Contributor I

Question

connecting sub to existing sound setup

15 replies
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So my dad already has an audio setup with an older normal (non Sonos) amp and 2 connected speakers. I am wondering if there is anyway to connect the Sonos sub by itself to the amp. I know that products like the Sonos connect exist but am not sure if this can be connected directly to the amp and output to the sub.

we already have some Sonos products but I’m not sure if he would be into a surround set up, I just want to add a sub to the mix to make watching movies a little bit more immersive. I also want to get the Sonos sub instead of a normal, speaker wire subwoofer so we can also use it with the play 2’s that we have for music.

Thanks in advance for the help. May sound a little confusing.

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ratty

No, the Sonos Sub can only ‘bond’ with Sonos players. It cannot be connected to a third party amp/receiver. Apart from anything else, it has no physical audio inputs, only a network connection.

A

Apalmer13Author

Contributor I

No, the Sonos Sub can only ‘bond’ with Sonos players. It cannot be connected to a third party amp/receiver. Apart from anything else, it has no physical audio inputs, only a network connection.

I know that the sub itself doesn’t have any inputs on it, I was just wondering if there was anything that I could plug into the existing amp that would allow me to connect the sub wirelessly through some sort of Sonos product if one existed.

Thanks anyway for your help.

A

Apalmer13Author

Contributor I

No, the Sonos Sub can only ‘bond’ with Sonos players. It cannot be connected to a third party amp/receiver. Apart from anything else, it has no physical audio inputs, only a network connection.

I know that the sub itself doesn’t have any inputs on it, I was just wondering if there was anything that I could plug into the existing amp that would allow me to connect the sub wirelessly through some sort of Sonos product if one existed.

Thanks anyway for your help.

Or, is there anyway to connect my whole Sonos setup such as the two play threes and the sub to the existing setup?

ratty

The only way this is really going to work is with a Sonos Port (or a Connect) but it’s rather contrived. You would have to:

bond the Sub to the Play speakers (there isn’t a Play 2 by the way)
wire the amp’s Tape/Rec Out to the Port’s Line-In, assuming it has a “tape monitor loop” facility
wire the Port’s Line-Out to the amp’s Tape Input
group the Port with the Play speakers + Sub
switch whichever of the amp’s inputs you want to listen to to the Tape Out, and play from the Tape In

The reason for all this rigmarole is that the Port’s Line-In will introduce ~75ms of delay to the sound coming out of the Plays/Sub. In order for the sound from the amp to not be out of sync it will have to play a similarly delayed signal, from the Port’s own outputs.

The problem then is that the overall sound could be delayed too much, upsetting the lip-sync with the TV. It depends how sensitive one is to this kind of thing. (Sonos’ own home theatre products don’t suffer from the Line-In delay problem.)

If you wanted to identify the make/model of amp we may be able to assist further.

A

Apalmer13Author

Contributor I

The only way this is really going to work is with a Sonos Port (or a Connect) but it’s rather contrived. You would have to:

bond the Sub to the Play speakers (there isn’t a Play 2 by the way)
wire the amp’s Tape/Rec Out to the Port’s Line-In, assuming it has a “tape monitor loop” facility
wire the Port’s Line-Out to the amp’s Tape Input
group the Port with the Play speakers + Sub
switch whichever of the amp’s inputs you want to listen to to the Tape Out, and play from the Tape In

The reason for all this rigmarole is that the Port’s Line-In will introduce ~75ms of delay to the sound coming out of the Plays/Sub. In order for the sound from the amp to not be out of sync it will have to play a similarly delayed signal, from the Port’s own outputs.

The problem then is that the overall sound could be delayed too much, upsetting the lip-sync with the TV. It depends how sensitive one is to this kind of thing. (Sonos’ own home theatre products don’t suffer from the Line-In delay problem.)

If you wanted to identify the make/model of amp we may be able to assist further.

I didn’t even think about the sound being out of sync with the movie itself. With that In mind I don’t really see much point in trying to figure this out incase it all ends in failure, not to mention the hoops to jump through to set it up.

Thanks heaps for you help, much appreciated : )

L

lghome

Lyricist III

I just attempted to set up a Sonos Sub. Went through all the motions. It appeared to have connected. No sound. I went and bought another and attempted to install it thinking there might be something wrong with the first one. Same results. Background: Wired network; Gig service; Have existing Playbase; Sub shows up in the mobile app and then disappears. I have the same setup (Playbase and Sub) working flawlessly at a different location. This setup seems to go through all steps as required, but no sound. Am I missing something? Very frustrating! Please help! George

Airgetlam

Make sure the PLAYBASE is receiving a Dolby Digital signal, by checking in ‘about my system’ in the settings. You may need to adjust the audio settings in the TV, or perhaps what is feeding a signal to the TV.

Check to be sure the radio (Wi-Fi) has not been turned off on the PLAYBASE and SUB. I’d recommend setting both up with reserved IP addresses in your father’s router.

Bruce

L

lghome

Lyricist III

Thank you, Bruce. Additional information: both my Playbase and Sub are connected by way of ethernet-wired connection. Not wifi. Are you saying that WIFI needs to be set on “Enabled” on the Playbase?

Airgetlam

I would certainly encourage it. The way the SUB is designed is to “bond” with the 5Ghz channel created by the PLAYBASE. If you’re forcing the signal to travel another route, there is additional potential for issues. It certainly removes one extra variable when troubleshooting.

Bruce

L

lghome

Lyricist III

I will certainly try it. Thanks, for now!

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