Eight years after the arrival of the Sonos Amp, which supported four speakers for high-end streaming audio around your house, the brand's leveled things up with new hardware for bigger homes.
The Amp Multi is basically four Amps in one, albeit far easier to manage. This streaming amplifier is the first new product from the company in over a year, and it's designed to be installed by home audio professionals who do custom setups in luxury residences.
While the Amp from 2018 supported a total of four speakers, the Amp Multi manages eight outputs at 125 watts per channel, for up to four fully independent zones; these outputs can be independently set to stereo or mono.
So that means four rooms can have two outputs each, or one large room can get the full force of all eight outputs, or any other configuration in between.
Each Amp Multi can handle four simultaneous streams from the Sonos app, Apple Music, or Spotify Connect. There's also USB-C audio input, and an analog line in; an Ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6 get the Multi onto your network, after which it can be set up via the Sonos mobile app just like the company's consumer speakers.
While the amplifier can handle just about any speaker with the right connections, it's best suited to Sonos' architectural speakers that can be tucked away in walls and ceilings. Each of the eight outputs supports up to three of the aforementioned speakers, and the system can apply custom tuning and digital signal processing to provide "more robust sound with a more even frequency response."
You can also manually dial in settings to suit speaker impedance and their placement in the room they're installed in, using a 10-band parametric EQ that stores and recalls your preferred settings.
This Class D amp uses post-filter feedback to deliver consistent performance across different speaker loads, using a feedback loop placed after the output filter for real-time signal correction. Sonos says that equates to a clear sound with reduced distortion. The GaN power architecture keeps things cool within the unit, so it doesn't need fans on the inside.
The Amp Multi is set to become available in the coming months; Sonos hasn't yet revealed what it will cost, but it'll likely be a multiple of the original Amp's US$800 asking price. The scheduled wait might actually be a good thing, since the company is slated to release a bunch more products in the second half of this year – by which point you'll be in a better position to decide which ones to trick out your place with.
Check out all the specs of the Amp Multi on Sonos' site.
Source: Sonos
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