DECEMBER 2019 MACWORLD 121level, its crossover frequency, and its
phase in a dedicated setting you’ll find
elsewhere in the app.
The Focal Custom OD 108 are large
outdoor speakers, equipped with a bass
reflex port, an 8-inch fiberglass woofer,
and a 1-inch aluminum inverted doom
tweeter. There was absolutely no need for
the Sonos Sub while driving these bad
boys with the Sonos Amp, but I was
impressed with how great the combination
sounded while listening to Lucinda
Williams sing “I Envy the Wind,” from her
album Essence. Even at lower volume
levels, Williams’ voice, quavering with
longing, came across with authority.MY UNCONVENTIONAL USE
OF SONOS COMPONENTS
I later tested the Sonos Amp driving the Q
Acoustics, B&W Mini Theater, and Focal
Custom OD 108—plus the Sonos Sub—all
at once, having wired the passive
speakers to a Niles Audio SS-4 speaker
selector box (go.macworld.com/nss4). In
this scenario, each of the three speaker
pairs is wired inline to a Niles Audio
impedance-magnifying volume controlThe Sonos Amp doesn’t come with an onboard phono preamp, so you’ll need to either provide
one of your own or use a turntable that has an onboard preamp.