How Many Speakers Can Sonos Amp Power?

The Sonos Amp can power up to four speakers at once in most situations. You can also use the Amp to connect up to six Sonos Architectural speakers, as long as they are wired in a parallel circuit. Attaching more can ruin the Amp. 

My name is Donovan, and I’m a musician, producer, and all-around audiophile. I’ve set up many home studios and theaters over the years and have first-hand experience working with Sonos systems. I’ve done some research to know how to use them with the Sonos Amp. 

This post will explain how many speakers you can power with the Sonos Amp. I’ll provide some important considerations to know when you are using Sonos Amp and highlight a few other relevant details. 

Let’s get started. 

Key Takeaways

• The Sonos Amp can connect up to 4 Sonos speakers in most situations. 
• You can connect up to 6 Sonos Architectural speakers with the Sonos amp, but they must be done through a parallel wiring setup to avoid damaging the amp. 
• Most standard situations won’t require more than four Sonos speakers, and you can use the Amp to deliver power for a music-listening setup. 
• Sonos Architectural speakers are used more for home theater and surround sound purposes, and that’s where you’d want to connect up to 6 speakers. 

How Many Speakers Can Sonos Amp Power? 

A Sonos system can be a great way to enjoy your favorite movies, music, and shows. Using the Sonos Amp with your speakers will help you get even better audio quality and ensure the most enjoyable experience. 

While you don’t need the Sonos Amp to set up a Sonos system, I recommend it for any audiophiles who use Sonos and want increased sound quality. An Amp will consistently deliver better quality than a speaker on its own. 

And if you choose to get the Sonos Amp, you need to understand how to use it and its limitations. Setting things up incorrectly can lead to a number of issues, the worst of which is ruining your Amp and/or speakers. 

The Sonos Amp is designed to work with up to 4 Sonos speakers. The typical setup for this is two stereo pairs of speakers. That should suffice in most listening rooms for a typical stereo setup where you listen to music. 

If you are using the Sonos Amp for a home theater, you can connect up to 6 speakers. But these speakers must be Sonos Architectural speakers, and they must all be wired in a parallel circuit. 

So technically, you can connect up to 6 speakers to a single Sonos Amp, as long as they are all Architectural speakers and wired correctly. Failure to follow the correct setup can ruin your entire system, so don’t push it. 

How to Connect 6 Architectural Sonos Speakers to Sonos Amp

Connecting two pairs of speakers (4 total) to your Sonos Amp is easy because there are this many speaker inputs on the device. But what do you do when you want to connect 6 Sonos Architectural speakers for surround sound? 

You need to alter the inputs slightly to make this happen using banana plugs. Sonos Amp will come with these plugs, allowing you to expand the number of inputs you have for speakers. 

Basically, you just plug the banana plug into the main speaker inputs and then connect speaker wires into the plugs. This allows you to get an extra speaker in per side, for a total of 6 speakers. 

Check out this post from Sonos for more information and directions on wiring the 6-speaker setup. And remember that this is for Sonos Architectural speakers only. 

Parallel wiring is the key here, and the directions above and in the linked post will show you how to make that happen. It’s not that technical, but if you don’t do this properly, you can damage or destroy your system. 

Can Sonos Amp Power a Subwoofer?

In addition to 4 standard speakers or 6 Architectural speakers, you can also connect a subwoofer to the Sonos amp. This gives you even better audio quality when you want the low-end range to stand out. 

Every Sonos Amp has a Sub output that allows you to easily connect any type of subwoofer you want to use with your system. You don’t need to use a sub, but I always like the added low end, especially when listening to music and watching movies. 

Connecting a sub to your Sonos Amp won’t affect its ability to run 4 standard speakers or 6 Architectural speakers. You can use the Amp just as you would in any other situation, keeping the rest of the advice in this article in mind.  

How to Connect More than 4 Sonos Speakers

First things first, you cannot connect more than 4 standard Sonos speakers to a single Sonos Amp or 6 Architectural speakers to a Sonos Amp. Don’t even attempt more than that, or you will likely ruin your system. 

But connecting more than 4 Sonos speakers together in your complete Sonos system is possible. And if you want to connect more than four speakers using the Sonos Amp, you’ll need to get multiple Amps. 

You don’t need to use the Sonos Amp to power your Sonos system, but as I mentioned earlier, this is recommended if you want the best possible audio quality. 

You can easily use multiple Sonos Amps in your setup. There aren’t really any restrictions to how many you can use, but since the total number of Sonos speakers you can connect is 32, you would never need or use more than 8 Sonos Amps. 

Sonos Amps are built to be stackable or rackable. This means that you can easily stack one Amp on top of another or install them in a rack where they will stay in place. I like a rack setup better because this encourages more airflow to keep the amps cool. 

Just keep in mind that you still need to follow the rules of never connecting more than four speakers to a single Amp. Even though you can use multiple Amps simultaneously, you still don’t want to overload a single one and cause damage. 

If you want to connect more than 4 Sonos speakers without using the Sonos Amp, you just need to manage all of your connections with the Sonos app. Just download the app onto your phone, and you’ll easily be able to get things set up from there. 

FAQs

Here are a few short answers to some of the most commonly asked questions related to how many speakers a Sonos Amp can power. 

Can Sonos Amp power 2 sets of speakers? 

Yes, Sonos Amp can power up to 2 sets of speakers or 4 speakers in total. You can power up to 6 Sonos Architectural speakers if you are using a parallel wiring setup. 2 pairs of connected speakers should work well for most Sonos setups. 

Can I connect more than 4 speakers to a Sonos Amp? 

You should never connect more than four speakers to a Sonos Amp unless you use Sonos Architectural Speakers. You can connect up to 6 Architectural speakers but must wire them in parallel to avoid damaging the amp. 

Can you connect 3 speakers to Sonos Amp?  

You can connect three speakers easily to a Sonos amp. The maximum number of speakers you can connect is 4, but you can connect three by first hooking up a pair of speakers and then adding another into the left or right channel on the Amp. 

How many speakers can you hook up to a Sonos system? 

You can connect up to 32 speakers in a single Sonos system. That total number is pretty impractical, and you never want to connect more than four standard speakers to a Sonos Amp. But you can connect more than 4 for an entire Sonos system. 

Can Sonos amp run 6 speakers? 

Sonos Amp is capable of running up to 6 speakers in certain circumstances. The speakers can only be Sonos Architectural speakers, and they all must be wired in parallel to avoid damaging the speakers because of differing impedance. 

Is it ok to stack Sonos Amps? 

It is ok to stack Sonos amps, and they are actually designed for this. The Sonos Amp has small rubber feet that allow you to stack them on top of each other easily. But keep in mind you might want added airflow for optimal performance. 

Final Thoughts

The maximum number of standard Sonos Speakers you can connect to a Sonos Amp is 4. The maximum number of Sonos Architectural speakers you can connect to the Amp is 6. Don’t do more than this; otherwise, you can damage your Amp and Sonos system. 

Keep in mind that you can pair multiple Sonos Amps together. This will allow you to get the benefits of using the Amp while adding more than 4 or 6 speakers, depending on your setup. You don’t need to use the Amp, but I think it adds a lot to overall sound quality. 

How many speakers to have in your current Sonos setup? Do you have a Sonos Amp? Let me know in the comments below.