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Hello all.  I’m working to rip an old non-functional crestron system out and simplify.  

What we have

rack with 3x gen1 sonos zone units, ie unamplified devices that go into a crestron audio matrix.  Plan to remove all of this and replace with 3x of the newer ‘AMP’ models.  These run to 3 speaker zones.

2x Direct TV receivers in the rack, routed through crestron.  Looking for options here.  Willing to move DTV boxes to each TV, but then how to get audio into Sonos.  ‘Port’ units?  What if I put a soundbar in at the TV and used that for input, can sonos take input on the sound bar and distribute it to the other speakers etc?  ie, DTV->Arc->AMP1 and AMP2 and a Sonos One?

Alternatively, keep DTV in the rack and figure out how to stream the video to each TV.  Can’t figure out if there is an ‘on net’ streamer for DTV i can use or not.  If they are in the rack, can I double duty the AMPs as inputs?  For instance, DTV1→AMP1 then stream anywhere.  And.. if so… can the AMP’s input be separate from the output?  ie, DTV1→AMP1 but have a different audio playing on AMP1 and DTV1 audio on a patio speaker for instance?  

CRESTRON is installed by a pro and is usually used to control more than a couple of TV’s. Are any other items, such as audio and video players, shades and lights included in the system?

How does the video get from the rack to the TV screens? You mention “3 speaker zones”. Are the TV’s part of these zones? If not, how is audio handled for the TV’s. Is surround sound currently supported?

Inputs and outputs for SONOS devices are two separate items on the network. Unlike conventional audio components, there is no implied direct connection between input and output. Line-In can be played in any combination of “Rooms” (zones), including the box where the Line-In is housed. Note that there is a 75ms latency between Line-In and output from the players. While the Rooms will all be time aligned with each other, they will be 75ms behind Line-In. This will frustrate video lip sync. The HDMI input in AMP and the soundbars is different. When HDMI eARC input is sent to it’s amplifier, the latency is only 30ms and most viewers can accept this as good lip sync. There is still a 75ms latency when this TV audio is sent to different Rooms. This can cause issues if you attempt to send audio from one video source to multiple rooms.

I suggest that you find a pro who is familiar with SONOS. Likely, the wiring in this installation is older and may not be able to support modern video formats. I don’t know if it would be possible to move theDirect TV boxes to the TV’s or send video from the rack to the TV’s. I assume that CRESTRON had been distributing the video at one point. There are many ways to deal with this, but the details will fill more than a couple paragraphs.

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