Best Floor standing Speakers for Connect Amp

Thanks Danny, I’ve had the current set up of tv into connectamp for almost 2 years and I must admit I have never noticed any lag in sound. I may just be one of the fortunate few!

I also use a Connect:Amp with the TV and have not noticed lag. I do notice audio lag on other setups so I would say the Connect:Amp introduces very little or no lag to the sound.

As for speakers, I really like PSB speakers. I use our Connect:Amp with Imagine Minis, which are bookshelves, but I think their Imagine X towers would work great as well

First, a general comment: the Connect Amp is as good as any amp out there within its power delivery spec of 55 watts per channel into 8 ohms, a fairly typical level for most home stereo amps at its price point. So choosing speakers is a matter of personal preference for how they sound to you.

And if the Tannoys are in good working condition, there may not be a need to spend money at all. Speakers of its type last for decades, and not much tech progress has been made with such speakers in the last two decades - never mind what the hifi media/industry try to promote. Is there anything you are missing from them leaving aside that they are two decades old?

Finally, why floor standers? Why pay for expensive furniture when a pair of stand mounted speakers supported by a Sonos Sub will probably sound better? In the money left out of the budget after the Sub has been bought, there are many excellent options from makes such as Dali, KEF, Wharfedale etc. The important thing is to pick after a listening session, preferably with preferred music played on the options at home.

If any tech progress has been made, a good example is of how well the Sonos Sub integrates with the Connect Amp and with a pair of decent stand mounted speakers. And if you know the market for used kit, you can get excellent deals for these. But buy only after listening, preferably at home.

I think there are better sub options, especially for the price, than the Sonos Sub if you are using the Connect:Amp. The Amp is the only Sonos device with a dedicated sub out, giving you far more options for subs than the Sonos Sub. The Sonos Sub, in my opinion, is better suited to the other Sonos products that don't have a sub out.

Even so, the Sonos Sub is the first time in many years of listening where I have been satisfied with music integration between the Sub and the main speaker pair. Other cheaper Subs have served for movie effects, but have always sounded like an afterthought where music is concerned.

Spence mentioned the possibility of allowing 3rd party speaker makers to build Sonos into their wares, so perhaps some of the high quality makers, like PSB, NHT, KEF, Tannoy, Paradigm, etc, will partner with them. Onkyo and Pioneer are adding Sonos to their receivers, but I don't think Pioneer is making speakers anymore.

+1 for the Dalis. I have a set of the Concept 8s. Now obsolete but still amazing speakers. I've still got them running on an old 2010 high end Pioneer AMP. They are a bit of an oddity now as I have Sonos all the way through the house hence why I have been looking to switch the Pioneer to the Connect:AMP. However, the reason that I haven't yet is that with the recent updates to both the aesthetics, native voice assistant support and specs in the rest of the range the Connect series is starting to show its age. Also, at 55 Watts it doesn't have the juice to be able to push the Dalis.

I have found the Connect Amp to be able to drive my Dali Zensors quite comfortably - and even though it only(though correctly) delivers half the power at about half the volume control position on the slider unlike most modern amps that deliver all their power early on to sound more powerful that way, I never have to run it at more than 70-80% volume levels although it can comfortably run at 90-100 levels without distortion.

But I agree that Connect Amp is now obsolete, as obsolete as stereo amps and passive speakers driven by these. The play units use the latest tech much more effectively, but the reason I do not recommend them to the OP is that for his budget the play 1 pair + Sub which is a brilliant music making set up will not do TV because it lacks the necessary line in jacks.

Thanks Kumar, I don’t suppose you know if any jack inputs for play devices is on the radar at all? Might it be worth me just sitting on what I have now for a while to see how things pan out?

I have found the Connect Amp to be able to drive my Dali Zensors quite comfortably - and even though it only(though correctly) delivers half the power at about half the volume control position on the slider unlike most modern amps that deliver all their power early on to sound more powerful that way, I never have to run it at more than 70-80% volume levels although it can comfortably run at 90-100 levels without distortion.

But I agree that Connect Amp is now obsolete, as obsolete as stereo amps and passive speakers driven by these. The play units use the latest tech much more effectively, but the reason I do not recommend them to the OP is that for his budget the play 1 pair + Sub which is a brilliant music making set up will not do TV because it lacks the necessary line in jacks.

It isn't obsolete but it really, really needs an update and additional functionality i.e. HDMI and voice assistant support. The AMP fills a big gap in the sonos range i.e. embedded speakers both indoor and outdoor. Everybody I talk to who is doing anything smart home wise is running both CAT 6E and speaker wire everywhere through drywall (and if they are forward thinking conduit).

Sonos could absolutely own this space but if they don't upgrade the Connect:Amo this is where Sonos may struggle as the rest of the range is free standing. You can't really embed Play 5s in a wall around a TV or in a ceiling to make them invisible.

If you are happy with what you hear, and the only reason to think of change is that the speakers are old, I would spend on other things/bank the money.

But so you know, the play 5 pair does offer jack inputs today that work in exactly the same way that those of the Connect Amp do other than needing a differently terminated cable at the 5 end for its single stereo line in jack, and if you can get a pair on returnable basis, you could try these as replacement for both Tannoys and the Connect Amp. But I suspect that to beat the Tannoy floor stander sound, you might need the Sonos Sub as well and that addition to a 5 pair will bust your budget.

The other thing you could do to add features cheaply is to get an Amazon Echo Dot and see how voice control for Sonos works for you.

Spence mentioned the possibility of allowing 3rd party speaker makers to build Sonos into their wares, so perhaps some of the high quality makers, like PSB, NHT, KEF, Tannoy, Paradigm, etc, will partner with them. Onkyo and Pioneer are adding Sonos to their receivers, but I don't think Pioneer is making speakers anymore.

Perhaps it's just semantics, but Onkyo/Pioneer aren't really adding Sonos to their receviers. All they are doing is taking some of their receiver that are already wifi compatible and able to take commands using their own interface protocol and building in a separate interface for Sonos interface protocol. And you need a Sonos Connect to get it done. It's not as if you can buy a n Onkyo/Pioneer receiver and it will do all that a Connect:amp will do.

Again, probably semantics, but I can imagine a lot of confusion about what the Works with Sonos badge really means.

True, Onkyo/Pioneer will require a Connect. But the way Spence is talking, it’s not hard to imagine Sonos providing a card to OEMs with the Connect functionality. Will be watching for developments.

To me the Connect Amp provides a bit of simplicity at the expense of reduced functionality that you get in the plain Connect. You are also stuck with the built in stereo amp's power and speaker driving ability.

I can't imagine me buying a Connect Amp instead of a Connect and an external amp that gives me the three types of outputs that the Connect Amp doesn't have. Adding a good quality amplifier downstream of the Connect gives many options like 5.1 decoding, equalization and a more adjustable sub-woofer output as well as more flexibility in the connected speakers. Might cost a bit more though.

The Connect Amp is only $150 more than the Connect so if you want simple it is still a good option.

I'm not sure what you mean by simple, by I see it in terms of the means of control. With the control:amp, you only need to deal with Sonos control. So for areas of the home where extra functionality from a separate amp has little value, the control:amp is a good choice. For a room where you need those extra features, the connect is the better choice. You're giving up the ease of control though since you'll have to control some features from your amp and some features from Sonos. The works with Sonos program looks to resolve a lot of those control issues, but so far it appears to only be on more high units, so you really need to use the high end features to justify the cost.