Yes..... which would make it sound terrible!

The issues I've had are not sound quality. It's volume. There is none.

Yeah!! So that means the other one would be IN phase!!

I have a pre-production unit, but the terminals on the back of mine are  - + - +

I've done a little more testing with music and volumes.  We normally listen at low volumes (under 50%), but I do agree that the volume doesn't start to ramp up dramatically until you get to 75% or more.

Sonos knows exactly at what volume all their devices are played at so they have statistics on the average volume used.  Maybe they've implemented this on the new AMP so the volume isn't linear and gives more precise control in the lower 0-75% which gives the impression the AMP isn't as loud as the old Connect:AMP?

When I did A/B/C comparison with the same speakers connected to the AMP, Connect:AMP and Marantz AVR I was focused on sound quality at my normal listening volume so didn't do any comparisons of max volume.

I ran out and grabbed a Sonos AMP so I could test this out myself since I have some upcoming installs where I had this spec'd. I connected a pair of Sonance VP86R's that I had for an upcoming job.

I did some quick testing with Apple Music.

When you first install it asks you what type of setup this is:
1) Stereo Speakers
2) Front speakers connected to TV
3) Surrounds.

Says this can be changed later but.... unless I am blind there is not way to change this. Thus, software issue #1.

I choose stereo speakers and imagine so did Brendon and Golden. Now I was in my basement and not large. The AMP volume is low until you hit about 75% then it ramps up and was pretty damn loud at full volume. However, it did feel lacking, especially in the bass dept. I checked the volume limit and like others was on 100%. I brought it down to like 10% went out of settings screen and then back to 100% just to make sure no software issue. I then went into EQ and cranked up the bass but only had a marginal effect. Loudness toggle also didn't seem to make a difference. Now... I did see in advance settings there are settings for the sub. This is set to ON, which I thought was strange. So thought maybe this had an effect. I tried toggling off, then on and no real difference. I tried changing the crossover so that way more bass would go to the speakers and not much difference. Think this is software issue #2 and will call Sonos tomorrow. Thought maybe its just cause these are in-ceiling speakers and not installed so somewhat lackluster.

As I said there was no way I saw to change modes (speakers, TV front speakers or surrounds) so I reset the AMP back to factory settings.

Now the weird thing was the room was still showing in the Sonos app for a while even though I closed the app and re-opened a few times after the reset.

Went back through setup and this time I picked the front speakers connected to a TV option. Under this setup it asks if you are adding a sub and I selected no. Same with surrounds. Skipped most of the TV setup and then tried same songs. Now I had Bass and it sounded much better. I went back into room settings and saw EQ settings were still in middle with loudness on. Went to advance settings and into the sub and saw it was still selected ON but had the crossover set all the way down to 50HZ. Previously, with stereo speakers, was in the middle but had no effect.
I'm assuming this is what Paul choose in his setup and may be why his sounds good.

For the others who had issues, I am curious if you reset the AMP back to factory default (unplug and while holding down the sync button on the back plug the power back in and keep held down till its blinking green) and then choose front speakers for TV and see if that makes a difference in the sound.

Will test more tomorrow and try connecting to TV via HDMI to see what that sounds like.

I set mine to stereo both times. I did not factory reset and did not get the chance to drill down I'm the app further then checking the basics and a little poking around. Thank you for bringing an Amp in to check and all the testing.

Does the new amp support Truplay an If so, has anybody calibrated?

TruePlay on the Amp would only be enabled for the speakers designed for the AMP where speaker profiles are created. For example the Sonance speakers created for Sonos. Hoping though Sonos is open for allowing speaker mfg’s to submit profiles so virtually all types of speakers could be calibrated with TruePlay.

To borrow a tag line from Sonos's marketing department...

Sonos - you're better than this.

Do these speakers have dual voice coil? If so, check the polarity of both speaker wires, with a battery. If they both push out and then it sounds like crap when connected to the Amp, the Amp is wrong. It could also be that the voice coil or magnet is wrong- wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last.

