![]() ![]() Predictably, the rear of the Amp is where you’ll find its connections, which are almost identical to those of the Connect:Amp. You won’t hear it in action, either, thanks to a chimney-like design that passively keeps the densely-packed innards cool and quiet. ![]() Only available in matte black and with just three, touch-sensitive ‘buttons’ on the front (play/pause and two that are context-sensitive, but usually used for changing volume), it blends in incredibly well. Sonos products have always been intentionally inconspicuous in design, but the Amp is the stealthiest yet. We can’t imagine many non-audiophile buyers finding themselves with the need or desire to stack Amps, but it’s an option all the same. These same conversations have lead to the Amp being stackable, so that a tower of them can be created and hidden in a central location, with speaker cables snaking into various rooms of the house. The new dimensions are apparently borne of conversations that Sonos has been having with custom installers, who’ve long used the Connect:Amp in customer setups, despite that never really having been its intended use. In terms of volume it’s very marginally the smaller of the two, but its proportions are markedly different, with its shorter, deeper and slightly wider design making it better suited to placement on a hi-fi rack or being hidden out of sight. "Now the context is completely different, and what's complicated is the smart home.The Amp’s appearance is at once more serious and more svelte than that of the Connect:Amp. We made it a lot simpler," Rappoport says. "When we started, multiroom audio was really complicated. With the expansion of smart-home tech and a move toward high-end "architectural" audio integrations in homes, more customers are relying on professional installers to create complex setups where audio devices, video screens, lights, and appliances all work together. Sonos isn't working this tightly with installers out of the goodness of its heart. ![]() Support for the customizable web service IFTTT is also planned. With that programming interface, developers can write code to make Sonos speakers provide notifications from smart-home devices, or play custom audio clips. The new mono mode and volume limiting controls will also aid some setups, as will the new developer controls Sonos plans to open. The new Amp also supports AirPlay 2, Alexa, Google Assistant (soon), and other Sonos network features, though it doesn't have onboard mics itself. Recognizing it cannot do it all, Sonos is now partnering with a company called Sonance to extend TruePlay tuning and networking abilities to a new line of embedded speakers. ![]() The Amp is now TV friendly, like the Sonos Beam, with an onboard HDMI ARC connection and IR receiver, and makes a good option for home theaters with wired front or rear speakers, or ceiling-mounted speakers. The clean design and new skills may even free the Amp from rack purgatory and let the device integrate more fully with the increasingly complex ecosystem of connected devices for the home. All Sonos customers will begin to notice additions to that help match them with installers, in case they have grander ambitions for their home speaker network. Soon it will treat them to a new web portal offering dedicated support, community features, early info on upcoming products, and promotional help. In the past year, Sonos has expanded what it now calls its "Installed Solutions" department, launching a freight program and co-op funding for its installation partners. They'll be able to buy the $599 Sonos Amp starting December 1, months before its February 2019 public launch. Today, Sonos is debuting a new version of the Amp, and professional installers will get first crack at it. Yet installers still stuck with the old hardware, working harder and harder to come up with ways to jerry-rig the underpowered Connect:Amp into increasingly complex home networks. As time went on, Sonos let its Amps languish and shifted focus to standalone speakers. If an installer sold a client a Sonos system instead of a more expensive setup with a CD changer and complex amp hardware, it often meant they'd receive fewer angry calls about speakers not working. Sonos systems didn't always make the installers as much money as large-scale custom builds, but customers liked the features and reliability. But from the very start, with 2005's ZP100 amplifier, professional installers proved to be some of Sonos' strongest advocates. ![]()
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