Sonos Connect W/ Sonos Beam

Question

I currently have a Sonos Beam set up of course as the sound bar for my TV. I also have an Audio Technica turntable with a built in pre-amp. Basically, I have two questions:

1.) Would a Sonos Connect or ZP90 (I've seen some used for cheaper) allow me to play my turntable on the Beam? I've read somewhere that the Beam isn't compatible with the Connect or ZP90 so I wanted to see if that was accurate information. I can't afford a Play5 so I'm trying to see if this option would work?

2.) I also hope within the year to purchase a couple of Sonos One speakers to link with the Beam for surround sound. Will I have any issues with the Connect or Zp90 working the turntable (and surround sound) once I expand? 

Is there anything else I should be aware of? 

I'm new to Sonos and new to comprehensive audio equipment in general, so I appreciate the help.

melvimbe · Accepted Answer

I currently have a Sonos Beam set up of course as the sound bar for my TV. I also have an Audio Technica turntable with a built in pre-amp. Basically, I have two questions:

1.) Would a Sonos Connect or ZP90 (I've seen some used for cheaper) allow me to play my turntable on the Beam? I've read somewhere that the Beam isn't compatible with the Connect or ZP90 so I wanted to see if that was accurate information. I can't afford a Play5 so I'm trying to see if this option would work?

Yes, that will work. What you may have heard is people trying to use a Connect to 'power' surround speakers (through a third party amp) . That doesn't work. Your Connect would be setup as separate room, which can be grouped with your Beam.

2.) I also hope within the year to purchase a couple of Sonos One speakers to link with the Beam for surround sound. Will I have any issues with the Connect or Zp90 working the turntable (and surround sound) once I expand?

That's fine too. However, when Ones are used as surround speakers for the Beam, their Mics are automatically turned off. So play:1s is the better/cheaper option, unless you just like the look of the Ones better.

John B · Answer

It would be perfectly possible to play the music from the turntable to the Beam. Whatever goes into a Connect's line-in can be streamed to any Sonos speaker.

There is a slightly convoluted way to play the turntable through the Beam without further Sonos equipment. The RCA output from turntable (I assume it's RCA stereo?) could be fed through a analog to digital converter with optical output. Then use the optical to HDMI connector that came with the Beam to get from optical to what the Beam requires. If that works then you could introduce an optical switch so that you can choose between TV and turntable inputs.

At least, I think that would work! An ADC can be bought pretty cheaply.

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