Sonos In-Wall Speakers by Sonos and Sonance: The Speakers Your Walls Have Been Waiting For
Here is a situation that happens more often than you might think. Someone spends real time and real money designing a living room. Every piece of furniture is considered. The paint on the walls is exactly right. The lighting is warm and flattering. The television is perfectly positioned. And then they go to add a proper sound system and hit a wall, not literally, but aesthetically.
Because proper sound means speakers. And speakers mean objects sitting in the room, on stands or shelves or brackets, with cables running behind them, competing visually with everything that has been so carefully arranged. A soundbar solves part of the problem but creates its own. Bookshelf speakers sound wonderful but occupy space that was not planned for them. Rear surround speakers in a home theater setup are practically impossible to place tastefully in a room that was not designed around them.
The Sonos In-Wall Speakers by Sonos and Sonance exist specifically to dissolve this problem. Permanently. Elegantly. And with an audio performance that does not ask you to accept any compromise in exchange for the visual freedom they provide.
These are speakers that live inside your walls. They are there when you need them and invisible when you do not think about them. And when paired with the Sonos Amp, they deliver a listening experience so complete and so well calibrated to your specific room that the question of how to get great sound into a beautifully designed space simply stops being a question.
The Collaboration: Two Names That Guarantee Quality
Understanding why these speakers are as good as they are requires understanding who made them and why the partnership matters.
Sonos Architectural Speakers are a discreet, high-performance solution for homes where sound quality matters as much as design. Developed with Sonance, they install flush into walls, ceilings, or outdoor spaces, providing powerful audio while remaining almost invisible.
Sonance is a name that most homeowners will not have encountered in everyday consumer electronics shopping. But in the professional custom installation world, it is one of the most respected names in existence. They have been engineering architectural speakers for professional integrators for decades. They understand how to build a speaker that performs in a wall cavity, how to design a driver that produces accurate sound from a fixed, enclosed position, how to construct a cabinet that installs cleanly and stays secure for years. This is highly specialized knowledge that takes decades of real-world installation experience to develop.
The Sonos Architectural range came about through a drive by Sonos to move into the installation game, and they teamed up with well-known installation brand Sonance to launch a pair of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers tailored to work with the Sonos Amp. The partnership has obviously paid dividends and you can tell that thought has been put into how to set these apart from the crowd of other installation speakers.
Sonos brings the ecosystem layer to that foundation. The multiroom streaming, the Trueplay calibration technology, the custom DSP profiles in the Amp, the app experience, the regular software updates, the 100-plus streaming service integrations. These are capabilities that no traditional architectural speaker manufacturer can match because they require the kind of software and ecosystem infrastructure that Sonos has spent over two decades building.
When Sonance’s professional architectural engineering meets Sonos’s ecosystem intelligence, the result is a speaker that sounds like it was specified by an acoustician and controlled by the best app in the business. Both of those things are true.
What Is Actually Inside the Box?
The Sonos In-Wall by Sonance speaker features a two-way driver design with a 1-inch fabric soft-dome tweeter and a 6.5-inch polypropylene cone woofer with rubber surround. The tweeter features an integrated waveguide and is aimable to help with high-frequency dispersion. The woofer provides dynamic, rich mid and low frequencies.
Let us look at each element of that driver configuration carefully because it tells you something important about how these speakers were designed to work.
The 1-inch fabric soft-dome tweeter is the standard in high-quality speaker design for very good reasons. Fabric domes are lighter and more responsive than metal dome alternatives, which means they handle the delicate high-frequency transients in music with accuracy and without the metallic ringing that some harder materials introduce. The integrated waveguide controls how those high frequencies disperse outward from the tweeter, ensuring even coverage across the listening area rather than concentrating the high-frequency energy in a narrow sweet spot.
The fact that the tweeter is aimable is a detail that matters practically. Wall-mounted speakers face a positioning challenge that ceiling speakers also contend with: the optimal location for the speaker on the wall is often not directly in line with the primary listening position. The aimable tweeter allows the high-frequency driver to be angled toward the seating area after installation, directing the detailed treble and vocal clarity where it needs to go rather than firing it at an angle across the room.
