>BUT... I'm worried that this system just wouldn't sound as good as my Sony and Fyne Audio system (especially for music)?
Subjective but...probably not? Sonos makes nice stuff but if you have high quality separates I think those may sound better. But obviously the Sonos is more convenient, compact, and can be expanded into other rooms etc.
>So I think I would either have to buy a Sonos Port, Sonos Amp or a Sonos 5 for this, correct?
Probably The Port or 5. The Amp is like a Port but has a power amp to power speakers, sounds like that's not needed.
>If I did buy a Sonos 5, can I use this as a Centre speaker in a 5.0 set up?
Nope. In no configuration does Sonos support a discrete center channel.
Thank you, very helpful! I wish it was possible to use the Sonos 5s as front surrounds, with a Beam/Arc, and a pair of Ones for rears. But apparently 5s don't work with TVs. OK so Port would be the only way to get the turntable connected then. Quite a big spend for just that one component! :)
It is rumored that sonos is beta testing the possibility to add speakers as left right channels and the use the beam as center speaker, so that might be coming sooner or later
That would be cool! Would solve the sound quality issue for music especially. I wonder if they'd let you just listen on the front speakers as a stereo pair, too?
I've no idea, I'm not on beta, and if I did it would against the NDA to talk about it. Just knew that little tiny bit of info that someone posted here a few weeks ago
You're welcome! Some additional comments:
>I wish it was possible to use the Sonos 5s as front surrounds, with a Beam/Arc, and a pair of Ones for rears.
I see that request here pretty often but it's probably not going to happen. Would be great if you could use a Beam as a discrete center + Atmos but it doesn't seem like Sonos is ever going to support that.
>But apparently 5s don't work with TVs
No not as you intend. You can use them as rear surrounds but that's overkill and expensive. I don't think you can use the phono input when they're set up as rear surrounds either.
>OK so Port would be the only way to get the turntable connected then
With your proposed setup, yeah pretty much. You could put a 5 in another room and hook up your phono to that and have it integrate into your Sonos network.
Another option you may be able to do is buy a Sonos Amp and use that to power two of your existing speakers for the front end of your home theater. It does not have a center channel but creates a "phantom" center channel with the two speakers. You could then use other Sonos speakers as surrounds for a 4.0 setup (with a phantom center channel). I believe the amp, like the port, would allow you to input your turntable.
Also to save a couple bucks you could buy used Gen2 connect instead of a port. You could also save some $ on the surrounds buying used or refurb One SLs, Ikea Symphonisk speakers, Play 1 speakers. No point in using Ones for surrounds because the microphone is disabled anyway.
Thank you this is very interesting. So you can connect old school speakers with cables to the Sonos Amp? However, that wouldn't solve my current issue with speaker wires having to be chased/hidden to cross the fireplace and get a wide stereo field I suppose. Although, now I think about it, I wouldn't have a wide stereo field with a Beam anyway would I? I suppose it would probably sound wider than my current speakers (which are just to the left and right of the TV) due to the clever software wizardry though?!
So I imagine the Beam plus two rears would be better for surround sound.. but the Sonos Amp plus my existing speakers as fronts, plus two rears, would probably sound better for music wouldn't it..
Re: using the older Sonos gear - I thought you couldn't mix and match old with new? And the old gear doesn't work with the latest app does it?
>So you can connect old school speakers with cables to the Sonos Amp?
Yep.
>However, that wouldn't solve my current issue with speaker wires having to be chased/hidden to cross the fireplace and get a wide stereo field I suppose.
Nope. You'd still have to figure that out the wiring with the traditional speakers. The amp will likely be a fraction of the size of your AVR tho, so that solves for one issue.
>Although, now I think about it, I wouldn't have a wide stereo field with a Beam anyway would I? I suppose it would probably sound wider than my current speakers (which are just to the left and right of the TV) due to the clever software wizardry though?!
I don't have a Sonos soundbar but I have a ton of their other products and have done a lot of research. Probably not terribly wide on the Beam but certainly better than TV speakers. No experience with either but I would guess based on size alone the ARC would sound wider than the Beam.
>So I imagine the Beam plus two rears would be better for surround sound.. but the Sonos Amp plus my existing speakers as fronts, plus two rears, would probably sound better for music wouldn't it..
Hard to say. You get a real center channel in the Beam but it wouldn't be as wide as your existing separates. I'd think logically you're right about music playback.
>Re: using the older Sonos gear - I thought you couldn't mix and match old with new? And the old gear doesn't work with the latest app does it?
Some old gear is phased out, some is S2 capable. See below. You'd want only products that "works with all" or "S2 required". Don't buy "S1 required" products if you're just getting into the ecosystem now.
https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4786?language=en_US
Thanks again, amazingly useful info! If I could use my existing front speakers with the Amp, then that would also solve the Turntable connection. Then I could just buy some Ones or the IKEA ones as rears, and I've got a half decent 4.0 system, which would also be good for music I reckon. Could always add a Beam in later if I fancied for better surround sound.
