Options for passing through Home Receiver output to SONOS network

Hi Schorschi,

You can wire a CONNECT directly to your receiver/amplifier.

With the CONNECT to have the content from your receiver/amplifier play on your SONOS network you can plug the output of your receiver/amplifier into the line-in of the CONNECT, in reverse to have your receiver/amplifier play what is on your SONOS network you would plug the output of the CONNECT into the line-in of your receiver/amplifier.

For the output on the CONNECT you can use either analog which is a standard RCA audio cable or you can use a digital connection which is through a TOSLINK® optical audio cable or a digital coaxial cable.

From my knowledge the CONNECT can run both sources at the same time. If you want everything on your SONOS network to be in sync with your receiver/amplifier this will come in handy as you can be receiving an input through the CONNECT which will be processed and then fed to the SONOS network and to your receiver/amplifier at the same time from the CONNECT.

Here are some links to help get you started:
Using Line-In on a SONOS player.
Using Line-Out on a CONNECT.

Alternatively you could use a CONNECT:AMP to replace your existing receiver/amplifier and have the necessary sources connected to a switcher and then that connected directly to the CONNECT:AMP with your speakers also powered from the CONNECT:AMP.

Best regards!

Great post kmjy

Hi Schorschi,

To answer about if you have to change cable connections to the Connect.  If you have multiple RCA outputs you will need a RCA switch too as the connect only has one RCA input.  I have one from Radio shack that is a manual (I have to push the button to pick the source) but I really do not change the source very often.   There is also a audio input on the Play 5 that once connected you can pick this source with your phone. 

Hope this helps

Great post kmjy

Hi Schorschi,

To answer about if you have to change cable connections to the Connect.  If you have multiple RCA outputs you will need a RCA switch too as the connect only has one RCA input.  I have one from Radio shack that is a manual (I have to push the button to pick the source) but I really do not change the source very often.   There is also a audio input on the Play 5 that once connected you can pick this source with your phone. 

Hope this helps
Thanks CapnLess!

To prevent any confusion in my own post when read with yours, alternatively if you use the receiver/amplifier which already has all of the sources connected to it then all you would have to do is wire the receiver/amplifier to the CONNECT and then when you want to play another source just switch to that input channel on the receiver/amplifier. In a sense the receiver/amplifier is a switch, so it should work that way. Otherwise if you cannot plug all of those sources into your receiver/amplifier then go for a switch just as CapnLes has suggested!

Best regards!

Great post kmjy

Hi Schorschi,

To answer about if you have to change cable connections to the Connect.  If you have multiple RCA outputs you will need a RCA switch too as the connect only has one RCA input.  I have one from Radio shack that is a manual (I have to push the button to pick the source) but I really do not change the source very often.   There is also a audio input on the Play 5 that once connected you can pick this source with your phone. 

Hope this helps
My Sonos Story;  I have a wife and two young boys and no sound system of any kind in the house other than the TVs (big TV).  All in the course of one week each boy wanted a stereo system in their rooms and the wife wanted speakers out by the pool and a sound system in the house, I wanted a surround sound system for that big TV.  I live in Florida with no basement and no attic so running and hiding wires is a mess.  I also live in an Apple house, if Apple makes it I have a least three of them and what ever I get for a sound system must work with Apple.  So I was looking at three different systems and a whole bunch of wire and money.

So I began asking all my friends what they have and only one of them had a Sonos system.  After doing some more research I purchased two Play 3 speakers and a Bridge.  Right off the bat I had problems with the system dropping out.  I contacted Sonos and they told me to move the Bridge as it was having troubles with my router.  That was because I had it sitting on top of the router (not to smart) I moved it a few feet away and now I have a rock solid awesome system.

 Like many folks here I have drank the tea and will never have anything else in my house for sound that is not made by Sonos.  I now have:

2 x Play 1

2 X Play 5
2 X Play 3

PlayBar and a Sonos bass

I have plans on buying more speakers and another Play Bar soon

I no longer have a bridge in my system as I have one of the play 5s plugged in to the router.

When you first enter this site you may think that Sonos has a lot of problems with their gear.  But if you buy a Rolls Royce to go camping with the family in Yellow Stone you my friend have chosen badly.  Same goes with Sonos, if you do not understand what it does and does not do you may not be happy with it. 

