![]() Sonos speakers are getting a whole lot smarter thanks to IFTTT integration.Or, if you’ve installed banana plugs on your wires, you can ignore the adapters and plug directly into the back of the Amp, which makes for a super-clean and low-profile install. It’s not as convenient as the Connect:Amp’s spring-loaded terminals, but it’s arguably more secure. With included adapters, those with bare-wire speaker cables can use a standard screw-down locking system. It even has a very clever set of hybrid speaker terminals. In the same vein, you can control the Amp’s volume using a universal infrared remote - a feature it shares with the Sonos Beam soundbar. Sonos is also hoping that buyers will consider using the Amp as the basis of a home theater system, and has given it an HDMI-ARC input so that you can connect it to a TV. ![]() Sonos claims this beefier amp is enough to power full-size floor standing speakers, and though we didn’t get a chance to test that claim, based on the power it was able to throw at our mid-size speakers, we don’t doubt it. The 55 watt-per-channel Class-D amplifier is gone, replaced by a much more powerful 125 watt-per-channel unit. But the Amp has grander aspirations than its predecessor. The Sonos Amp still fills the same role as the previous Connect:Amp in that you can connect up to four non-powered speakers and a powered subwoofer, and it gives you a set of RCA analog inputs for an external audio source, like a turntable. The bottom of the enclosure has a threaded hole, suitable for use with hardware like this Sanus-developed wall mount bracket. If you want a third option for mounting the Amp, it has been designed with wall-mount applications in mind. ![]() If they don’t, a sensor will keep them from melting down. Unless you’re running all of them at maximum power for many hours at a time, they should be able to keep their cool. You can fit two Amps side by side in a 1.5RU rack slot, or, you can stack them as tall as you need. Sonos Amp comes equipped with AirPlay 2, making it especially great for streaming video apps like Netflix or Youtube. In fact, all aspects of the Amp - from its height, width, and depth, to its thermal dissipation properties, to the linear arrangement of ports on its rear panel - were created to make it far friendlier than its predecessor for use in an AV rack, the tool of choice for AV installers looking to keep their customers’ gear neat, yet accessible. That circular indentation isn’t just for looks: The Amp is intended to be stacked when the need arises, and that round groove mates perfectly with the device’s circular rubber foot. If there’s one nitpick, it’s that the matte finish is a dust and fingerprint magnet. Even the IR receiver - a tiny sliver of a window at the bottom - is virtually invisible. Other than a single LED and subtle touch controls which grace all new Sonos products, no other feature interrupts the Amp’s visible surfaces. Added to the top of a home theatre component stack, it blends into its surroundings, all but disappearing. Its low and wide stance, combined with its unique circular indentation on the top surface, pulls off a neat trick: Sitting on its own, or perhaps beside a turntable, its monolithic shape lends an instant air of high-end sophistication to any room. Though this choice will inevitably tick off some customers who have become accustomed to buying Sonos products in a range of colors, we think it looks great. ![]() The new Amp, on the other hand, comes in any color you want, as long as it’s matte black. The Connect:Amp, unlike the majority of Sonos’ products, only came in one dress code: Silver and white. Enter the all-new $599 Sonos Amp, a product that is both a re-imagining of what the acclaimed Connect:Amp offers consumers and an effort to make the product even friendlier to AV pros who have attached their reputations to the Sonos brand. So it was with this stakeholder in mind that Sonos embarked on a redesign of the Connect:Amp. The Connect:Amp is the one product that will let AV pros give their customers all of the simplicity and convenience the brand is known for, using custom-installed architectural speakers, in walls, ceilings, and even outdoors. So popular in fact, that the humble Connect:Amp ceased being a go-to product for consumers, and started attracting an entirely new audience: custom AV installers. Over the years, the company has been on a tear, introducing a slew of self-powered speakers, soundbars, and a subwoofer - all of which have proven popular with consumers. ![]()
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