![]() I decided to learn how to program a Raspberry Pi to add a remote line-in for our Sonos speakers. I could have accomplished this by buying another Play 5 or CONNECT and using its line-in but I didn't have enough room in my little office nor did I want to invest that much more money just to have that capability. I have a tabletop radio upstairs in my office that has a line-out and wanted to be able to listen to it throughout the house mainly for live sports broadcasts. With them we can listen to practically anything except our local radio station which doesn't stream over the Internet. We have three Sonos components in our house: A Play 5 in the living room, a Play 3 in the bedroom and a Sonos CONNECT:AMP powering outdoor speakers on our patio. It effectively turns your loudspeakers into a system that works similar to one of Sonos's soundbars.I have always been fascinated by the Raspberry Pi but never had a real need for one until now. The other difference is that the Amp supports HDMI-ARC, meaning it can replace your AV receiver and turn your passive loudspeakers into TV speakers. ![]() So while the Port is designed to be connected to a stereo receiver, which then allows you to play music on your passive loudspeakers, the Amp takes the place of the receiver - cutting out the middleman - and is able to drive the passive loudspeakers on its own. The Amp is essentially a Port with a built-in amplifier. It can also connect to a turntable with a built-in phono preamp (or a turntable with an external phono preamp) so you can listen to vinyl on your Sonos speakers. The big difference between the two is that the Port doesn’t have a built-in amp, so it’s only going to work directly with audio components and active speakers that have built-in amplification (such as powered or active speakers). ![]() There's the Port and the significantly more expensive Amp ($649). Sonos currently sells two different wireless streamers that effectively allows you to turn an old audio component into one that works exactly like a Sonos speaker. However, the Port does have a fancy new digital-to-analog converter (DAC), compared to the Connect, and supports Wi-Fi streaming like Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2 so it’s going to stream higher-resolution and all-around better sounding audio than Bluetooth. It’s true that most newer audio components have built-in Bluetooth, so simply adding “streaming” to your stereo receiver on its own isn’t actually a big feature of the Port. (My three-year-old Yamaha receiver didn’t support it, so I still have to use the receiver’s remote to switch inputs, unfortunately.) There’s a catch, however, and it’s only newer stereos and receivers that have a 12-volt trigger input. It essentially eliminates the need for you to manually turn on the receiver or stereo, or switch to the proper inputs, because everything just turns on when you start streaming via the Sonos app to stream music. ![]() Maybe the most interesting upgrade is the Port’s 12-volt trigger, which gives it (and you) a little more control of the connected receiver or amp. Sonos's Three Portable Speakers, Compared
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