Home Review Sonos AMP

Review Sonos AMP

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Pros

  • Design
  • Simplicity
  • Sound quality
  • HDMI

Cons

  • No High Res
  • Not suitable for complex/heavy speakers

Price: € 699

Build quality
Usability
Sound
Price
Sonos AMP

Intro

Maybe you’ve already seen our short video review online, but maybe you’d rather read the review. We were one of the first in the Netherlands to test the new Sonos Amp. Of course we are very happy with that. Since the announcement at the beginning of February, we couldn’t wait to get started. Also so curious?

We receive earlier than expected, a large box of Sonos. The brand new Sonos Amp and twice a Sonos One. That’s a lot of possible setups to test. In the test of the Sonos Amp we want to focus on two areas: the HiFi side and on the other side we also want to highlight the av-possibilities. The Sonos AMP is equipped with HDMI-ARC. In that setup the two Sonos’ One also come into play.

Specifications

“Well, we won’t get very far with that.” That was our reaction when we looked up the specifications of the new Sonos Amp. We can read that the new Sonos Amp has 125 watts @ 8 ohm. But that’s all. Damping value? Power at 4 Ohm? Continuous power? These would be numbers where we can do a preselection to match speakers with an amplifier and vice versa.

The power supply – VoltAmpere – also plays an important role. This gives an amplifier control over the speakers. To put it simply. So we perform the test (partly) on the guess. Some kind of trail and error. For most hi-fi lovers this is a familiar story. Ensure that all audio equipment can play music in harmony with each other.

Design

We think the design of the Sonos Amp is sublime. We think the design looks a bit like a Mac Mini, but a bit bigger.

At the front we find the touch controls. That makes for a tight picture. No protruding buds, gorgeous. At the back we find the connection possibilities. We see 2x an Ethernet connection, an RCA connection, the HDMI input for ARC or an optical signal (with a dongle), the subwoofer connection and of course the speaker terminals. Not to mention the wireless connections: Airplay2 and wifi.

The Sonos Amp feels and looks like a real Hifi amplifier. Sonos did a good job. Certainly about the speaker terminals has been thought about. These are plugs that you can remove from the back. Then you can use the ‘holes’ for banana plugs or put a cable in the plug and put it back. Genius! That’s been thought about. We think it’s a great solution. What kind of hi-fi manufacturer has that in his amplifiers?

For the speakers we decide to use speakers from our budget test, the new B&W 606 S2. In addition, the Focal Sopra No. 1 and the DALI Phantom 280S. Those are 3 totally different speakers. This allows us to clearly demarcate the boundary of the Sonos Amp.

Type test
Single Test
Inputs
  • Analog RCA
Outputs
  • Analog RCA
Product type
D/A-converter

Winkels met Sonos

Schoenmakersstraat 19
6041EX Roermond, NL
St. Ceciliastraat 28
5038 HA Tilburg, NL
Theresiastraat 151 - 157
2593 AG Den Haag, Noord Holland, NL
Beethovenstraat 9-b
1077 HL Amsterdam, Noord Holland, NL