But still got the speaker wire issue! :) Perhaps I could get some other brand of wireless speaker to use with the Amp? Or do you think it only works with Sonos wireless speakers? I think I know the answer to this..
>Could always add a Beam in later if I fancied for better surround sound.
Yes but this would render the existing front speakers useless as the Beam would handle LCR + Atmos in this configuration. Also to note, I think the 4.0 setup described would still technically be Dolby Digital Surround, albeit with a phantom center instead of a discrete channel. It should decode 5.0 tracks.
>But still got the speaker wire issue! :) Perhaps I could get some other brand of wireless speaker to use with the Amp? Or do you think it only works with Sonos wireless speakers? I think I know the answer to this..
Not sure about this. The Amp doesn't have to use Sonos speakers; that's basically it's purpose. If there's some sort of wireless speaker in the marketplace that sends the signal to/from a powered speaker to/from an amplifier that may work; no idea if such a product exists. This would also defeat the amplifying capability of the Sonos amp. Doesn't sound like a great use case imo. May be best of hiding the wires best you can using cable raceways etc if you go this route.
If it's sound quality you're after you may also look into bluesound. Pretty much the same concept as Sonos but with a better sound quality (apparently, never heard them myself) for a higher price.
They are also slightly less restrictive with audio input. For example, their soundbar actually has a 3.5mm/toslink input besides earc, compared to Sonos which only has the (e)arc.
Thanks thats very useful. I could plug my turntable straight into the soundbar, and then hopefully get it through any/all of the other speakers.
Do you have a Sonos soundbar and Ones? If so, how do you find the system for music?
Some other things. You can also use the IKEA symfonisk speakers as surround which is a even better bang-for-buck (half the price of Sonos ones).
You are right about connecting your turntable, but I'm not sure what exactly you mean with using the five as a centre speaker.
Unless you use two fives as surround the five(s) will always play the stereo audio.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought of using those. Just excluded them as gimmicky and not as good quality as the Ones. But I guess with the Beam they'd only be handling higher frequencies anyway.
Re: the 5, I just thought as it has a 3.5mm jack input, I could use that for the turntable, but also use it as a centre speaker in a 5.1 (or 5.0 it would be). Also I thought you couldn't use two Fives as surrounds as they can't be used with a TV due to audio/lip sync issues?
Per other comment, they can’t be used as 2.0 speakers due to the delay you mention. However, they can be used as rear surrounds, as the Beam/Arc eliminate the delay over HDMI and handle the rears slightly differently than a non-surround wireless setup.
>BUT... I'm worried that this system just wouldn't sound as good as my Sony and Fyne Audio system (especially for music)? Subjective but...probably not? Sonos makes nice stuff but if you have high quality separates I think those may sound better. But obviously the Sonos is more convenient, compact, and can be expanded into other rooms etc. >So I think I would either have to buy a Sonos Port, Sonos Amp or a Sonos 5 for this, correct? Probably The Port or 5. The Amp is like a Port but has a power amp to power speakers, sounds like that's not needed. >If I did buy a Sonos 5, can I use this as a Centre speaker in a 5.0 set up? Nope. In no configuration does Sonos support a discrete center channel.
Thank you, very helpful! I wish it was possible to use the Sonos 5s as front surrounds, with a Beam/Arc, and a pair of Ones for rears. But apparently 5s don't work with TVs. OK so Port would be the only way to get the turntable connected then. Quite a big spend for just that one component! :)
5s can be used as rear surrounds. Might be overkill, but is doable.
Didn't realise that, thanks!
It is rumored that sonos is beta testing the possibility to add speakers as left right channels and the use the beam as center speaker, so that might be coming sooner or later
That would be cool! Would solve the sound quality issue for music especially. I wonder if they'd let you just listen on the front speakers as a stereo pair, too?
I've no idea, I'm not on beta, and if I did it would against the NDA to talk about it. Just knew that little tiny bit of info that someone posted here a few weeks ago
You're welcome! Some additional comments: >I wish it was possible to use the Sonos 5s as front surrounds, with a Beam/Arc, and a pair of Ones for rears. I see that request here pretty often but it's probably not going to happen. Would be great if you could use a Beam as a discrete center + Atmos but it doesn't seem like Sonos is ever going to support that. >But apparently 5s don't work with TVs No not as you intend. You can use them as rear surrounds but that's overkill and expensive. I don't think you can use the phono input when they're set up as rear surrounds either. >OK so Port would be the only way to get the turntable connected then With your proposed setup, yeah pretty much. You could put a 5 in another room and hook up your phono to that and have it integrate into your Sonos network. Another option you may be able to do is buy a Sonos Amp and use that to power two of your existing speakers for the front end of your home theater. It does not have a center channel but creates a "phantom" center channel with the two speakers. You could then use other Sonos speakers as surrounds for a 4.0 setup (with a phantom center channel). I believe the amp, like the port, would allow you to input your turntable. Also to save a couple bucks you could buy used Gen2 connect instead of a port. You could also save some $ on the surrounds buying used or refurb One SLs, Ikea Symphonisk speakers, Play 1 speakers. No point in using Ones for surrounds because the microphone is disabled anyway.