The 6.5-inch polypropylene cone woofer with rubber surround handles everything from the bass frequencies through the midrange. Polypropylene is the material choice of serious speaker engineers for mid-woofer cones because it is stiff enough to maintain its shape under excursion, light enough not to add unnecessary mass to the driver, and internally damped enough to resist the resonances that colored reproduction introduces. The rubber surround provides long-term durability and consistent behavior over the driver’s lifetime, which in a permanent wall installation where access for replacement is not straightforward, matters considerably.
These Sonos in-wall speakers execute a frequency response ranging from 44Hz to 20kHz, driven by a high-excursion polypropylene woofer and one-inch tweeter.
That frequency response covering 44Hz to 20kHz encompasses the vast majority of musical content and virtually all of the mid and high-frequency content in film soundtracks. Combined with a Sonos Sub Mini or Sub Gen 3 for the lowest bass frequencies, this system covers the complete audible spectrum with nothing missing.
The Gold Standard: Spring-Post Binding Posts
The Sonos In-Wall by Sonance speakers feature a set of gold-plated spring-post terminals to connect your in-wall rated speaker wire. The spring-post terminals will accommodate 16 to 12 gauge speaker wire, single or dual banana plugs, and pin-connectors. The gold-plated terminals provide excellent audio signal transfer and resist corrosion.
This is a detail that experienced audiophiles will immediately recognize as a quality indicator, and one that deserves explanation for those who are less familiar with speaker hardware. The connection between your speaker wire and the speaker’s driver is a critical point in the audio signal chain. Any resistance or corrosion at that junction degrades the signal quality. Gold-plating on binding posts resists oxidation and corrosion indefinitely, ensuring the electrical connection stays clean and low-resistance for the entire lifetime of the installation. In a wall installation where the binding posts are inaccessible after the speaker is mounted and the drywall is finished around it, the long-term reliability of gold-plated terminals is not just a nice-to-have. It is essential.
The accommodation of 12 to 16 gauge wire, banana plugs, and pin connectors gives you flexibility in how you approach the cable run from the Sonos Amp to the speaker locations. Thicker gauge wire for longer runs, banana plugs for a cleaner connection at the terminal, pin connectors for situations where the space around the terminal is tight. Professional installers will appreciate the flexibility. Homeowners handling their own installation will appreciate the clear specification.
The Design: Rectangular, Flush, and Ready to Disappear
In-wall speakers have a fundamentally different design brief from in-ceiling speakers. A ceiling speaker sits above you and its visual profile is largely invisible from normal standing and sitting positions. A wall speaker sits at or near eye level and its visual presence is much more immediate. The design challenge is correspondingly greater.
Sitting flush to the wall, the Sonos In-Wall Speakers boast a discreet design and the spray-paintable grille makes them barely perceptible when installed in the wall.
The rectangular grille profile rather than the circular profile used for in-ceiling speakers is a deliberate design choice that suits wall installation better both aesthetically and acoustically. Rectangles integrate more naturally with the vertical and horizontal lines of wall architecture. A portrait-orientation rectangular speaker on a wall looks intentional and architectural rather than obviously installed after the fact.
The specially designed rectangular grilles can be painted to match your walls. Aside from the ease of installation and outstanding sound quality, they complement any environment with their classy look and attachable, paintable speaker grilles.
Once painted to match the wall and the paint has dried, these speakers are genuinely difficult to notice unless you are specifically looking for them. They do not protrude from the wall surface. There is no visible cabinet creating a bump in the wall plane. There are no cable runs visible anywhere. Just a wall that happens to produce music when you press play. That is the entire design goal and it is achieved completely.
At a height of 298mm the In-Wall speakers will look great when installed next to a TV as front surround speakers. Their slim mounting depth of 89mm will make it easy to install these speakers in your wall around insulation or other wiring.
