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esong812
Contributor I
June 24, 2019
Question

Moved into a house with built in ceiling speakers but no idea where to start

Hi everyone,

I just moved into a house that was built in 2017 and comes with three pairs of built-in ceiling speakers. One pair is in the living room, another pair in the covered patio and the last pair in the master bedroom. I am completely new to all of this so pardon my ignorance but what do I need to get started? I'm interested in having a home theater system in the living room connected to my tv and also play music (but not necessarily at the same time).

From my reading, it sounds like I may need:

Sonos Amp to connect to my built-in ceiling speakers, alexa echo, along with audio cables for just regular music in the living room, patio and bedroom

Sonos 5.1 set up (playbase, sonos 1 speakers and woofer) for my TV

Obviously this is going to get very spendy so I'm looking to see if there is any way to consolidate this? Thanks so much!
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    2 replies

    AjTrek1
    AjTrek1
    June 24, 2019
    Hi esong812

    BTW…congratulations on your new residence!

    To utilize the in ceiling speakers in any of the rooms will require a Sonos Amp. Multiple amps if you want to play a different sound in each room (pair) simultaneously. A professional installer may be able to configure a speaker selector switch using a single Sonos amp; but the sound in each room would be the same.

    If the living room has a pair of the in-ceiling speakers you may be able to use them as surrounds depending upon their location in the room (i.e. toward the rear or center of the room directly over the seating area. For the TV you might connect a Sonos Beam, Playbar or Playbase with Sonos Sub. Use a Sonos Amp to power the in-ceiling speakers as surrounds. This setup will allow for music from all speakers.

    I highly recommend consulting a professional installer. That individual may be able to devise a way to integrate one or two Sonos Connects to bring music to all speakers inexpensively with either a Sonos Amp or 3rd party amplification recommendation.

    It would have been nice if you had been able to negotiate the power supplies (amps) that were driving the speakers in with the cost of your new home.

    Cheers!
    Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    June 24, 2019

    It would have been nice if you had been able to negotiate the power supplies (amps) that were driving the speakers in with the cost of your new home.

    Cheers!


    To add to this point, it's important to find out where the ceiling speaker speaker wires originate. In most cases, they will all be started from a closet or basement. In some case, your 3 sets of speakers may originate from different spots. Perhaps the patio and living room speakers are coming from a spot in the living room (where the TV might have been) while the bedroom speakers are elsewhere. That's going to limit your ability to power all 3 speaker pairs off one amp, for example.

    Also, not all ceiling speakers are the same. If the previous owner used cheap speakers, you may no wish to buy expensive amps and such to go with it. You might want to consider upgrading the speakers or just ignore them entirely.
    Danny
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