Sonos’ Boldest Amp Yet Is Designed to Disappear – But It Lives and Dies by the App

The new Sonos Amp Multi is built to be hidden inside your walls, run entirely from software, and power your whole home — assuming the app finally behaves.

Sonos has spent the last year unusually quiet. No flashy soundbars, no headline-grabbing speakers — just a slow, careful effort to repair the damage caused by its much-criticised app overhaul.

Now, it’s back with something radically different.

Meet the Sonos Amp Multi: a multi-zone, installer-grade amplifier designed to be invisible, permanent, and totally dependent on the Sonos app. No buttons. No screen. No backup controls.

This is Sonos betting its future on software stability.

Not for Your Desk — This One Lives in Your Walls

The Amp Multi isn’t a consumer gadget. It’s a whole-home infrastructure device.

Around the back you’ll find:

• Eight stereo channels

• Designed to power speakers across multiple rooms

• Fully wired installation (walls, floors, ceilings — the works)

  
  

This isn’t something you casually plug in on a weekend. It’s built for professional installers, not DIY setups.

Once installed, each channel becomes a virtual “room” inside the Sonos app. You can group channels, assign zones, and build a fully distributed audio system across your entire house.

In short: this is Sonos’ version of a smart building backbone.

Everything Runs Through the App — Everything

Here’s the catch.

The Amp Multi has zero physical controls.

No volume knob. No play button. No fallback interface.

• Volume? App.

• Playback? App.

• Room selection? App.

• EQ? App.

  
  

Sonos has gone all-in on software control.

Which is brave — considering the app’s rocky history.

A Smarter EQ for Serious Installs

To justify this software-first approach, Sonos introduces ProTune:

• Per-room tuning

• Parametric EQ

• Fine-grain acoustic adjustments

• More detailed than TruePlay

  
  

This is clearly aimed at installers calibrating serious spaces, not casual users tweaking bass sliders.

It’s Sonos finally acknowledging that real rooms need real tools.

Connectivity: Wired First, Wireless Second

Given the system’s ambition, Sonos strongly encourages:

• Ethernet connection for stability

• Wi-Fi still supported, but not recommended

Physical inputs include:

• USB-C

• RCA analogue inputs

  
  

Notably missing: HDMI — which some users will absolutely complain about.

But the philosophy is clear: this is not a home cinema device. It’s a distributed audio brain.

A Black Box You’re Not Supposed to See

Design-wise, the Amp Multi is deliberately boring:

• Matte black chassis

• Rack-friendly

• No display

• No branding theatrics

  
  

It’s meant to live in:

• Media cabinets

• Server racks

• Utility rooms

  
  

This is hardware as infrastructure, not furniture.

The Real Risk: Trusting Sonos Again

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

Sonos is asking people to:

• Permanently wire a system into their home

• Lock themselves into a closed ecosystem

• And trust an app that recently broke basic playback for months

  
  

That’s a big leap of faith.

Especially when:

If the app fails, your entire house goes silent.

No knobs. No remotes. No manual override.

Pricing and Availability

There is no standalone retail price.

The Amp Multi is sold only through installer packages, with pricing revealed during consultation. Everything — hardware, wiring, labour — is bundled.

If you want one, you don’t buy it.

You book a system.

What the Amp Multi Really Represents

The Sonos Amp Multi isn’t just a product.

It’s a statement.

Sonos is no longer just making speakers — it’s trying to become the operating system of your home audio.

Invisible hardware.Permanent installation. Total software control.

If the app is finally stable, this could be the most powerful thing Sonos has ever made.

If it isn’t?

This becomes the most expensive reminder in your house that software trust is everything.