Edit- if they don't have dual VC, are they in the same enclosure/ceiling cavity?

That makes no sense at all.  Every AVR out there has the ability to calibrate a room to whatever speaker brand you choose using the feed back from test tones and microphones, which is something trueplay could do.  When a manufacturer provides a profile per speaker you load it in and no calibration is needed.

AVR calibration just basically sets the distance and levels of the speakers relative to the listening area. Key for timing and sound levels for multi-channel.

Trueplay is more like a DSP amp like a Sonance or AudioControl that used the profiles of particular speakers to tune the sound and EQ based on the room environment based on the performance curves for that particular speaker.

Unless you're talking about lower end AVR's I would say most do a lot more than just set distance and levels.  Anthem room correction for example goes far and beyond those two things.

Regardless, 2 channel systems don't need calibration but IMO a $600 stereo amp from Sonos might as well use software technology they already have.

Back to the AMP testing.

I came home and setup a Sonos Connect to do an A/B comparison.

The AMP seems louder then the Connect AMP at 100%. Plus at 100%, the Connect AMP sounds like its starting to distort where the AMP sounds clearer. Actually, the distortion starts before 100% on the Connect Amp.

Now the volume slider on the Connect AMP is normal where the 50% mark is about 50% perceived volume and then slowly ramps up from there. Again the AMP is low almost through 75-80% of the range and then is a straight ramp up in the last 20-25% so a small increments can be big changes in volume as you progress. I did have a call with support this AM and told Sonos that the volume slider need to be fixed.

Now, I did a reset again of the AMP and went back and picked that I wanted to use "As stereo speakers" again to see if I had the same issues with the EQ as original and this time it was fine. Wonder if something happened with the Sonos update at initial installation in that the software didn't fully get applied correctly but with a Factory Reset everything is corrected.

Curious what happens if you do a factory reset.

Now my initial tests were all with like 6' of 14ga wire connected to the speakers. Next I will try and connect the Amp to a pair of SnapAV stereo speakers I installed years ago in my kitchen. That has 16ga wire and obviously a longer length. Wish I could have tested with the same speakers.

Happy New Year everyone.

I did some more testing today.

Test1:
I took the same Sonance VP86R's and I reversed the left channel's wiring. Not horrible but little worse as expected.

Test 2:
Reversed both speakers and same deal.

Test3:
Hooked up the Amp to my 2ea single stereo Snap AV Speakers I have in the Kitchen and table area. Those are connected via 16ga and a 4ohm load to the AMP. When I first turned it on it sounded like crap. Muffled and voices really low. I was like UGH. Went down to check the wiring and then realized i reversed the left/right (green/white). After that fix everything sounded great and very loud and with some adjustments in the EQ, rating the bass level all the way up I got decent bass out of them.

Reversing a pair on a single stereo speaker is very obvious audio wise but on a regular speaker the sound might be a little off but not the same impact. Neither affected overall volume level. Only really volume level of the tweeters on the stereo speaker.

So.... My conclusions match Paul's. The new AMP is an improvement over the connect:amp. Now, I will say that based on my initial test on post 35, that there was issues with the audio quality and changing EQ, when I choose stereo speakers initially. As I stated in the previous post, that when I had factory reset and then picked Stereo speakers again everything was fine and normal and I was able to hear the bass/treble adjust in the EQ settings. But... Volume level was never as issue.

Brendon's speakers, in the original post, are regular pair of in-ceiling speakers and Golden's was some Bose outdoor speaker's and a Niles outdoor speaker. Not sure if those were regular speakers or single stereo speakers. If the latter then my guess is one of the pair is reversed. Can be easy to to if you inset the wires based on the colors screened on the removable binding post and then flip over and insert. Or, just miswired. If they are not stereo speakers, as in Brendon's case, either those AMP's are defective or... the software originally installed is somewhat and probably a factory reset might solve the issues, like it did for my issues. Please report back.