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MrClifford
MrClifford
Contributor I
May 7, 2019

New Home Construction! Help me get this right the first time :)

I'll preface this by saying I've Googled this to death. I'll share my own findings at the bottom.

So I'm in progress on a new construction, and I want to get this as right as possible the first time while the walls are totally open. Ideally, I want a 5.1 TV set-up, 2 or 3 pairs of in-wall/ceiling speakers (i.e. Sonos architectural) AND one pair of outdoor speakers. MUSIC sound and experience is my priority over a perfect TV theater setup.

Now, the tricky part is, I want every speaker to be able to play from the same singular source (my iPhone). I know that 3 arch. pairs will play the same audio via a single Amp, but that seems like a waste of the TV speakers (if they are just sitting there silent - especially if the TV sub wasn't playing with the arch.)

Then, I also want all the arch. speakers to be able to play the audio from the TV output (like if I were to watch a youtube music video, I want every speaker including outside to play that audio).

But then I of course want to be able to watch TV using only the surround set-up and everything else off. Yeah, I'm high maintenance.

(adding even more complexity to this setup is the fact that 85% of the space is vaulted cathedral style - a topic for another day)

I'm trying to figure out how many Amps and/or ConnectAmps I might need and how the speakers will interact to achieve this setup, if it is in fact possible.

FWIW, a Sonos rep via chat try to explain with this: "Okay. So yes you would want one Amp powering a pair of in-wall speakers for front channels, an Amp powering a pair of speakers as rear channels (if you wanted to have them) and an Amp with the outdoor speakers (up to three pairs outdoors)

You can send the TV audio from the surround sound setup to the outdoor speakers, and since the outdoor speakers are not in the surround sound setup, you can have up to three pairs with that one Amp

And you can play music to any and all of them from the Sonos App" >> aka she's saying I need 3 separate amps to achieve what she understood. Seems like overkill.

* So far, in my research, it seems like if I wanted to play music audio from my phone on the TV setup, then I would have to connect it to an amp, which then "phantomizes" my sound bar center channel. I don't really want to have to do that, seeing as the playbar is so expensive. Maybe some of you can share your experience with a 4.1 vs true 5.1 setup? *

Another thing to note that is that most of the speakers I want to just run mono audio, with the exception of 2 (near the TV setup) which would be stereo L/R.


PHEW - ok so any advice is appreciated. Like I said, I want to get as close to perfect as I can while the wiring, etc. is easy. I don't want to install things now and then realized, crap, I can't play THIS from THERE --__--
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    MrClifford
    MrCliffordAuthor
    Contributor I
    May 9, 2019
    Thanks. I should've been more clear. When I say from my phone I do in fact mean via streaming apps on my phone, not downloaded content (Spotify, Apple, etc.)

    That is very unclear: Spotify/Apple stream directly to your speakers: your phone is just used to start playback from the Sonos app. (Think TV Remote). The problem with the iPhone is when people physically download music to it, then try to play from it.

    I see. I think the confusion is coming from the fact that I have not used the Sonos app so I don't really know how that Spotify-Sonos App-speakers relationship works. I would only be streaming from apps on the phone though, not playing things hard-downloaded on the iphone.
    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    May 9, 2019


    I see. I think the confusion is coming from the fact that I have not used the Sonos app so I don't really know how that Spotify-Sonos App-speakers relationship works. I would only be streaming from apps on the phone though, not playing things hard-downloaded on the iphone.

    Not sure you quite understand this yet, since you keep mentioning the apps on your phone, which are essentially irrelevant.

    The standard way of streaming music with Sonos is that the speaker itself gets the stream from the streaming service. The apps for streaming services on your phone are not needed at all. In fact, I have a Spoitfy account setup in my Sonos system, but I don't have a Spotify app on my phone, at all. The phone is just a controller, as is a tablet or any other means of control for the system (voice for example). You can start playback with your phone and then pick up a tablet to stop the music for example.

    Here's a list of all the streaming services that Sonos supports.

    https://www.sonos.com/en/streaming-music


    However, there are some streaming apps you have on your phone that allow you to control playback of their services from their app. Spotify for example will allow you pick a sonos speaker, and then have that speaker play a Spotify stream. The stream is still coming from Spotify's services directly to the speaker though. You could shut your phone off and the stream would still keep going.

    And there is also airplay, which works a lot like bluetooth. In that case, you would stream audio to your phone, and then have airplay stream to your speaker. Your phone must be on and in wifi range for this to work, and obviously takes up twice the bandwidth. It's not the smart way to stream with Sonos speakers except when there is no other options.

    So yes, don't be thinking about the apps on your phone. You won't really want to use them for the most part.
    Danny
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