That 89mm mounting depth is notably shallow for a speaker of this driver size and acoustic capability. Most wall cavities in standard drywall construction are between 89 and 140mm deep, which means the In-Wall Speakers fit into standard construction without requiring any wall cavity modification or custom framing. For installers and for homeowners tackling their own setup, this shallow depth is a genuinely practical advantage that makes the installation process significantly simpler than deeper-body alternatives.
Installation: What the Process Actually Involves
The Sonos In-Wall by Sonance speakers require a rectangular cutout of 6.9375 inches wide by 10.75 inches high by 3.625 inches deep in the wall. Four integrated screw-down dog-ear clamps secure each loudspeaker against the wall. There should be at least 1.0 inch around the edge of the opening inside the wall to accommodate the dog-ear clamps. 1
The cut-out template included in the box makes the wall opening straightforward to mark and execute. You position the template on the wall, mark the perimeter, cut along the line with a drywall saw, and the opening is the precise dimension the speaker requires. No guesswork, no reminiscing, no wasted effort cutting an opening that turns out to be the wrong size.
Sonos doesn’t supply the necessary cabling with these speakers but recommends a gauge of 16 or higher. The cable gauge you use will ultimately depend on the distance between the speakers and their power source. The recommended 16-gauge cable can run a maximum distance of around 20 feet, providing between 75 and 100W of power to the speakers. If you find yourself needing an extra few feet and don’t necessarily require all 100W of power, you could run an 18-gauge cable up to 25 feet from the power source.
That cable guidance is practically important for anyone planning an installation. Measure the actual cable run distance from the Sonos Amp location to each speaker wall position, accounting for routing through walls and around obstacles rather than just measuring straight-line distance. For runs over 20 feet, use 14-gauge in-wall rated cable to maintain full power delivery. Speaker wire is not included with the speakers and should be in-wall rated CL2 or CL3 cable for any installation inside a wall cavity.
The installation process requires a fair bit of DIY skills, though Sonos hasn’t over-complicated the procedure. The speakers come with a cut-out template that can be placed on your intended point of installation to reduce the risk of incorrect measurements. Sonos recommends hiring a professional Sonos technician or another audio installation specialist to complete the process. Determining the ideal mounting positions for the Sonos In-Wall speakers requires a bit of calculating and measuring, but once that sweet spot is found, your listening experience will be enhanced dramatically.
The dog-ear clamp mechanism that secures the speaker in the wall opening is the same principle used in the in-ceiling version and works just as cleanly. Insert the speaker into the opening, connect the wire to the binding posts first, then tighten the four dog-ear clamps which rotate outward and grip the back of the drywall. The speaker is held firmly without visible fasteners on the front face. Attach the grille, paint it once the installation is complete, and the speaker disappears into the wall.
The Sonos Amp: Where the Intelligence Lives
The In-Wall Speakers are passive, which means the amplification and streaming intelligence live in the Sonos Amp rather than in the speakers themselves. This is a deliberate architectural choice that keeps the speakers physically simple, thermally stable, and easy to install, while putting all the complex electronics in a unit that sits in an accessible location and can be updated over time.
Sonos and Sonance have designed these in-wall speakers from the ground up, making them specifically optimized for the Sonos Amp. When the in-wall speakers are connected to the Sonos Amp, the Amp will automatically detect them and automatically adjust its sound to suit the specific loudspeakers. Up to three pairs of Sonos Architectural by Sonance speakers can be powered by a single Sonos Amp.
The automatic detection and custom DSP adjustment is the key capability that makes the Sonos Amp the essential partner for these speakers rather than just a convenient one. The Amp contains digital signal processing profiles written specifically for the In-Wall Speakers’ acoustic characteristics. When it detects them connected, it applies an EQ curve that compensates for how in-wall mounting affects frequency response, how the specific driver configuration behaves in a wall cavity, and how to optimize the output for the speaker’s physical constraints and strengths. No other amplifier in the world has this profile because Sonos wrote it exclusively for this combination.
