Sonos today announced the launch of the Sonos Amp, a new audio hub that's designed to replace the existing Connect:Amp. The Sonos Amp is able to connect to traditional home audio speakers and integrate them into a Sonos home sound system.
According to Sonos, its new Sonos Amp is twice as powerful as the Connect:Amp with the ability to power four speakers with 125 watts per channel, up from two. It supports AirPlay 2 and more than 100 streaming services, in addition to including an HDMI Arc port to connect to TVs and line-in ports to connect devices like turntables, CD changers and other audio components.
Two Amps can be paired together for surround sound, and using the aforementioned HDMI Arc port, it can be used to add stereo sound to a TV or wireless rears to a home-theater setup.
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Sonos is pricing the Amp at $599, $100 more than the previous Connect:Amp product. It will be available to professional installers in the U.S. and Canada starting in December, with global availability coming in February 2019.
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The Amp is part of a new three-prong approach to better integrating Sonos into smart homes, which also includes speakers created in partnership with Sonance and new platform APIs.
Sonos is partnering with Sonance for three new architectural speakers, including in-wall, in-ceiling, and outdoor, which will be able to be paired with the new Sonos Amp. The three new speakers will be marketed and sold by Sonos and will launch in early 2019.
Starting in September, Sonos plans to open up its developer platform to all potential partners, and it will introduce a new set of Control APIs that will make it easier to integrate Sonos products into smart homes run by systems like Control4 or Crestron.
The new Control APIs will include support for line-in switching to allow line-in components to be selected within a third-party control interface, volume pass-through for easier volume control, the ability to add Sonos playlists using a third-party interface, and as a preview option, capabilities to provide notifications and alerts from third-party devices like doorbells through Sonos speakers.
Top Rated Comments
I don’t want to be an audio snob but a terrible amp attached to a not very good av device you’ll only end up using airplay for seems pretty pointless. I’m sure there are plenty that will love it but I feel like the future is turning out to be what crap can we peddle to people who don’t know better. An era of kick starter abominations funded by the general public being promised things that are impossible or straight up fraudulent.
Your comment is apropos considering Apple is one of the early pioneers of crap peddling. And that's not a complaint or a dig on Apple. They recognized an opportunity to deliver "good enough" to people who may not know any better...or don't care. What's more, there have been numerous blind tests to suggest that most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you upgraded their audio anyhow. So...no harm no foul?Anyone who has a hifi surely has the ability for airplay or Bluetooth by now surely?
I am an audio snob, but I don't mind the convenience that this crap brings to my day to day. I've got a high-end stereo system with both turntable and "audiophile" DAC connected...and I've got Sonos in every room. Guess which one I use more often? I'd love to see an updated Sonos CONNECT (sans amplifier), preferably with digital out.
Hopefully this means a non-amp version will also be along soon to replace the Connect. :)
They only show the Connect, Connect:Amp, and the Amp (coming soon). One would think if they were updating the Connect, they would have made the announcement of update when they announced the Amp. You may be out of luck.I have two Sonos Play One's paired as Stereo. That is all.
Does this Amp thing mean anything to me?
Sorry, I am just a NOOB at this stuff. What exactly is this for?
No, unless you have a pair of stereo speakers laying around. It lets you use them as another Sonos zone.I have two Sonos Play One's paired as Stereo. That is all.
Does this Amp thing mean anything to me?
I have a closet full of Connect:Amps (13 zones) driving whole home audio in a centrally located, temperature controlled media closet. In five years, I’ve had about a 50% failure rate. Sonos has been pretty decent at replacing them but the failure rate is pretty bad.