Sonos Amp Lowdown: Everything you need to know in 5 mins

[@RidgeVoyles]

I’m trying to go completely wireless and wondering if this will work with what I’m trying to do. I currently have a Sonos soundbar and am ordering two fives and a subwoofer. I’m just trying to see if the amp will boost wirelessly or if I have to directly hook everything up

[@mrpotter315]

If there is anyone watching this review that does not already own SONOS... stop what you're doing and order it today. I worked in PRO Audio / Video production as a younger guy and have been in and around this stuff my whole life and SONOS is a game changer in so many ways. As for the amp, we recently upgraded to a much bigger boat and were able to spend a tiny amount of money on a few SONOS AMPS and now we have a fully integrated and flexible SONOS driven system, and an almost nominal cost. Conversely on the boat I just sold, I did some refitting a couple years ago and (my bad) I didn't really know about or understand how these amps work, so I tried to go the old-fashioned route and put a traditional "Receiver" in there with another stand-alone amp with a low-cost center speaker, etc. Guess What? Despite hours and hours (and hours) of programming a Logitec Harmony 650 Universal Remote Control, (which is a pretty good tool), we would STILL find ourselves in places where (if the power went off, which happens all the time on a boat) you'd have to bust out 3 or 4 remotes and do a start-up reset sequence to get everything talking to each other. And not to be Mr. Audio Professor here, but for people who don't know... Old fashioned systems are a daisy chain of "dumb" components. Sound Source (TV / CD / iPhone, etc), Receiver, Speakers. You have to tell that receiver EXACTLY what Source you want to hear, How you want that source decoded (Dolby? Dolby 5.1? Stereo?, etc) and where you what the output to go to. Main Speakers? Center Speaker? Surround Speakers? Now... multiply all those individual elements by one-another (just in this little example) and your going to get HUNDREDS of permutations! If one parameter is off - no audio! And THAT'S the problem with OLD SCHOOL audio / video. It knows nothing - you have to tell it EVERYTHING. SONOS fires up and says "who's out there? Ah (says the SONOS brain) "we've got a TV Source sending a Dolby 5.1 signal, two front surround speakers, a center speaker and a sub. Give me just a few nanoseconds and... YOU'RE GOOD!" Sonos is checking the sources and adjusting the output based on what IT sees, not on what you have to tell it every single time. (For example, on the old boat I purchased this low cost center channel that fit PERFECTLY in the limited space - but it had some unwanted "smart" functions of it's own, meaning that every time the boat went to zero power and I had to reset the system, I'd have to haul out the remote and set the input and output parameters - or it didn't work! Annoying!) No I don't work for SONOS and no I don't work for whoever did this video. I'm just another guy who'd like to think he's knows a little bit about computers and audio / video telling you that for the moment (and while they are not perfect) SONOS has the best mouse trap. We're building a new home and it will be 100% SONOS driven and we will be making extensive use of these AMPS. It's really the only way to go.

[@g.thandi824]

Would you still recommend a sonos amp (or amps), with speakers that are not Sonos? Eg.) found a great deal on some Kef in ceiling speakers.

[@BryceLovesTech]

Great point. And the harmony remote made me chuckle about one of those and it was a nightmare never worked right, so I returned it.

[@Snowjockbc]

The Sonos AMP works great with third party speakers. We have one connected to our garden set up and its great! Better than the previous dedicated amp. You lose some of the spatial mapping that the sonos in ceiling speakers can do but its not a huge difference. @@g.thandi824

[@FreshlySnipes]

I have dumb ceiling speakers in my house and I am looking to connect to them using my iPhone and play music in specific rooms at one time as well as outside. I have about 20 speakers, inside and outside. Will this amp work for that?

[@geoffreygoff1270]

@@FreshlySnipes Let me know what you find out. I have multi zones and trying to figure this out.

[@Andy_Quest]

Soo can I replace my regular amp and then sync two wireless Sonos amps as surround sound? And then be able move them to other rooms in the house for parties?

[@PeteyPablo408]

Can you stream music from your phone bluetooth or wifi using this amplifier?

[@matthewnicholas6365]

I'm trying to work something out on this.... Can i wire in 2 floor standing speakers to have a 2.0 channel TV setup...AND link some Sonos wireless speakers in another room?

[@cucho8989]

I have a CD player and turntable how can I connect both to the Sonos amp?

[@kodybryantmusic7357]

Because this uses AirPlay, could I use this to play music through my TV surround system with my HomePod HomeKit setup?

[@Largeone1968]

It’s very pleasing that this can work with S1 and S2. Sonos may yet still get some more money out after thoroughly penalising me for spending more than £5k on non S2 compatible gear😡 Much of it is but I need all! 5 Amps and 4 play 3’s aren’t cheap to replace😡

[@PeteyPablo408]

Can i stream music from my Android devices i only read Apple devices? And how many channels is this amplifier?

[@FreshlySnipes]

How many speakers can be hooked up to the amp? It looks like it only has a few plugs.. will this work for an entire home with 15+ speakers and 8 rooms?

[@stuy5283]

I have four Jbl control28-1 speakers for a small home gym setup. Would I be able to use one Sonos amp to power and control the speakers or would I need two Sonos amps (two speakers per amp) ? New to this audio stuff, any help would be appreciated!

[@SuperCampolo]

Do you need the amp to connect the celling speakers with the tv?

[@taranagnew436]

can you use it with a 7.1 system (with non-smart speakers) and will it have bluetooth/be able to pair with tv?

