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TeamMcKee
Contributor I
May 4, 2017
Question

New user - Large home, need advice

Being new to the product, I am looking for advice and will be as brief as possible in my explanation...
I am currently using Play 5's and am so impressed with the product. I do have occasional wi-fi issues.
My home is wired to all rooms with both speaker wire and CAT5.
All current wiring runs back to one location.
My desire is to utilize hard-wired ceiling mount speakers in various rooms with the ability to utilize Sonos.
Total Hard-wired rooms would 8+
Home is near 8k sq ft.
I have not purchased the in-ceiling speakers yet. I understand these are not available. Are there certain brands ideal for sound with Sonos products?

Do I need an "Amp" for each & every room?
I currently have my Play 5's in various rooms and "group" to play the same throughout. Is this the same when using Amp and hard wired speakers?
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      5 replies

      jgatie
      jgatie
      May 4, 2017
      Sonos doesn't have a favored in-ceiling speaker. Pick one that is 8 Ohms (more on that later) and within your budget. Note, if you wish to have a single speaker in a small space, you will need a single-point stereo speaker, which is one speaker with both L and R inputs.

      You will need a Connect:Amp for every "Room", with "Room" being defined as 2-4 speakers (as long as they are 8 Ohms) all playing the same thing. So if you wish, you can combine 2 speakers in a bedroom with 2 speakers (or the afore mentioned single-point stereo) in a dressing area or bath. Or 2 speakers in a kitchen with 2 in the dining. Or 4 speakers in a large living area. If you wish, you can wire in-wall volume controls to control the volume on the speaker pairs.

      After all this, you can group all together including your Play:5's to play in sync, or play a different source in each Room, or any combination of the two.
        TeamMcKeeAuthor
        Contributor I
        May 4, 2017
        Thank you much jgatie. So to clarify as an example...
        "Game Room" with 2 ceiling speakers would require a Connect:Amp.
        I could then add 2 ceiling speakers in the "Kitchen" to that same Connect:Amp = 4 speakers total & max allowable per Amp.
        Then "Game Room" and "Kitchen" would play the same content.
        Add another Connect:Amp and add up to 4 more speakers, regardless of location. These would then have the ability to play different content.
        Did I get this all correct?

        Connect:Amp... ZP100 sufficient or need ZP120?

        Thanks again!
        jgatie
        jgatie
        May 4, 2017
        Yes, each Connect:amp will be able to play a different source to up to 4 speakers. ZP120 is just the old name of the Connect:Amp, they are identical in specs. ZP100 is the older model. Any of these will do, there is very little difference between the ZP100 and the ZP120/Connect:Amp. The latter has a bit more power (5 W).
          attacama40
          Headliner I
          September 28, 2017
          If you want a cast iron guaranteed result then a CA, hard wired RJ45 and a pair of B&W CCM663's per room and then share a Sonos Sub between a couple of rooms.

          That's not cheap but assuming a reasonably "normal" house layout (i.e fairly square/rectangular boxes) then pretty much a cert.

          If you can use RJ45 all the better, if not then Sonos Mesh network is pretty good. I have all mine on a retro installed CAT 5 / 6 network back to a 2nd hand Netgear 48 port gigabit switch (cheap old one) and then to a latest gen Linksys router (over expensive and decidedly average box) and I rarely get an issue and our system works hard all day long.

          B&W in-ceiling speaker you cannot go wrong with but are expensive ... something I'm currently looking for alternatives for but certainly not based on performance.

          Also do not be put off by the Sonos Sub .... I was originally assuming it would be a bit meh .... in fact it's very very well balanced if too expensive.

          In some rooms that are large or you want real ear shattering stuff then a pair of CA's, a pair of 663's and a sub is about as good as it gets.

          Has took me a long long time and had a lot of advice off way more experienced folk on this site and I now think I have the model system .... if such a thing exists. But always learning 😃
          attacama40
          Headliner I
          September 28, 2017
          P.S one thing I have not done (and I really don't know the impact good or bad) but I never used the CA sub connector, I used RJ45 connections to my Sonos Subs ..... I really do not know if I missed a trick there or not. In fact I only realised there was a sub connector last week when installing a CA in the spare bedroom. Worth to look into at this early stage.
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