The Sonos Amp is small but mighty, supplying an impressive 125 watts per channel to the connected speakers. 125 watts per channel at 8 ohms into speakers with a shallow wall-cavity installation is substantially more power than these speakers will ever need at domestic listening volumes. The Amp is never stressed, the speakers are never underpowered, and the headroom this power surplus provides means dynamic peaks in music and film soundtracks are handled with ease and authority.
Trueplay: The Feature That Sets This System Apart
Trueplay technology will allow you to tune the audio output of the Sonos In-Wall speakers specifically to the room they are in when connected to the Sonos Amp. As the Sonos In-Wall speakers house the same tweeter and 6.5-inch driver as the In-Ceiling option, the audio will be even and precise if you wanted to install a combination of both around the home.
Trueplay is a capability that most competitive architectural speaker manufacturers simply cannot offer because it requires the tight integration between amplifier and speaker that the Sonos and Sonance partnership makes possible. When you run Trueplay after installing and connecting your In-Wall Speakers, the Sonos app uses your iOS device’s microphone to measure how the speakers interact with your specific room. Room dimensions, wall materials, furniture placement, ceiling height, the position of the speakers relative to listening areas, adjacent openings or corridors, all of these acoustic factors are measured and compensated for in a calibration profile that is written specifically for your room.
The first step is to connect everything up and then utilise Sonos’s Trueplay system to tailor these speakers for the room. This is a feature exclusive to the Sonance speakers. The Amp cannot detect with any other installation speakers. We compare before and after and there is certainly a much more toned nature to the sound after wafting our phone about for a minute or two to get it working.
That real-world comparison before and after Trueplay from an experienced reviewer who tests audio equipment professionally is telling. The difference is audible, meaningful, and immediately apparent. Running Trueplay is not optional if you want the best possible performance from these speakers. It is the step that turns a good-sounding installation into an excellent one. And it takes about two minutes.
Sound Quality: Full-Bodied, Detailed, and Genuinely Impressive
The in-wall speakers have a similar but slightly more full-bodied sound compared to the in-ceiling version, more in line with a traditional bookshelf speaker, leaving us mightily impressed for the size.
That comparison to a bookshelf speaker is the most useful reference point for understanding what these speakers actually sound like. A good bookshelf speaker is the benchmark for compact two-way speaker performance. It delivers accurate imaging, balanced frequency response, clear dialogue, and enough bass extension to handle most music without a subwoofer. The In-Wall Speakers achieve that level of performance from inside your wall. That is the achievement Sonance’s engineering and Sonos’s DSP are combining to deliver.
In practical listening terms, this means music has body and presence. Vocals sit forward and clear in the mix without being artificially highlighted. Guitars, piano, and acoustic instruments have natural texture and warmth. Bass extends further than most in-wall speakers manage, and the 44Hz lower limit means the fundamental notes of bass guitar and lower piano register come through with real weight rather than simply being implied by harmonics.
For television audio, the in-wall configuration has a particular advantage that is worth dwelling on. When installed at either side of the television at the appropriate height and horizontal distance, the In-Wall Speakers create a genuine stereo front soundstage that a soundbar sitting in front of the television simply cannot match. Left channel audio comes from the left. Right channel audio comes from the right. The stereo separation is real and substantial because the speakers are physically separated by the width of the television viewing area.
For those seeking front-row sound quality, these in-wall speakers are an ideal choice. Optimized for use with the Sonos Amp and featuring Trueplay tuning, they deliver bold and immersive audio for your TV and beyond.
The Soundbar Alternative: A Case Worth Making
One of the most compelling and most often overlooked use cases for the Sonos In-Wall Speakers is as a replacement for a television soundbar. And the argument for making this substitution in the right home is genuinely strong.
Sonos in-wall speakers, perfect with the Sonos Amp, provide discreet, authentic audio and are a good alternative to a soundbar.
A soundbar sits in front of the television, occupies the space between the TV and the furniture it sits on, requires its own cable management, and is visible from every angle in the room. The In-Wall Speakers, installed at the appropriate horizontal position on either side of the TV, are invisible, produce a wider and more convincing stereo image because the channels are physically separated, and work with the same Sonos Amp that connects to the television via HDMI ARC for volume control through your existing TV remote.
