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Contributor III
January 17, 2018
Question

Outdoor speakers for sonos connect amp

Trying to decide which speakers to get for my backyard (pool area), i only want to put 2 of them either 2 atrium (1 pair) or 2 atrium 8 (1 pair) the atriums 8 have the capability for dual input making them a load speakers (Single stereo speaker), not sure how big of a benefit this is outdoor but it does sound interesting

Ill ordered the sonos amp, so not sure what would be my best option 🙂
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18 replies

Chris
Lead Maestro
January 17, 2018
I run 2 speakers in my back yard in just plain L/R configuration and they work fine. Outdoor I can't really tell the left right separation anyhow.

I guess if I had the budget I would probably chose the ones that are actually each stereo. I assume it will sound better that way. Since they are 8ohms you can hook 2 (1pair) of them to the Connect:Amp using the stereo connection (so you would have 2 wires to each of the L/R outputs).
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Contributor III
January 17, 2018
That means 4 wires to each speaker?? And 2 wires to each of the speaker connectors on the back of the amp,
Chris
Lead Maestro
January 17, 2018
Yes each speaker would get a Left +/- and Right +/- so 4 wires per speaker.

Then all 4 wires connected to the appropriate locations on Connect:Amp. Then the other speaker exactly the same and put on the Connect:Amp 2 on top of the others wires (so 2 wires on each post).
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Contributor III
January 17, 2018
Thanks for fast reply, will the sonos amp be able to drive the atrium 8? It just looks like the amp was made for non single speaker stereo
Chris
Lead Maestro
January 17, 2018
The Connect:Amp can power up to 4 total 8 ohms speakers (2 lefts and 2 rights). It says the Atriums are 8 ohms (and really each speaker is really acting as though it is 2 speakers). So to me they should put a load on the Connect:Amp the same as four 8 ohms speakers would - which the amp is designed for.
Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
Chris
Lead Maestro
January 17, 2018
Here is a good page on wiring etc. for the Connect:Amp
https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/269/~/connecting-speakers-to-a-connect%3Aamp
Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
January 17, 2018

I guess if I had the budget I would probably chose the ones that are actually each stereo. I assume it will sound better that way.

So would I, they would sound better. Almost every outdoor situation does better by not having the speakers play just one of the two channels because stereo imaging in a small sweet spot is rarely a desired outcome and one speaker usually dominates in its part of the space. Unfortunately, the Connect Amp does not have a mono toggle switch that would be very useful in these installs.
Contributor III
January 17, 2018
So i got this combo today the amp the atrium 8 speakers, and im a bit dissapointed i connected 1 of them in full stereo mode (4 cables from the speaker, 4 cables at the amp (1 per connector) and while playing pandora, or google music, i have to go to like 80% volume to start listening to it from 7ft away from the speaker. Do i have to change some settings? i also tried to put one speaker in L/R mode and it actually sounds louder.
Chris
Lead Maestro
January 17, 2018
All you can really do to boost is turn up the equalizer a bit but that isn't going to get you much more.

If you think you need more power your best bet then would be buying a separate amplifier and hooking a connect to it.
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Contributor III
January 17, 2018
They are quite loud at 90%-100%, i just tought i saw some people saying that at 20% volume these speakers were loud.... is it normal for r/l to sound louder than full stereo?