Sonos does all the things my family wanted and a whole lot more.  Take the PlayBar for example there are two features that a first glance may not seem like much but are huge.  One is speech enhancement, not sure how it works but it brings up the speech levels without bringing up any other sounds.  My parents purchased a Play Bar just for this reason and love it and only watch TV with it.  The other is the night feature so if I am watching a movie and a machine gun goes off Sonos will turn it down so I do not wake the whole house but still make it so I can hear the rest.

Now when a friend comes over I can tell them to get on my Wi-Fi and down load the Sonos app.  Once they have done that they can now play their music from their device through my whole house wireless and easily.  Be carful here has my friends like to pull up in the drive way and mess with my sound system just to drive me crazy, but I am sure you have better friends than I do.  

Let say you have a great set of speakers that you want to move to another room.  With a Sonos Connect Amp you can move the speakers anywhere in the house and the Connect Amp will drive them.  Yes, you will have wires to the speakers from the Connect Amp but the rest is wireless. 

We now have more remotes than I can count as each Apple products can control the whole system.  The remote for that big TV controls the Play Bar music levels even when the TV is off.  If the boys have their music to loud (most of the time) I can grab any Apple gadget and turn just their speakers down.  (They now know that they are not allowed to turn it back up)

The wife hates tech and a first did not want Sonos in the house, as she was sure that it would be too hard to use.  Now she is buying Sonos speakers as gifts to her friends and is sure we have saved money by buying Sonos.  Had I not gone with Sonos I am sure I would have spent a lot more money and not be as happy as I am now.

All I can tell you is once you have Sonos you will wonder why you did not get it sooner.

 

 

Great post kmjy

Hi Schorschi,

To answer about if you have to change cable connections to the Connect.  If you have multiple RCA outputs you will need a RCA switch too as the connect only has one RCA input.  I have one from Radio shack that is a manual (I have to push the button to pick the source) but I really do not change the source very often.   There is also a audio input on the Play 5 that once connected you can pick this source with your phone. 

Hope this helps
Have a look at this post:

https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/connect-play-1-to-smart-tv

He did not do his research and will not be happy with Sonos.  Had he purchased a PlayBar he would be very happy and love Sonos.

Great post kmjy

Hi Schorschi,

To answer about if you have to change cable connections to the Connect.  If you have multiple RCA outputs you will need a RCA switch too as the connect only has one RCA input.  I have one from Radio shack that is a manual (I have to push the button to pick the source) but I really do not change the source very often.   There is also a audio input on the Play 5 that once connected you can pick this source with your phone. 

Hope this helps
Absolutely LOVE that post! Wow! GREAT STORY!!!

Considering getting play 5 for the 3 living areas and sonos connect for the Home Theater Room. The Home Theater Room has a denon AVRX3300 receiver and 5.1 Speaker setup.

1) Want to be able to play music from Sonos system in the Home Theater room- Will a sonos connect do this?

2) The AVRX3300 Denon receiver has the cable TV box connected to it - Want to connect the zone 2 output to the Denon receiver to the sonos connect and play TV sound in the other 3 living areas- Will Sonos Connect do this?

Yes and yes. For the first, connect the Connect via either analog or digital output to the analog or digital input of your choice on the Denon. For the second, connect the Zone 2 pre-outs to the analog line-in on the Connect. Note, the line-in input will be delayed by 75 ms. This is not noticeable if the line-in is being played on Sonos speakers in other rooms.

Yes and yes. For the first, connect the Connect via either analog or digital output to the analog or digital input of your choice on the Denon. For the second, connect the Zone 2 pre-outs to the analog line-in on the Connect. Note, the line-in input will be delayed by 75 ms. This is not noticeable if the line-in is being played on Sonos speakers in other rooms.

The rooms are all open rooms and are close by each other- will the delay in the line-in input of 75 ms be noticeable?

The rooms are all open rooms and are close by each other- will the delay in the line-in input of 75 ms be noticeable?

It could be. Some people are more sensitive to out of sync audio than others.

By wiring through the CONNECT (TOSLink from CONNECT to Denon Receiver, Denon Receiver Out to CONNECT Line In), will this support full surround sound like it would if you connected a PLAYBAR/BASE?

No, the CONNECT doesn’t have a 5.1 decoder. It only handles a stereo signal.

Does the PlayBar?

Yes, both the PLAYBAR and PLAYBASE have Dolby Digital decoders attached to the optical port.

Thank you

You’re most welcome.