Sonos Amp Review
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Our Sonos Amp Review, great sound just got better.
The Sonos Amp is the latest smart amplifier addition to the Sonos lineup it is specifically designed to power built in and free standing speakers. The Sonos Amp has all of the great features that the Sonos Connect: Amp was known for but the New Sonos Amp is packed extra power and even more integrated technology.
We installed the our first New Sonos Amp back in December with a built in sound system with four built in speakers and the results were amazing. The Sonos Amp delivered high powered clear sound to the built in 8” speakers.
I had used the Sonos Connect: Amp in my house before and loved the functionality it offered with the built in speakers and it did a good job driving two speakers but with 4 speakers you could notice a little degradation in sound quality. The older model Sonos Connect: Amp only had 55W per channel where as the new Sonos Amp provides a sound boosting 125W per channel, which allows it to effortlessly drive 4 standard 8 Ohm speakers or up too 6 Sonos by Sonance Speaker Specifically designed for the Sonos Amp.
Related Post: Sonos by Sonance Speaker Review
Sonos Amp 2019 Review: Front view of the New Sonos Amp with capacitive touch controls.
If you are considering adding a built in sound system or you’re building a new home and want to add built in Sound in my opinion the best system that combines a balance of sound quality and ease of use is a Sonos Amp with built in Sonos by Sonance Speakers. You can read more about our review of the built in Sonos by Sonance speakers in our related post.
Related Post: Built In Sonos by Sonance Speaker Review
Sonos Amp Review 2019: Features
125 Watts Per Channel
Works with Apple Airplay2 to support streaming sound from your iPhone or Apple product.
Work with Alexa, it can be controlled using Alexa commands from a compatible Alexa device.
Sonos Trueplay Custom Tuning Compatible (With Sonos by Sonance Speakers)
Works with Built In Speakers
HDMI ARC Port
Subwoofer Port
Sonos Amp Review 2019: Amp Inputs
The Sonos Amp includes both an HDMI inputs and an analog stereo input meaning that you can either use the Sonos Amp to connect to HDMI connection on your TV or you could connect the Amp to an analog device like a record player. One of the great things about the Sonos system is that you could take the audio input from the Sonos Amp from a record player and wirelessly broadcast it across your other Sonos speakers
Sonos Amp Review 2019: Sonos Amp Inputs, HDMI, Analog, Sub Out, Left/Right Channel 125W, Ethernet & Power
Sonos Amp Review: Ease of Setup
Just like all of the other Sonos products the Sonos Amp offers easy setup, through the Sonos App. You just wire up your speaker wire using the provided banana plugs, plug the amp in and follow the instructions to connect your Sonos Amp to your wireless network and the Sonos Amp. The total process took me about 5 minutes and I was up and running with the Sonos Amp playing music on 4 built in speakers.
Sonos Amp Review 2019: Sound Quality
If you connect the Sonos Amp to bad speakers it’s not going to sound good, you’re just going to be sending a high quality signal to low quality speaker equipment. The Sonos Amp can’t make bad speakers good, but it can make good speakers sound crystal clear with rich full sound. The best quality sound from the Amp is when it is paired with the Sonos by Sonance speakers engineered specifically to be paired with the Sonos Amp. The reason being is that the Sonos by Sonance in ceiling and in wall speakers are compatible with Sonos Trueplay tuning which allows you custom tuning of the built in speakers to provide exceptional sound quality. The Trueplay tuning is currently only compatible with the Sonos built in, in ceiling and in wall Sonos by Sonance Speakers.
Related Post: Sonos by Sonance Built In Speaker Review
Sonos Amp Review: What Type of Speakers Should I Use With Sonos Amp?
If you already have existing high quality built in speakers the Sonos Amp will make the most of your existing high quality speakers and provide a great listening experience. The only thing you will be missing out on it the Trueplay tuning. With existing built in speakers you should wire no more than 4 built in speakers to one Sonos Amp and ideally you should be using high quality built in 8ohm speakers from a company like Sonance or Klipsch Speakers but as long as your built in speakers are 8 ohm speakers they should work with the Sonos Amp without any issue.
If you want to check the resistance of your existing built in speakers you can do so by using a multimeter and connecting it to the speaker terminals that you would plan on wiring to the multimeter and using the Ohm resistance setting.
The best speakers to use with the Sonos Amp are the Sonos by Sonance built in speakers that are specifically engineered to be used with the Sonos Amp to deliver the best quality. If you use Sonos by Sonance speaker you can power up 6 built in Sonos by Sonance Speaker with one Sonos Amp. If you use third party speakers you can only pair the Sonos Amp with 4 built in third party speakers.
Sonos Amp Review: Trueplay Tuning
When the Sonos Amp is connected to Sonos by Sonance speakers it enables the Trueplay custom tuning feature that it found on many of the other Sonos Speakers like the Sonos One and Sonos Beam. With Trueplay tuning using the Sonos app and an iPhone the Sonos App will take precise sound measurements of the speaker using the built in IPhone microphone. Trueplay tuning can make a huge difference for the sound quality in your room as it takes into account feedback from the walls and furniture to dial in the perfect sound. If you have other Sonos speakers you are probably already aware of what the Sonos Trueplay tuning can do but you can easily hear the difference by turning on a song and disabling and re-enabling the Trueplay tuning while listening to music. If you have a Sonos speaker it’s great to try it and you will most likely be amazed by the difference it makes.
Can you use the Sonos Amp as part of a surround sound setup?
Yes, the Sonos Amp can be used as part of a surround sound setup and there are a few variations of how you can setup the Amp to be used as part of a surround sound System. You can either use two Sonos Amps each connected to 2 speakers to provide front and rear surround sound with a digitally simulated middle channel. Or you can use a Sonos Beam or Sonos Playbar at your TV with a Sonos Amp powering two rear built in speakers.
Sonos Amp Review 2019 Summary
If you are building a new home or planning a major renovation and want an epic audio system with amazing sound you can’t go wrong with a Sonos Amp connected to Sonos by Sonance speakers. The Sonos system offers unmatched ease of use and integration combined with engineered audio quality. The ease of use and customization of a Sonos system is often overlooked but this is typically one of the best features of a Sonos system and what sets it apart from other “custom” systems. We’ve been in multimillion dollar homes that have complex audio systems that owners want ripped out because they are too complicated or require a special company to come service them every time they receive an update.
That’s not Sonos, Sonos is easy to use, easy to understand and through the app you can adjust any setting you need to right from your phone. When Sound systems get too complicated or have 20 different remotes people don’t use them because of how hard it to control them. Sonos is known for their high quality products and their customer centric focus. They’ve proven themselves time and time again and the Sonos Amp is no exception. If you want top of the line built in sound without compromise then a Sonos Amp paired with Sonos by Sonance Speakers is right for you.
Sonos Amp Review: FAQ
How Many Speakers Can I Connect To The Sonos Amp?
The Sonos Amp can support up to 4 standard speakers or when used with the Sonos by Sonance built in speakers can support up to 6 speakers which are specially designed for amazing sound when paired with the Sonos Amp.
