could place AMP in a closet above the ceiling speakers and run the speaker wires through the floor to the ceiling space below.

5): As in lamp circuits it’s not the bulb count, it’s the total load on the circuit. AMP will support two pairs of 8-Ohm speakers. There are also ways of connecting more speakers by using “impedance match” Volume controls. Note that AMP can only run a single program. All speakers connected to an AMP will play the same music.

Note that the Port is designed for stereo music, not 5.1 sound. So you need to retain the wired 5.1 speakers if you retain the Marantz.

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