Question

How to integrate 6 in-ceiling speakers and a Play 5?

  • 20 July 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 1291 views

I move into an new place with 6 in-ceiling speakers and I also have a Play 5. Attached is the picture of the wires for the 6 speakers. I've been scratched my head for integrating those two types of speakers. The goal is to have a system that I can play streaming music, movie from my laptop or TV channels. Any suggestion?

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

2 replies

Userlevel 1
Badge +2
bryanthsu-

You have 6 pairs of in-ceiling speakers from what I see. That a classic quantity as many companies make a 6 zone speaker switch box that balances speaker loads. Or same but with 6 volume controls instead of on/off zone switches. So while you won't have individual Sonos zones (all ceiling speakers will be on the same music) this is simple & effective. You'll need the Sonos Connect, and a stereo distribution amp ( that can drive a 4 ohm load ). Total cost $1200-1500 to drive the 6 pairs of speakers, as a common Sonos zone, called perhaps "WHOLE HOUSE", then the second dedicated zone with your Play:5 as a "PORTABLE" zone. Most people would want this professionally installed but its not a challenging hookup if your good with audio systems
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
I registered in order to reply to this.
The FIRST thing you will want to do is hook up a pair of those speakers to a receiver you have and play some music.
I was in a similar situation when I bought my house, and hooked up my old A/V receiver in the media closet to the speaker switch that was hooked to 4 or 5 pair of in-ceiling speakers in my house. Then the disappointment set in. They sound like you are listening to an AM radio, very bad quality.
You can do what the poster above me mentioned, and then you would have to manually enable/disable/adjust volumes for the speakers through the amplifier or a speaker switch. I find that I never use the built in speakers because of this inconvenience.
You could also get 6 connect:amp's (i see this in the example pictures on this site and others), which would be $$$$$$$, but you can then control the volume/source for each pair independently through the sonos app on your phone.
I have a pair of play 5's in a room I just added onto the house, and a separate play 5 in my living room (much better sound than the ceiling speakers) so that I can play music in sync with the addition as well as hardwire that play 5 to my network so that I can get the sonos traffic off of my wifi network. However, for my patio, I may just get one connect amp and hook it up in the media closet to the speaker switch (and upgrade the in-ceiling speakers to something from monoprice, etc)... I don't want my kids being able to disturb the neighbors anyways so I don't need top volume/bass out there.