I have 4 overhead 3rd party speakers connected to a new Sonos amp. I would like to add some bass and want to know if I can pair the Sonos sub to the amp? Or would you recommend the arc? This is for a family room so I’m not looking for a ton of bass.
A Sub, and/or Arc, can work with the new Sonos Amp (if not used already in a HT setup) over a wireless/wired connection, but ideally the Amp needs to be close-by (in the same room) as the device(s) you wish to add, as they each maybe ‘bonded’ together, which means they will ‘normally’ communicate over a 5Ghz Ad-hoc direct wireless connection and that ‘fast’ direct connection can sometimes work better than a wired setup, depending on network latency.
The Sub would be the better option if you are mostly looking for additional Bass sound. The Arc is a TV Home Theatre device mostly, but will play music audio too.
Concentrating just on the music side of things for the Sonos Arc it may increase overall volume in the room, but it will not have the depth of Bass audio compared to the Sub. So my suggestion would be to add the Sub to your setup based on your current needs.
Note: if your Amp is set outside your listening room, at some distance away (with walls in-between) then I would suggest you cable both the Amp and Sub direct to your router/switch.
Hope that assists.
I will just add, that if the Amp is already connected direct to a TV over Arc/Optical port - to play TV audio, an Arc cannot be added direct to that setup, but the Arc can be used to takeover the role of the Amp as the main HT (front channels) player and the Amp can be ‘demoted’ to play the TV rear channel audio through it’s connected speakers (which may perhaps sound ‘odd’ coming from the ceiling above, depending on the main listening position in the room). The Sonos Sub can be ‘bonded’ to such a TV HT surround sound setup too.
Yes the tv is connected via arc to amp and then 4 overhead speakers are connected to the amp.
Yes the tv is connected via arc to amp and then 4 overhead speakers are connected to the amp.
In which case my second post above applies, you can’t add the Sonos Arc as the setup presently stands at the moment. If you do want the Arc, you would need to replace the Amp with the Arc and connect that to your TV. You can’t have both connected to the TV at the same time.
The Amps role though could be shifted to ‘bond’ to the Arc to play the rear TV channels audio through all its connected ceiling speakers. I’m not sure I would like that myself, but that’s a decision for yourself.
Whatever you choose to do in this case the Sub can be bonded to either setup.
If you just want more Bass - I would perhaps go with the Sub, but again this is entirely up to you.
Looking just at the music side of things for a moment, if you swapped the Amp’s role for the Sonos Arc …and bonded the Amp to the Arc (and maybe added a Sub) - it can play the music audio from All speakers (set to Ambient of Full audio surround) and with the Sub included, it could ‘shake’ the room with sound.
It is possible to switch off the surrounds using the App, if required, to play just through the Arc speakers, but it can’t be done the other way around where it plays just through the ceiling speakers. If you wanted to do that you have to unbond the surrounds.
Also note if the Sonos Amp’s role is ‘demoted’ to play the TV HT rear audio channels then all the ‘ports’ on the rear of the Amp (line-in etc.) are set as ‘disabled’ when in that bonded state.
Hope that information assists.
Ok so let’s just eliminate the arc. I’m getting the Sonos sub and it can be connected to the amp in my current setup?
Ok so let’s just eliminate the arc. I’m getting the Sonos sub and it can be connected to the amp in my current setup?
Yes it can.
The only case in which the Sub can not be connected to the Amp is when the Amp is being used to power surround speakers.
The only case in which the Sub can not be connected to the Amp is when the Amp is being used to power surround speakers.
Thanks Bruce👍, but just to quickly add that will only apply in relation to a ‘3rd-Party’ active Sub. It’s not the case for the Sonos Sub, which will always work however an Amp is being used in the HT setup, but all said and done, the Amp in this instance is being used as the HT master anyway.
Correct, but in that use case, the Sub is being bonded to the ‘front’ Home theater device, and not the Amp driving the surround speakers. When in surround mode, only the surround channels are being fed to the Amp, and the LFE channel for the Sub is not being sent to that rear device.
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