Using in-wall speakers as the front left and right TV speaker provides an aesthetic alternative to using a soundbar for boosting your TV audio volume levels. All you need to do is connect the Sonos Amp directly to the TV via your TV’s HDMI-ARC or eARC connection. Then you will just need to tell the Sonos app how you are using the Sonos Amp, whether for rear surrounds, front stereo pair or for music only. The Sonos Amp also has an IR receiver, allowing you to pair your existing TV remote with the Amp for volume control.
For any homeowner who values the aesthetics of their television wall above having a soundbar on display, the In-Wall Speakers paired with the Sonos Amp are a genuinely compelling alternative that delivers broader stereo separation, equally good dialogue clarity, and a completely invisible presence in the room.
The Home Theater Surround Configuration: No More Arguments
Here is a scenario that anyone who has set up a home surround sound system in a shared living space will recognize immediately. The surround sound is excellent when you are watching a film. The rear speakers are effective and add real immersion to the experience. But the rear speakers are also sitting on stands or mounted on wall brackets at the back of the room, their cables are somehow never as invisible as you hoped, and someone in the household has decided that the living room looks like it belongs to an audiovisual equipment showroom.
The Sonos In-Wall Speakers solve this problem in the most permanent and satisfying way possible.
These speakers are designed with two setups in mind. The first is for use as ambient speakers in the home, perhaps with several Amps running a number of speakers throughout the home. The second is for use with a television thanks to the Amp’s HDMI input. This means you could have a surround system with your front speakers hidden in the wall and the rears flush with the ceiling. No more arguments in the household about bulky surround sound systems.
A full home theater configuration using Sonos architectural speakers could have In-Wall Speakers as the front left and right channels, Sonos In-Ceiling Speakers as the rear surrounds, and a Sonos Sub Mini or Sub Gen 3 for bass, all coordinated through the Sonos app with Trueplay calibrating the entire system for the room. Every speaker is invisible. No cables are visible. The living room looks exactly like a living room from every angle, even when the system is playing a film at full surround sound volume.
These in-wall speakers can be utilized in a two-channel stereo configuration, distributed audio application, or surround sound setup. The flexibility to serve all three of these configurations from the same hardware, reconfigured through the Sonos app rather than by physically changing anything, is one of the practical strengths of building an architectural Sonos system rather than a fixed-function installation.
Mixing In-Wall and In-Ceiling: A Seamless Combination
One of the design decisions that Sonos and Sonance made deliberately when developing the Architectural range was to share drivers across the in-wall and in-ceiling products. This was not a cost-cutting decision. It was an acoustic engineering decision with real practical benefits.
As the Sonos In-Wall speakers house the same tweeter and 6.5-inch driver as the In-Ceiling option, the audio will be even and precise if you wanted to install a combination of both around the home.
When you use In-Wall Speakers as your front television channels and In-Ceiling Speakers as rear surrounds, the tonal character of all the speakers matches because the fundamental drivers are identical. Sound moving from front to rear in a film’s audio mix maintains consistent timbre as it transitions between the wall-mounted fronts and the ceiling-mounted rears. The coherence of the surrounding field is maintained in a way that mismatched speaker brands with different driver technologies cannot achieve.
This shared driver architecture also means the Sonos Amp’s DSP optimization works consistently across both speaker types, and Trueplay can calibrate the combined system with all speakers active simultaneously, creating a unified acoustic correction profile for the entire room rather than separate profiles for each speaker type.
Multiple Pairs, One Amp: The Whole-House Possibility
Sonos claims you can run up to three pairs of these speakers from a single Sonos Amp, making them excellent value for money while still providing quality sound. The Amp provides plenty of power so even with six speakers you will not find it a struggle to get the volume you want. This makes them perfect for whole-house systems.
The scalability of this system for whole-house audio installations is one of its most practically compelling characteristics. A single Sonos Amp powering three pairs of In-Wall Speakers can cover three separate listening areas, a living room pair, a dining room pair, and a study pair for example, each delivering full-range Sonos audio from invisible wall-mounted speakers, all coordinated through the same Sonos app and same multiroom ecosystem.
