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Choices, choices! Buy a Sonos Amp, or a Port plus a secondhand amplifier?

  • 5 February 2020
  • 6 replies
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arcadelt
Userlevel 3
Badge +7

I have a Connect:Amp that is a legacy product, so I am considering my options. I could do a one-for-one replacement with a Sonos Amp, or I could buy a Port and with the AU$280 difference in trade-up price find an old secondhand two channel amplifier or receiver on eBay. I’ve had a bit of a look, and there are some nice offerings from good name brands of yesteryear, and even today (NAD, Technics, Pioneer, Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, etc).

What does the brains trust think?

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Best answer by Peter Mc 5 February 2020, 10:25

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6 replies

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
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Sit on the whole thing until you see the May update information and then decide if you need to do anything.

I’d go with the Sonos Amp unless it is seriously under powered for your speakers. An external amp plus a Port is just one more source of hassles compared to the Amp.

Peter Mc

Sonos amp is very capable and will drive most speakers. Plus it’s always on. No need to turn an external amp on - just play music. You can also plug your TV in via HDMI ARC if desired. Sonos app has Tune-in which covers the receiver aspect. The amp also has RCA input if you need to connect something else. Although it will only connect a turntable if it has line-level output - most older turntables need a preamp before plugging in to the Sonos amp.

Cheers, Peter.

 

"The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to those who think they've found it" - Terry Pratchett
el rubio

I am also a legacy Connect:Amp owner and have considered as well the two options. However, I believe that the trade up deal is not fair. So, I will keep my legacy device and extend my sound experience by adding other SONOS Speakers.

mix.bioss.net
arcadelt
Userlevel 3
Badge +7

Sit on the whole thing until you see the May update information and then decide if you need to do anything.

I’d go with the Sonos Amp unless it is seriously under powered for your speakers. An external amp plus a Port is just one more source of hassles compared to the Amp.

Thank you for your response.

I am sitting on my current system until we know more, but this (and other questions I am and will be posing) is long term research and planning.

I already have a Connect: Amp, so the Amp certainly would not be underpowered for my current needs.

What you haven’t considered in your response is lowering exposure to the possible limited life of a smart technology device by making a system more modular. If a 20 year old amplifier, with no end of life issue, can be injected into the system, then only the smart device has to swapped out in the future, at a significantly lower long-term cost.

Again, I am undertaking long term research and planning.

arcadelt
Userlevel 3
Badge +7

Sonos amp is very capable and will drive most speakers. Plus it’s always on. No need to turn an external amp on - just play music. You can also plug your TV in via HDMI ARC if desired. Sonos app has Tune-in which covers the receiver aspect. The amp also has RCA input if you need to connect something else. Although it will only connect a turntable if it has line-level output - most older turntables need a preamp before plugging in to the Sonos amp.

Cheers, Peter.

 

Thanks for your answer.

My system setup is largely fixed, so this amp will only need to drive one set of speakers. I will not need to use the HDMI or RCA ports. Does knowing that change your response?

You make a good point about power, so I will consider the standby power requirements of the Sonos Amp vs the standby power requirements of the amplifier. I also see that the Port has a 12V connector that can remotely activate attached devices. I’m not quite sure how that works and what amplifiers might support that capability, but that might make the “always on” characteristic of the Amp nugatory.

TuneIn can problematic in my circumstance (I previously wrote a post on this is you are interested), and has no redundancy if the Internet is not present.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I don’t plan that far (20 years) out on electronics, I’ve updated my still working fine, 2006 ZP-80s already as there were better options for my needs. I was putting that off looking for a deal and the 30% trade came out to be a very nice amount for a swap to a 5.1 setup.

Part of that was the fact that my 2006 AVR was long out of support and had long outstanding bugs that were never going to be fixed. Of course the AVR manufacturer would sell me a new and better one but they sure didn’t offer me 30% off.

As far as smart technology goes I don’t own anything with a better track record than Sonos, I don’t even have anything that comes close.

Modular may work for some folks but for me I’d rather have a completely integrated solution. 

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