sonos amp as front and Ones as rear surround with turn table

  • 29 December 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 753 views
H

Hi,

I’m new to the Sonos game and have a question about the Sonos AMP.

I currently have:

  • pair of Sonos Ones
  • TV with an HDMI-ARC port
  • Turntable connected to a kenwood amplifier with line out
  • pair of 8ohm passive speakers

What I would like to do is use a Sonos AMP to:

  • connect TV to HDMI-ARC port
  • connect passive 8ohm speakers to sonos amp to be used as FRONT surround speakers
  • use pair of sonos ones to be REAR surround speakers
  • connect line out from turntable to line in on sonos amp
  • maybe add a 3rd party powered sub to the sonos amp later
  • still be able to use airplay 2 to send music to the sonos system

Do you have confirmation that this configuration will work? Can it all stay in surround mode (with the sonos amp as the FRONT speakers and sonos ones as the rear surround speakers)? Will I be able to switch between TV HDMI-ARC connection and sonos amp line in connection either by auto detection or through the sonos app?

 

Thanks for your help! Rock on!

5 replies

G
Userlevel 7

Yes, everything you mentioned will work with that setup. Be sure your turntable has a built-in phono preamp. If you want “auto detection” enable TV Autoplay and set up the Line-In Autoplay under the Amp’s settings.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
H

Thanks for the quick reply! That sounds like a great option that will work.

My other option that I see is:

  • Beam for TV and front surround
  • pair of ones for rear surround
  • a single sonos Five for line in and “extra” speaker

In this setup however, how does the sonos Five get integrated into the “surround” setup if the beam is doing the fronts and the ones are doing the rears? Can the sonos Five be integrated? or not really in the same “configuration” or “room”?

I guess the other option would be:

  • Beam for TV and front surround
  • pair of ones for rear surround
  • sonos port for turntable line in

Would this setup also allow for the turntable and TV to all be played in the same “surround” configuration and use auto detect and airplay? My only issue is the port is a steep price just for the line in and essentially nothing else. Could more easily justify getting the sonos Five for the line in and “bonus” speaker.

Thanks again!

G
Userlevel 7

My other option that I see is:

  • Beam for TV and front surround
  • pair of ones for rear surround
  • a single sonos Five for line in and “extra” speaker

In this setup however, how does the sonos Five get integrated into the “surround” setup if the beam is doing the fronts and the ones are doing the rears? Can the sonos Five be integrated? or not really in the same “configuration” or “room”?

The Five would be in a separate room/zone than the Beam/Ones setup. You can group the Five with the Beam/Ones in the Sonos app and play the same music through all speakers. But if you group the Five with the Beam while playing TV audio, you will hear a slight audio delay from the Five.

If you have a turntable connected to Line-In on the Five, you can either group the Beam with the Five in the Sonos app OR you can just select the Line-In option under Browse in the Sonos app and play the Line-In audio to the Beam/Ones alone.
 

I guess the other option would be:

  • Beam for TV and front surround
  • pair of ones for rear surround
  • sonos port for turntable line in

Would this setup also allow for the turntable and TV to all be played in the same “surround” configuration and use auto detect and airplay? My only issue is the port is a steep price just for the line in and essentially nothing else. Could more easily justify getting the sonos Five for the line in and “bonus” speaker.

With this setup, you would just select the Line-In option under Browse to play the turntable/Line-In audio to your Beam setup. You can also set up the Autoplay feature under the Line-In settings for the Port where it will automatically play the Line-In audio to the Beam/Ones when it detects an audio signal from the turntable.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi,

I’m new to the Sonos game and have a question about the Sonos AMP.

What I would like to do is use a Sonos AMP to:

  • connect TV to HDMI-ARC port
  • connect passive 8ohm speakers to sonos amp to be used as FRONT surround speakers
  • use pair of sonos ones to be REAR surround speakers
  • connect line out from turntable to line in on sonos amp
  • maybe add a 3rd party powered sub to the sonos amp later
  • still be able to use airplay 2 to send music to the sonos system

IMO the above scenario needs a bit of clarification:

The Sonos Amp would function in two modes:

  1. Home Theater mode for TV designated as a room (HT for example)
  2. Turntable mode designated as a room wherein it is identified as Turntable

Here’s what you get

  1. Yes, you can connect the LINE-OUT from the turntable to the LINE-IN of the Sonos Amp connected to your TV via HDMI.
  2. The speakers connected to the Sonos Amp connected to your TV via HDMI will never function as SURROUND speakers.  They will always function as FULL-On speakers when playing TV or Turntable audio.
  3. SURROUND (rear) speakers are never full function when playing TV audio. However the Sonos App will allow you to set surround (rear) speakers as FULL function to play music and auto-switch to surround mode for TV audio and vice-versa.
  4. SURROUND (rear) speakers can NEVER be engaged when playing turntable music even though they are part of the HT setup. *

(*) It may be possible to group the home theater room when playing the Turntable even though the same amp is involved with both to bring in the rear surround speakers. That would be “double-dipping” but it may work :thinking:

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
E
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

As someone who uses an Amp for both TV and turntable, there are a couple of inaccuracies in that last post:

 

  • You do not designate separate “rooms” for home theater mode and line-in/turntable mode — both modes operate under the single room name that you give the Amp on initial setup.
  • The rear surround speakers can indeed be engaged when playing the turntable — either in “ambient” or “full” mode depending on preference.
  • There is no option to “group” two “rooms” from a single Amp as the Amp is only one room — but in any case this would not be necessary since the surrounds can be engaged while playing music.

To the original poster: if you’re happy with your existing passive speakers, I would skip the Beam and use the Amp exactly as you’ve described. I have two HT setups, one with an Amp and one with an Arc, and I much prefer the Amp setup for music since the stereo separation and therefore soundstage is much more pronounced. For HT I don’t have a strong preference between them. As noted you will need a phono pre-amp if your turntable doesn’t have one built-in, or you could continue to use the phono stage in your Kenwood amp and send a line-out from there into the Amp.

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