Design Your Dream Home Audio with Sonos and SmartThings

Designing a killer home audio system is about more than just great sound. It is about creating an experience that flows through every room, bringing music to life in a way that feels effortless and immersive. You want a system that works seamlessly with your SmartThings setup, prioritizes Sonos for multi-room audio, and supports everything from Spotify streaming to vinyl records and compact discs. This is a high-level guide to help you understand the process, not a deep dive into every technical detail and available system. That is where forty4 Audio comes in. We do not just install audio systems. We craft soundscapes built for the way you live.

Start With the Vision

Think about how you want music to move through your home. Do you want a dedicated surround sound space for movies and music? Do you want whole-home audio so you can walk from room to room with the same song following you? Start with the end goal in mind so that every decision supports the experience you are looking for.

Choose the Right Gear For You

A Sonos-based system makes it easy to get high-quality sound throughout the house. Here is what you need, at a minimum, to make it happen:

• Sonos Arc Ultra for the foundation of your surround sound setup, delivering cinematic Dolby Atmos audio that pulls you into the action. Designed to integrate seamlessly with your home theater, it creates an immersive experience whether you are watching movies, gaming, or streaming music.
• Sonos Sub to bring deep, room-filling bass that you can feel as much as you hear. With its force-canceling design, it eliminates unwanted vibrations and rattling, delivering pure, distortion-free low frequencies that add depth to everything from explosive movie scenes to bass-heavy playlists. Whether you are watching an action-packed blockbuster or spinning your favorite vinyl, the Sub enhances the entire listening experience, making every beat hit with power and precision.
• Sonos Era 300 for wireless rear surround speakers, delivering spacious, multidimensional audio that surrounds you from every angle. With upward-firing drivers and Dolby Atmos support, these speakers create a truly immersive soundscape, making movies, music, and games feel larger than life. Whether you are catching every whisper in a suspenseful thriller or getting lost in the layers of a live concert recording, the Era 300 enhances the depth and clarity of your home theater experience without the need for bulky wiring.
• Audio Technica Turntable to spin your vinyl through the Sonos system, bringing the warmth and richness of analog sound into your modern home audio setup. With high-quality components and precision engineering, Audio Technica turntables deliver crisp, detailed playback that preserves the depth and character of your favorite records.
• Panasonic Blu-ray Player for playing compact discs, delivering high-fidelity audio while integrating Blu-ray movies seamlessly into your home theater experience. Known for its exceptional disc playback quality, a Panasonic Blu-ray player ensures that your CDs sound as crisp and dynamic as the artist intended. This unit allows you to stream your music collection across your entire Sonos system, filling your home with rich, room-filling sound. Beyond music, it enhances your movie nights with high-resolution Blu-ray playback, ensuring both stunning visuals and immersive audio that brings every scene to life.
• Sonos Port to connect your Audio Technica Turntable and Panasonic Blu-ray Player into the Sonos ecosystem, making it easy to bring high-quality analog and digital audio into your wireless setup. With its RCA and digital inputs, the Sonos Port acts as a bridge, allowing your turntable’s warm vinyl sound and your Blu-ray player’s crisp CD playback to stream seamlessly across your Sonos speakers. It also includes a built-in digital-to-analog converter for pristine sound quality and supports Auto Play, so your audio sources kick in instantly when you drop the needle on a record or press play on a CD..
• SmartThings Integration to control it all effortlessly from your phone, bringing together your home audio system, lighting, climate control, and more into one streamlined smart home experience. With SmartThings, you can set scenes, automate routines, and control your entire setup from a single app. Imagine waking up to your favorite playlist streaming through your Sonos speakers, or having your home theater system automatically adjust when you start a movie—all at the touch of a button. Pairing SmartThings with the Sonos app takes it a step further, giving you complete control over your Sonos system. Through the Sonos app, you can manage audio settings, group speakers, adjust volume, and even stream from your favorite platforms like Spotify. This integration brings the power of smart technology to your fingertips, creating a home audio experience that feels intuitive, responsive, and effortlessly connected.

Map Out Speaker Placement

Surround sound thrives on proper speaker placement. You want that immersive, theater-quality audio that makes you feel like you are in the center of the action. Here is the breakdown:

• Soundbar goes directly under the TV for crisp dialogue and front-channel sound, ensuring that every word is clear and every action-packed moment is brought to life with precision. Positioned perfectly beneath your TV, the soundbar creates a rich, focused soundstage that enhances your viewing experience without the clutter of multiple speakers. Its sleek design blends seamlessly into the room, while advanced audio technology, like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, fills the space with rich, dynamic sound.
• Subwoofer should sit near the front for rich, even bass response that fills the room with deep, punchy low-end sound. Placing the subwoofer close to the front of the room, ideally near the TV or soundbar, helps create a cohesive and balanced sound experience. This strategic placement ensures that bass frequencies blend seamlessly with your front-channel speakers, providing a smooth and immersive soundstage.
• Surround speakers go behind or beside your seating area for a full, wraparound effect that envelops you in sound from every direction. Placing the surround speakers slightly above ear level and at an angle behind or to the sides of your seating area creates a 360-degree audio experience that makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of the action.
• Additional Sonos speakers can be placed throughout the home for a seamless whole-house experience, allowing you to enjoy high-quality sound in every room.
  • The Sonos Five, with its powerful drivers and impressive bass response, is ideal for larger spaces or rooms where you want to experience full, rich sound. Its wide stereo soundstage and detailed audio make it perfect for everything from high-fidelity music to immersive home theater setups.
  • For portability and flexibility, the Sonos Move is your go-to. With its durable, weather-resistant design and Wi-Fi / Bluetooth functionality, the Move can be placed indoors or outdoors, bringing music to life wherever you are.