[@Ryanf550]

I believe 4.1 is the most you can go with 2 AMPs. If you already have a receiver for the 7.1 you can use a Sonos Port to connect it to the rest of the Sonos system. No bluetooth option on ether one of them.

[@julianosilvan8860]

Great video, as always 👏👏👏👏👏

[@stevedekorte]

Can the amp go into some sort of "sleep" mode when not in use, so there is no chance that line noise that can be heard from the speakers?

[@nikhilsahni8006]

Total noob here. I have two ceiling Klipsch speakers connected to the Sonos amp. I also have a Marshall Stanmore II which I want to connect to the Sonos Amp using RCA cable. Is it possible without damaging anything?

[@jonathanlarsson1406]

Hej, kan man koppla in 2 stycken sonos era 300 högtalare och ha dom som front högtalare till tvn?

[@AM-lo5gd]

Can you combine Sonos amp with echo dots. The ceiling speakers are not Sonos

[@maze420music]

Is there any latency streaming an analogue source to wireless speakers via this amp? I'm wondering if it would work with a DJ setup.. A few milliseconds are already too much..

[@ednewmy]

Along with the wired front stereo pair, can it be paired with two Sonos Ones as surrounds?

[@smarthomesounds]

Hi there, yes you can easily connect 2 x Sonos One's are rear surround sound speakers. Hope this helps.

[@jakepayne2985]

So...if I don’t have any external speakers other than my Sonos (I use the Arc, Ones, and Sub), then this thing has no use for me? I have a separate in ceiling speaker system for listening to music only (doesn’t work with TV). Are you saying this thing will let me integrate all of them into my Sonos system? I have non-Sonos speakers in the ceiling of every room.

[@Ryanf550]

Yes, you can use the AMP to power the non-Sonos ceiling speakers and then they will integrate into the app as another zone(s).

[@patrickrebstock200]

Can the amp be used with 4ohm standing speakers? I have two kef reference monitors that are 4ohms

[@MrBcd0803]

Biggest downfall with the Amp is lack of centre connection.

[@eduardogoncalvesdeandrade5783]

Dear all, I am having issue with my SONOS AMP SUB.. I bought this to match my 3rd party outdoor OSD speakers. I Have a OSD FORZA 10" subwoofer (passive) and it does not seems to work direct to the sonos sub output. So I bought a Nobsound G2 Pro amp to power up my passive" subwoofer.. no matter What I try.. this does not work. Please help me out on how to do a propper installation on this setup. I have read a lot of forums on SONOS and a lot of people hase the same setup and the same problem and SONOS seems to ignore this issue.. PLEASE HELP

[@trapperjohnMC]

Hi. Nice review. One question: there’s just one hdmi. So how to correctly connect Apple TV 4K 2021 with AMP and TV? Do I Connect ATV with TV via HDMI and then TV to Amp?

[@Ryanf550]

Yes. Apple TV -> TV -> AMP VIA HDMI ARC

[@cristinamvega550]

How do I connect My Sonos amp to my Lg tv wireless ? Bluethoot ? Thanks

[@Ryanf550]

HDMI ARC. It's does not have Bluetooth

[@bradleycolwell7902]

If this is grouped with a Sonos Arc soundbar that is connected to a tv via hdmi arc, will the sound coming from the amp be in sync with the soundbar? For example, watching a game on the tv and wanting to send the sound to all my Sonos amps which are powering my in ceiling speakers throughout the home.

[@Ryanf550]

Yes it will be in Sync. Wired LAN is best for this

[@bradleycolwell7902]

Thanks for the reply. I’ve since installed 3 amps and an arc soundbar and I love it! It syncs perfect!

[@thefooddoctor8090]

Great review as always. I'm a bit confuse about the amps power output. Is it 125watt RMS och peak power? Very confusing as Sonos site only mentions 125w/ch

[@roybatty-]

I read a forum post where some tested the power and confirmed that it does put out what it claims.

[@jamethogany]

it is 125w/ch at 8ohms, 187.5w/ch at 6ohms and 250w/ch at 4ohms

[@akshayphadatare412]

not showing airplay 2

[@ianjones3562]

My son has recently purchased a very nice house that has in ceiling speakers in multiple rooms. Each room has its own wall mounted volume control. Currently there is some sort of amp that left and right audio cables connect to . The amp has usb stick or a hardwired connection for any audio source. Would the sonos amp replace this by connecting left and right speaker wires and allowing Apple Music to stream from an iPhone or pad to the sonos.? Many thanks

[@smarthomesounds]

Hi Ian, thank you for watching! Yes, if the audio cables are speaker cable you can connect them up to the relevant ports on the Sonos Amp and use Apple music to stream wirelessly to the Amp and speakers. Please note, the Amp is a single-zone amplifier so if you're looking to play different music in different rooms at the same time, you'll need a separate Amp. Each Amp can accommodate 4 non-Sonos ceiling speakers. I hope that helps!

[@theXbaT1]

too expensive

[@SH-py9ou]

why talking so unclear?

[@MrMichaeldwatson]

You guys need to stop posting things that are 5 minute recaps that’s are 50% longer...

[@Chosenhunter77]

This is one of the first times I've struggled to understand a Brit. Like is he saying words purposely wrong/absurd to sound more sophisticated?

[@morethanaphase1716]

We have more than one accent…

[@frkafkaz]

I think you need to travel more. There are way more difficult accents to understand in the UK than this.

[@MitchelvdB]

I have no trouble understanding him and I am Dutch.

[@jackzhang4462]

Too complicated you talked and too long to your point.

[@graysailor]

accent too heavy for me. I could not understand him,

[@felixtam2120]

English is my second language and I have no trouble understanding him.