For a multi-room renovation or new build where whole-house audio is the goal, planning the speaker cable runs during construction and installing one Amp per zone gives you a scalable system that can be extended incrementally as budget allows, with each zone joining the same multiroom network and every zone benefiting from Trueplay calibration specific to its room.
Multiroom Integration: The Walls Are Part of the System
A connection to the Amp brings the benefits of the Sonos system to every connected Sonos Architectural by Sonance speaker, including an easy-to-use Sonos S2 Controller App that works with all of your favorite streaming services including Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and more, AirPlay 2 control, regular software updates, and the ability to add additional Sonos speakers and components to expand your setup over time for an expansive multiroom audio experience.
Every In-Wall Speaker zone powered by a Sonos Amp is a full member of your Sonos ecosystem. It appears in the Sonos app alongside every other Sonos product you own, it can be grouped with any other zone for synchronized multiroom playback, it can play independently, and it can be controlled by voice through Alexa or Google Assistant, by hand through the app, or automatically through smart home integrations.
The walls of your home become part of your audio infrastructure in the most seamless and elegant way available in consumer audio today.
Who These Speakers Are Built For
The Sonos In-Wall Speakers are built for a specific kind of homeowner, but that description covers more people than it might initially seem.
They are built for anyone renovating or building who wants to make the audio infrastructure decision during construction rather than retrofitting speakers into finished walls later. The difference in cost and cleanliness between running speaker cable during a renovation and doing it afterward through completed walls is substantial.
They are built for anyone who has ever compromised on either sound quality or interior design because getting both from a conventional speaker system felt impossible. The In-Wall Speakers make this compromise unnecessary.
They are built for home theater enthusiasts who want genuinely immersive surround sound in a room that also serves as an everyday living space, where visible speakers and their cables would be an aesthetic intrusion that nobody in the household is willing to accept indefinitely.
They are built for Sonos users who want to extend the ecosystem they already love into rooms where conventional placement simply does not work.
For new builds, renovations, or tailored audio upgrades, they offer an elegant way to enjoy immersive Sonos sound without any real visible hardware.
The Bottom Line
The Sonos In-Wall Speakers by Sonos and Sonance are the definitive answer to the question of how to have genuinely excellent, full-range audio in a beautiful room without any visible speaker hardware.
The 6.5-inch polypropylene woofer and aimable soft-dome tweeter deliver full-range performance from 44Hz to 20kHz that competes with quality bookshelf speakers on pure sonic merit. The 89mm shallow mounting depth fits standard wall cavities without modification. The rectangular paintable grille disappears into any wall color. The gold-plated binding posts ensure reliable long-term connection in an inaccessible location. Up to three pairs connect to a single Sonos Amp, making whole-room and whole-house coverage cost-effective. The custom DSP optimization and Trueplay calibration through the Sonos Amp deliver room-tuned performance that no competitive architectural speaker system can match.
These speakers have excellent build quality, great sound, and are also relatively easy to install. Sonos has a reputation for developing some of the best home audio solutions, and the In-Wall Architectural speakers are arguably one of the best on the market.
Your walls are not just structural elements. In the right home audio system, they are the speakers. And when those speakers are the Sonos In-Wall by Sonance, they are the best version of that idea available anywhere.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Q1. What drivers do the Sonos In-Wall Speakers by Sonance use? Each speaker uses a two-way driver configuration consisting of a 1-inch fabric soft-dome tweeter with integrated waveguide and aimable positioning, and a 6.5-inch high-excursion polypropylene cone woofer with rubber surround. The tweeter can be angled toward the listening area after installation for optimal high-frequency dispersion. The nominal impedance is 8 ohms and the frequency response runs from 44Hz to 20kHz.