Installation and Setup

Once you have the gear, it’s time to put it all together and create the perfect home audio setup. Here’s how to do it:

• Install and position all speakers and components according to the layout plan. The first step is setting up your speakers and components where they will work best. Position your Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar directly under the TV for crisp, front-channel sound, and place the Sonos Sub near the front to deliver deep, powerful bass. Set your Sonos Era 300 surround speakers behind or beside the seating area for a full, immersive surround sound experience. Make sure your Audio Technica Turntable and Panasonic Blu-ray Player are situated in a convenient, accessible spot, connecting seamlessly to the Sonos Port. The Sonos Port will tie everything together by connecting your analog and digital audio sources to the Sonos ecosystem. The subwoofer should be positioned for even bass, and your speakers should be arranged to ensure optimal sound distribution. Make sure to keep cables neatly routed to avoid clutter, and don’t forget to leave space for proper airflow to prevent overheating.
• Connect everything to power and your Wi-Fi network. Now that everything’s in place, it’s time to plug everything into power and get connected to your Wi-Fi. You’ll need a reliable, strong Wi-Fi signal throughout your home to ensure smooth streaming and integration. Connect your Sonos speakers to the network, ensuring they’re all on the same Wi-Fi frequency. For the turntable and Blu-ray player, you’ll use the Sonos Port to bring the audio sources into the Sonos ecosystem. Be sure to confirm that your Wi-Fi network has the necessary bandwidth to support all your devices, especially when using streaming services like Spotify. If needed, install a dedicated mesh Wi-Fi system to ensure strong coverage across all areas of the house, from your living room to your home office or outdoor spaces.
• Use the Sonos app to group speakers, adjust settings, and fine-tune audio preferences. Once your system is connected, open the Sonos app to configure everything. The Sonos app allows you to group your speakers into rooms or zones so you can control audio in each space independently or as a whole. You can fine-tune each speaker’s volume and sound preferences, adjusting bass, treble, and balance to suit the acoustics of each room. For example, you might want to boost the bass in the living room where you’ll have your home theater setup, or adjust the treble in the kitchen for clearer voice clarity. The app also lets you manage different audio sources, from Spotify streaming to vinyl records and CDs, and allows you to switch between various devices, ensuring the sound is always perfect for the moment.
• Integrate SmartThings to enable voice control, automation, and app-based control. Next, take your home audio experience to the next level by integrating SmartThings. This lets you control your entire setup via voice commands, automation, or the SmartThings app. You can schedule music to play in specific rooms, trigger certain audio settings when you leave or enter a room, or even control your Sonos speakers alongside other smart devices in your home, like lighting or climate control. Imagine arriving home to your favorite playlist playing through the Sonos Five in the living room, or having the system automatically pause when you turn off the lights. Pairing SmartThings with Sonos and your other smart devices gives you an intuitive, hands-free way to control everything, from adjusting volume with a simple voice command to creating the perfect mood with a single tap.
• Test it all out with your favorite tracks on Spotify and a vinyl spin session. Finally, it’s time for the fun part – testing it all out! Fire up Spotify and enjoy your favorite artists streaming seamlessly through your Sonos system, whether you’re listening in one room or across the whole house. Then, switch things up with a vinyl spin session on your Audio Technica Turntable. The rich, warm sound of vinyl combined with the precision of your Sonos system will transport you to another world. Whether you’re playing a classic album or just vibing to some background tunes, you’ll hear every note with stunning clarity and depth. Make sure to check out each component’s performance – whether it’s the deep bass from your Sonos Sub, the detailed soundstage of the Sonos Arc Ultra, or the immersive surround experience from your Sonos Era 300 – and fine-tune things to your liking.

Now that everything’s set up, you’re ready to sit back and enjoy a home audio experience like no other.

Fine-Tune and Enjoy

Great sound is not just about plugging everything in. You want to tweak settings for the best performance. The Sonos Trueplay feature helps adjust audio to match your room’s acoustics. SmartThings lets you automate sound settings based on your routine. Want your living room to wake up with a soft jazz playlist every morning? Easy. Want to set the mood for a movie night with deep, cinematic sound? Done.

Let’s Build Your Perfect Home Audio System

You could spend hours researching, sourcing, and setting all this up yourself, or you could let forty4 Audio handle it from start to finish. We design, install, and integrate home audio systems tailored to the way you want to experience sound. Whether it is surround sound, whole-home audio, or a hybrid setup built around Sonos, we make it all work together flawlessly. Let’s bring your home to life with incredible sound. Contact us today and let’s make it happen.