116 MACWORLD DECEMBER 2019
PLAY LIST REVIEW: SONOS AMPSonos is
coming full circle
here, as its very
first retail product
was a small
amplifier dubbed
the ZonePlayer
- That was
succeeded by the
ZP120, which was
later renamed the
Connect:Amp (now
discontinued). The
new Sonos Amp is
light years ahead
of those products,
both in terms of specs and performance. I
still have a ZP120 at home, but I haven’t
used it in years because it’s so
underpowered, delivering just 55 watts
per channel.
The Sonos Amp isn’t aimed at casual
music listeners. That market is better
served by Sonos’s wireless speaker
lineup: The Sonos One smart speaker
(go.macworld.com/s1sm), the simpler
Play:1 (go.macworld.com/spy1), and their
big sibling, the Play:5 (go.macworld.com/
spy5). The Sonos Amp is designed for
audio enthusiasts who want to blend the
music-streaming convenience and multi-
room audio capabilities that Sonos is so
well known for with a high-end amplifier
and conventional high-performance
loudspeakers. The Sonos Amp is
designed for critical listening in stereo,
and for movie soundtrack experiences
that are a cut above what you’ll get from
the typical soundbar.DRIVING SPEAKERS WITH
THE SONOS AMP
The new Sonos Amp not only delivers
more power—125 watts per channel into
an 8-ohm load—but it’s also outfitted with
HDMI (with ARC), so that it can connect
directly to your TV. In this scenario, the
Amp can drive wired front left and right
channels, any other pair of Sonos wireless
speakers (apart from Sonos soundbars) as
surround channels, and a wireless Sonos
Sub (or any wired powered sub connectedThe Sonos Amp’s rear panel features HDMI (with ARC), stereo RCA
inputs, an RCA subwoofer output, dual 10/100 ethernet ports, and left/
right speaker outputs. When the binding posts are removed, as seen
here, you can use conventional banana plugs.