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sonos architectural setup question

  • 20 July 2022
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I recently moved to a new home where the previous owner had one Sonos Connect and 2 independent amps to run music to 4 rooms: living room, kitchen, family room & master bedroom. 

I am currently using the Connect to direct music to the kitchen ceiling speakers.

I own 2 Play 1 and a Play 5.

Question- what is the most economical way to expand my use of this equipment short of just forgetting the ceiling speaker installs. Do I need to buy 4 Connects or Sonos Amps? Segregation of the music source is limited by those 2 independent amps which have an A/B System capability. 

Thanks 

Gerry

 

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Best answer by melvimbe 20 July 2022, 21:30

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5 replies

Airgetlam

I’ll try to answer what I think you’re asking, probably in a more generic way than you’re really wanting.

For my own clarity, I’ll use the newer product names, but essentially the CONNECT is the same as the Port, and the CONNECT:AMP is the same as the Amp. If you have an older version, and it’s working, no significant reason to update (with minor caveats around operating system)

Each Sonos device is considered one “room”. Depending on impedance, it’s possible, although somewhat unlikely, to connect more than one pair of speakers to an Amp. If that is done, the Amp that is driving them will play the same thing in both pairs of speakers (or rooms, in your case) unless there’s some physical selector downstream in the wiring.

The previous owner was running a single output from the Sonos CONNECT to power either of the two independent amps with a music stream. Each independent amp would likely be powering two of the listed rooms, I hope there was some care about impedance matching, or a switch along the way. 

Depending on whether you want different music at the same time in all four rooms, you may need to get four separate Amps. However, if you’re happy to have two rooms being the same, you could save some money and just get two Ports, and have each one feed one of the existing amplifiers currently powering your in ceiling speakers. That would give you two separate streams that could be played at the same time. 

Depending on the quality of those in-ceiling speakers, it’s entirely possible that you may just want to forget them...or not. Hard to tell. Do they sound good to you now? If so, keep them. If they’re not good, consider dropping them for an alternative solution (separate speakers). 

Bruce
melvimbe

Really hard to answer that without more details about the equipment you have, specifically the 3rd party amps, and what features you want to achieve.  Do you want the ability to play independent sources in each room at the same time.  Do you need separate volume control for each room?  Do you need to be able control everything from the Sonos app?

Danny
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Airgetlam & melvimbe,

Thanks for responding.  The ind. amps connected to the Sonos Connect are Audiosource Stereo Power Amp, Model AMP100VS. Each amp is wired to two rooms. The ceiling speakers in the four rooms are Sonance. To confuse the issue, the Audiosource amps are interconnected so the same source plays in all four rooms. 

I will not be using the ceiling speakers to play different sources. I would like to control the individual rooms from the Sonos app.

Airgetlam, based on your initial comments above, how does the Connect differ from the Port? If they are similar maybe the solution is to buy one Sonos amp or port for second set of two rooms since the Connect is handling the first set of two rooms. Its more than I have now but perhaps the simplest solution.

Many thanks,

Gerry

melvimbe

I will not be using the ceiling speakers to play different sources. I would like to control the individual rooms from the Sonos app.

 

That sounds like a bit of a contradiction.  Are you saying that you would only play one source at a time, but want to turn off or change volume of each room individually from the Sonos app?  If that’s the case, you would gain the ability to play different source by default, as there is no way to separate control of source with volume control through the Sonos app….if that makes sense.

So I think you have two choices really 

1 - Get 4 Sonos amps to replace your Connect and Audiosource amps.  

2 - Pair the Connect with one of your amps, disconnect the 2nd amp from bridge mode and connect it to a Port.  Get two Sonos amps for the remaining 2 rooms.

I would go with the 2nd option, as it cheaper, it’s just not as ‘clean’ a setup where your equipment is stored. Features and control are essentialy the same from the Sonos app.  I use a Port and audiosource amp for one of my rooms/zones without any issue.

The Port and Connect are essentially the same thing.  If your Connect is ‘S2 compatible’ then there isn’t really a reason to replace it with a Port.  Port does have a 12V trigger to turn on your amp automatically, but that Audiosource amp doesn’t need it, since it will automatically turn on when it senses audio from the input.

Note that you don’t have to buy all this equipment at once.  You add a Port or Amp here and there as budget allows, giving you more control from the Sonos app with each new add.  You may find that one or two of the rooms aren’t used much, and not worth spending money on.

Danny
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Great, appreciate your fast and clear solutions to my “first world” problem…..

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