Nothing I’ve read, including on the SONOS site, says it specifically but from what I can gather, I’d be able to connect a CONNECT to my laptop and then stream music to the speakers without need for an amp. Is that right? Anybody running a set-up like that?

It’s my birthday soon and fancy treating myself but, at the moment, don’t have a wireless internet set up… Ta.

Pretty pointless is going sonos (which is ace btw) if you don’t have wifi.

There are two versions of the connect, one with a builtin amp one without.

You’ll need the amped version

I’m not sure how it will work without wifi but I thought sonos uses its own network created by the sonos bridge.
My bridge is plugged into my wireless router and if wifi ever goes down sonos wont work and says its not connected to wifi.
As above if you don’t have an amp you will need the connect with the built in amp.
Its an amazing system though, so simple to set up and use.

I’m not sure how it will work without wifi but I thought sonos uses its own network created by the sonos bridge.

The laptop will have to be hardwired to the Connect, it has a aux-in phono connection.

what are you trying to achieve? Are you talking about using the Connect with an existing stereo? Or are you really after the Sonos Play speakers, and just looking for a way to get music to those?
You can buy a really cheap wifi router, and use that to create the network if you want to use the Sonos Play kit, since you don’t actually need an internet connection, just the ability to create a wifi network, and you won’t need Connect then. Sonos no longer requires the bridge either.

If you really wanted to use just Connect to stream to an existing setup, then you’re wasting your money, there’s plenty of cheap alternatives wired and wireless to stream from laptop to stereo.

I’m not sure how it will work without wifi but I thought sonos uses its own network created by the sonos bridge.
The laptop will have to be hardwired to the Connect, it has a aux-in phono connection.

That was my understanding too, comes with a 3.5mm jack to RCA lead to hardwire in and then it creates its own network.

Would the laptop not act as an amp though…?

Maybe I need to go abuse Richer Sounds’ knowledge for a while…

If your using the laptop as an amp and you have your music on the laptop then what function do you think the sonos will perform

If your using the laptop as an amp and you have your music on the laptop then what function do you think the sonos will perform?

from the OP:

…connect a CONNECT to my laptop and then stream music to the speakers without need for an amp

I’ve given you a clue 😉

EDIT I’ve made the clue even bigger

I’ve given you a clue

To be fair, it’s only a clue still, with two answers.

If the speakers are normal hifi i.e. not sonos then they’ll need to be hardwired to the connect. As will the laptop. Which kind of begs the question of what’s the point of forking out for Sonos.

If the OP is thinking of forking out for Sonos Play speakers, then he doesn’t need Connect at all, as I said above a cheap wifi router will work, an internet connection isn’t needed.

Vinnyeh – thank you, that’s what I needed to know then. Sorry, probably should’ve been a bit clearer in the OP, yes, planning on buying Sonos speakers as well. Well done, you’ve just saved me a bucketload of cash!

PS Any suggestions for the cheap router, I’m not that tech savvy… Would something like this be suitable…?

Ignore!

Why don’t you just use a bluetooth speaker instead? Assuming your laptop has bluetooth.

No Bluetooth on the laptop, plus I want to be able to stream around the house without worrying about range/moving kit around and, once I do have wifi, the plan is to expand the system and do it properly…

Sonos is ace. Really works straight of the box. Have a look at their new box which creates it’s own dedicated wireless network.

“No Bluetooth on the laptop, plus I want to be able to stream around the house without worrying about range/moving kit around and, once I do have wifi, the plan is to expand the system and do it properly…”

If you get a ‘Connect’, you will need a separate amplifier & speakers;
If you get a ‘Connect:amp’ you will need separate speakers;
If you get a ‘Play 5’ you don’t need anything else.

I don’t believe you *need* wifi…

There are 2 ways to connect to your laptop:

a) Analogue connection from the laptop line out to the line in on any of the above. They would act as speakers for your laptop, and nothing else. All playback control would have to be from the PC. You would only be able to control the Sonos volume via the buttons on the Sonos kit. Beware that the Sonos system introduces several seconds (ish) of latency, so you can’t have music direct from the PC audible at the same time as music from the Sonos system.

If you get a ‘Play 3’ or ‘Play 1’ (?) you don’t need anything else, but they only have ethernet connections, not analogue line-in.

b) Ethernet connection to your wired network (spare port on your broadband modem/router?). This would give you full control of the Sonos system from your laptop or any other computer on your home network, and give the Sonos system access to online streaming services.

Once one Sonos device is connected, you can add others, even if you don’t have wifi, because they use their own wireless network.

When you add your own wifi network, you open the door to using smart phones, Ipads, etc. to control the playback, and also playing music directly from these devices.

Beware the latency, again – if you plan on using the sonos system for sound when playing videos, you need to find a player that allows you to synchronise the video and audio.

HTH!

stilltortoise
If you’d look eat the post above mine the op has suggested connecting his laptop to the sonos via the 3.5mm line out if he used that how could he use the laptop to amplify speakers.

Op:
sonos now works without the bridge unit connected to a router, so if your laptop has a wifi connection you can set that up to act as a router and establish a wifi connection to any sonos units.

As others have said if you have an existing amp and speakers then a connect will allow you to use them.
If you have active speakers then this will also work.

If you’ve just a set of speakers then the connect:amp would do the job.

If you’ve got nout then get a play 1, 3 or 5 as they have built in speakers.