Question

Connecting Sonos with 5 Pre existing wired home theater speakers (and outdoor speakers)

  • 31 August 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 924 views
G

We just moved into a new home. In the living room, there are two in-wall front speakers, two in ceiling speakers, and an in-wall sub (5 speaker surround sound home theater). The system was installed around 2005. There are also two wired outdoor speakers. The previous owner has all the inputs ready for banana plugs in one location. He must have had a receiver and amp.

I would like to be able to use my Sonos app to control the sound of these 5 home theater speakers (including sub) when I buy and hook up a new TV, and also control the two outdoor speakers. I have other Sonos speakers in other rooms in the house.

Is there any way to do this? I don’t want the pre-existing in wall home theater speakers or outdoor speakers to go to waste.

Thank you for any advice or suggestions!

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5 replies

Airgetlam

I think several Sonos Amps are in order. One would drive the front two speakers and a powered subwoofer, and create a phantom center channel. A second Sonos Amp would be bonded to the first, and drive the ceiling surrounds. A third Sonos Amp could drive those outside speakers.

This all depends on several things. First, you need to be able to get an HDMI ARC cable to the first Amp, so that the two home theater Amps have an audio signal to work with. This would come from an HDMI ARC output on your TV.  Second, that subwoofer needs to be self powered, Sonos doesn’t have the ability to send power to a subwoofer, just a line level signal. Third, all of these speakers would need to be confirmed for impedance, to ensure they match the output specs of the Sonos Amp. 

Bruce
G

Thanks Bruce. When you mentioned the phantom center channel, I just realized that this built in speaker set up (that came with the house) does not include a center speaker...not popular in the mid 2000s? I have a Sonos Playbar, but not sure I could sync it with the other 5 built in speakers.

I love Sonos, but I think it might just be easier (and cheaper) to have my 5 speaker in wall TV set up and the 2 outside speakers go through a receiver like the Denon AVR-S750H using 2 zones. I could still control them remotely through my phone. 

But...I would like to play music through these 5 speakers and Sonos speakers in other areas in the house.

I plan to connect my MacMini to the TV so I can stream and use the TV like a monitor to read the news, and listen to my iTunes library (yep, I still do that). I currently play my iTunes music through my Sonos speakers and I use a Vizio TV as a monitor. I think I should still be able to play mp3s through the built in house speakers since they will be connected to the new TV which is connected to the MacMini via HDMI. And I should be able to group those 5 speakers with my Sonos speakers since they’re all being played through iTunes, right? The difference from my current set up is the MacMini will connect to the new TV and then the built in speakers through a receiver….versus now my MacMini goes to the Vizio and to my Sonos playbar...and wirelessly through my other Sonos speakers.

Hmm...wondering if this will work. One question is would the 5 built in speakers and Sonos wireless speakers around the house (upstairs, etc) be in sync? I’m ok if the TV sound only goes through the built ins and receiver set up by the way. But I’d like mp3s to play through everything.

Any suggestions or thoughts out there? Hope I made sense. I’m no expert! Thanks in advance!
 

Airgetlam

I’m confused. What’s the connection between iTunes music and your Sonos speakers, if you’re using an external receiver? How would you get the music from iTunes to both the receiver and your a Sonos speakers at the same time? 

The only way I can conceive of this working is if you add a Port that is connected to your receiver, and then play music only through Sonos. The Port would feed your receiver in sync with the Sonos speakers. If you tried to play music on your receiver, and then feed that signal to the Sonos, there would be a delay between the receiver’s connected speakers and the Sonos speakers, due to Sonos’ need to buffer in order to maintain sync across all Sonos devices. 

 

Bruce
G

The mp3s (or any format) from iTunes on the MacMini would go to the TV (HDMI) and then to the receiver and then out the in-wall speakers.

My Sonos app would also connect to the iTunes library on my Macmini wirelessly. That’s how I’ve used it in the past. 

So in theory...if I play a song on the MacMini it would play through the TV to the receiver to the in wall speakers and also play wirelessly through any Sonos speakers. Wouldn’t that work? But...I do wonder about a delay like you mentioned. 

If there is a delay, that’s not ok..In that case, I guess I’ll have to use a receiver to listen to the TV through the in wall speakers. And I would have to play iTunes music through Sonos speakers in other parts of the room/house. Again, a bummer...since I’d love to hear my iTunes library through the in wall speakers (2 front, 2 ceiling, 1 sub)...and also through the outside speakers. 

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

The delay is only noticeable if you’re in a location where you can hear a delayed and non-delayed speaker are the same time. Once you’re in a room, you’ll only hear the speakers in that room, so won’t know that it’s delayed (or not). 

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