Combining sonos with traditional receiver and speakers

  • 12 April 2017
  • 8 replies
  • 49710 views

I have a traditional yamaha receiver and 2 beautiful polk floor speakers. I would like to add surround sound to my setup and have the rear speakers fill the living room with audio when listening to music. I love my floor speakers, but i would like more. What should I buy? Connect with 2 play 1s or 3s? Is the playbar overkill for a center channel for surround sound?

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8 replies

It's unclear what you want as an end result.

A Connect would provide the Sonos ecosphere to your current Yamaha receiver and Polk floor speakers, assuming you're just after music.

If you're looking to get a home theater experience (based on your center channel for surround sound), it gets a little more complex, I think. And I'm certainly not an expert on incorporating a receiver/amp and external speakers into a surround sound system. I found it easier to just go with the PLAYBAR, a pair of PLAY:1s, and a SUB.

If you post a little more information about what your end goal is, there are a lot of folks who peruse these boards on a regular basis who can help.
Thanks for the information Airgetlam
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There are a bunch of things that need to be addressed here...

1) Let's start with your "traditional yamaha receiver". Is it a 2-channel stereo receiver? Or is it a 5.1 (or greater) AV receiver? The answer here will help determine if that receiver supports surround sound. Keep in mind that surround sound is not just a matter of putting speakers behind you.

2) A Sonos Connect can be plugged into a receiver (either stereo or AV) and allow for the Sonos experience through your existing Polk towers.

3) You cannot just add Sonos Play speakers to your receiver.

4) The Playbar cannot be used a center channel speaker. It is a stand-alone unit that provides center, left, and right audio all by itself.
jdag,

1) my receiver is a Yamaha RX-V677 7.2-channel Wi-Fi Network AV Receiver with AirPlay. Yes it supports surround sound.

2) I am planning on purchasing a connect and connecting it to my receiver.

3) I understand

4) Sounds like I should look for another option for the center channel. A wired center channel is much less expensing than the Sonos playbar.

I am wondering if the play 1s are sufficient for the rear channels for surround sound or if I should purchase play 3s.

Thanks.
I am wondering if the play 1s are sufficient for the rear channels for surround sound or if I should purchase play 3s.
Despite your response to jdag's item (3) I'm concerned that the message hasn't got through.

You cannot -- repeat cannot -- use Sonos wireless speakers for the back channels of a conventional receiver, fed via a CONNECT's Line-In. The ~75ms delay through the Sonos system makes this impossible.

You can only use Sonos speakers for surround duties in combination with a Sonos PLAYBAR or PLAYBASE, an option which you've apparently ruled out on cost grounds.

To add wireless surround speakers to your Yamaha receiver you need to look for traditional wireless speakers, not network streaming players such as Sonos.
I think you are misunderstanding. You cannot use any model Sonos speakers as surrounds in a traditional A/V receiver setup. They can only be used as surrounds with a Playbar, which doesn't need a receiver, and is only compatible with the very few that have an optical output.

PS - What ratty said.
OK - Now I understand. Thanks.
I am thinking of a similar set up with a connect and traditional hard wired receiver/speakers. However, I'm hesitant that the interface on the control app will be clunky(Can control from the app unless receiver is left on I'm assuming). Would I be better off getting a stand alone Sonos speaker for that area?