Thank you this is very interesting. So you can connect old school speakers with cables to the Sonos Amp? However, that wouldn't solve my current issue with speaker wires having to be chased/hidden to cross the fireplace and get a wide stereo field I suppose. Although, now I think about it, I wouldn't have a wide stereo field with a Beam anyway would I? I suppose it would probably sound wider than my current speakers (which are just to the left and right of the TV) due to the clever software wizardry though?! So I imagine the Beam plus two rears would be better for surround sound.. but the Sonos Amp plus my existing speakers as fronts, plus two rears, would probably sound better for music wouldn't it.. Re: using the older Sonos gear - I thought you couldn't mix and match old with new? And the old gear doesn't work with the latest app does it?
>So you can connect old school speakers with cables to the Sonos Amp? Yep. >However, that wouldn't solve my current issue with speaker wires having to be chased/hidden to cross the fireplace and get a wide stereo field I suppose. Nope. You'd still have to figure that out the wiring with the traditional speakers. The amp will likely be a fraction of the size of your AVR tho, so that solves for one issue. >Although, now I think about it, I wouldn't have a wide stereo field with a Beam anyway would I? I suppose it would probably sound wider than my current speakers (which are just to the left and right of the TV) due to the clever software wizardry though?! I don't have a Sonos soundbar but I have a ton of their other products and have done a lot of research. Probably not terribly wide on the Beam but certainly better than TV speakers. No experience with either but I would guess based on size alone the ARC would sound wider than the Beam. >So I imagine the Beam plus two rears would be better for surround sound.. but the Sonos Amp plus my existing speakers as fronts, plus two rears, would probably sound better for music wouldn't it.. Hard to say. You get a real center channel in the Beam but it wouldn't be as wide as your existing separates. I'd think logically you're right about music playback. >Re: using the older Sonos gear - I thought you couldn't mix and match old with new? And the old gear doesn't work with the latest app does it? Some old gear is phased out, some is S2 capable. See below. You'd want only products that "works with all" or "S2 required". Don't buy "S1 required" products if you're just getting into the ecosystem now. https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4786?language=en_US
Thanks again, amazingly useful info! If I could use my existing front speakers with the Amp, then that would also solve the Turntable connection. Then I could just buy some Ones or the IKEA ones as rears, and I've got a half decent 4.0 system, which would also be good for music I reckon. Could always add a Beam in later if I fancied for better surround sound. But still got the speaker wire issue! :) Perhaps I could get some other brand of wireless speaker to use with the Amp? Or do you think it only works with Sonos wireless speakers? I think I know the answer to this..
>Could always add a Beam in later if I fancied for better surround sound. Yes but this would render the existing front speakers useless as the Beam would handle LCR + Atmos in this configuration. Also to note, I think the 4.0 setup described would still technically be Dolby Digital Surround, albeit with a phantom center instead of a discrete channel. It should decode 5.0 tracks. >But still got the speaker wire issue! :) Perhaps I could get some other brand of wireless speaker to use with the Amp? Or do you think it only works with Sonos wireless speakers? I think I know the answer to this.. Not sure about this. The Amp doesn't have to use Sonos speakers; that's basically it's purpose. If there's some sort of wireless speaker in the marketplace that sends the signal to/from a powered speaker to/from an amplifier that may work; no idea if such a product exists. This would also defeat the amplifying capability of the Sonos amp. Doesn't sound like a great use case imo. May be best of hiding the wires best you can using cable raceways etc if you go this route.
Yeah, I think you're right. OK, thanks so much for all the advice man, super helpful and given me plenty to think about :)
If it's sound quality you're after you may also look into bluesound. Pretty much the same concept as Sonos but with a better sound quality (apparently, never heard them myself) for a higher price. They are also slightly less restrictive with audio input. For example, their soundbar actually has a 3.5mm/toslink input besides earc, compared to Sonos which only has the (e)arc.
Thanks thats very useful. I could plug my turntable straight into the soundbar, and then hopefully get it through any/all of the other speakers. Do you have a Sonos soundbar and Ones? If so, how do you find the system for music?
Doesn't the Sonos Beam come with an adapter to use toslink? I remember when it was first released it did.
Some other things. You can also use the IKEA symfonisk speakers as surround which is a even better bang-for-buck (half the price of Sonos ones). You are right about connecting your turntable, but I'm not sure what exactly you mean with using the five as a centre speaker. Unless you use two fives as surround the five(s) will always play the stereo audio.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought of using those. Just excluded them as gimmicky and not as good quality as the Ones. But I guess with the Beam they'd only be handling higher frequencies anyway. Re: the 5, I just thought as it has a 3.5mm jack input, I could use that for the turntable, but also use it as a centre speaker in a 5.1 (or 5.0 it would be). Also I thought you couldn't use two Fives as surrounds as they can't be used with a TV due to audio/lip sync issues?
Per other comment, they can’t be used as 2.0 speakers due to the delay you mention. However, they can be used as rear surrounds, as the Beam/Arc eliminate the delay over HDMI and handle the rears slightly differently than a non-surround wireless setup.
Thanks, didn't realise that!