Q2. What wall cutout dimensions are required for installation? Each speaker requires a rectangular wall cutout of 6.9375 inches wide by 10.75 inches high with a minimum cavity depth of 3.625 inches. The overall outer frame and grille dimensions are 7.875 inches wide by 11.75 inches high. A cut-out template is included in the box for accurate marking. There should be at least 1 inch of clearance around the inside edge of the opening to accommodate the four dog-ear clamps that secure the speaker against the drywall.
Q3. Do the Sonos In-Wall Speakers require the Sonos Amp specifically? The speakers are passive and require an external amplifier. While they are technically 8-ohm compatible with any amplifier, using the Sonos Amp is strongly recommended because it is the only amplifier that automatically detects these specific speakers and applies custom DSP optimization through the Optimize Sonos Speakers function. The Sonos Amp also unlocks Trueplay room calibration, which is exclusive to the Sonance architectural speaker range. Both features make a clearly audible improvement to sound quality.
Q4. How many pairs can one Sonos Amp power? A single Sonos Amp can power up to three pairs of Sonos Architectural by Sonance speakers, six speakers in total, when wired in parallel. This makes it cost-effective to cover multiple listening areas, a television wall pair, a secondary room pair, and a third area pair, from a single amplifier and network connection.
Q5. Can the grilles be painted to match my walls? Yes. The rectangular steel grilles are spray-paintable, allowing you to match them to any wall color. Remove the grille from the speaker before painting and use an appropriate indoor spray paint. Once painted and replaced, the speakers are genuinely difficult to notice from normal viewing distances in the room.
Q6. What is Trueplay and how does it improve the sound of in-wall speakers? Trueplay is Sonos’s room calibration technology that uses your iOS device’s microphone to measure how sound from the in-wall speakers interacts with your specific room’s dimensions, materials, furniture, and layout. It then adjusts the Sonos Amp’s output to compensate for your room’s acoustic characteristics. The result is a system that sounds balanced and optimized for your specific space rather than playing a generic factory EQ profile. Trueplay makes a clearly audible and immediately noticeable improvement and takes about two minutes to run.
Q7. Can the Sonos In-Wall Speakers be used as a soundbar alternative for the TV? Yes, and this is one of the most compelling use cases for them. A pair installed either side of the television at the appropriate height and connected to a Sonos Amp with HDMI ARC creates a stereo front soundstage with genuine left-right separation that a soundbar cannot match. The Amp’s HDMI ARC connection allows your existing TV remote to control the volume automatically. No soundbar is visible in front of the television and no speaker boxes occupy floor or shelf space in the room.
Q8. Can I mix In-Wall and In-Ceiling Sonos Architectural Speakers in the same system? Yes, and this combination is specifically recommended for home theater setups. Because the In-Wall and In-Ceiling Speakers share the same tweeter and 6.5-inch driver, their tonal character is matched. Using In-Wall Speakers as front television channels and In-Ceiling Speakers as rear surrounds creates a coherent surround sound system where sound transitions seamlessly between all speakers as it moves around the room.
Q9. What gauge speaker wire is recommended for these speakers? Sonos recommends a minimum of 16-gauge in-wall rated speaker wire. For cable runs up to approximately 20 feet, 16-gauge provides full power delivery from the Sonos Amp. For longer runs up to 25 feet, 18-gauge is acceptable at reduced power levels. For runs exceeding 20 feet, 14-gauge cable is recommended for optimal performance. Use CL2 or CL3 rated in-wall cable for any installation inside a wall cavity.
Q10. Are the Sonos In-Wall Speakers suitable for use in a home theater surround sound setup? Yes. They can be used as front left and right channels in a home theater setup, as rear surround channels, or as part of a distributed audio system across multiple rooms. When used as front channels with a Sonos Sub for bass and In-Ceiling Speakers as rear surrounds, the result is a complete invisible surround sound system where no speaker hardware is visible from any position in the room.
Q11. Can I add the Sonos In-Wall Speakers to my existing Sonos system? Yes. Through the Sonos Amp, the In-Wall Speakers join your existing Sonos ecosystem as a fully integrated zone. They appear in the Sonos app alongside all your other Sonos products, can be grouped for synchronized multiroom playback, and support all Sonos features including AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.