How to Listen to Vinyl With Sonos

A Sonos user listening to his records with a turntable through a pair of black Sonos Era 100 speakers

Ed Gillett

Guest Writer

For generations of music lovers, vinyl remains the ultimate audiophile format. From the nostalgia-inducing crackle of the needle hitting the groove, to its warm analogue sound and the tactile pleasure of a beautiful 12” gatefold sleeve, the ritual of putting a record on a turntable and letting it carry you away retains a charm and romance all its own.

Nearly a century since its introduction, the beloved vinyl record still remains in fine health. In 2022, record sales in the US saw their 17th consecutive year of growth, while globally vinyl overtook CD sales for the first time since 1987.

Clearly, our love for vinyl isn’t going away anytime soon, even as the immediacy and choice of streaming has revolutionized how we listen to music.

But why should we have to choose one format over the other? With Sonos, not only can you access hundreds of music streaming services, but you can also seamlessly integrate a turntable into your home sound system.

If you’re looking to make the most of your record collection, then this quick guide will help you connect a turntable to your Sonos system in minutes so you can start enjoying the rich, unmistakable sound of your favourite vinyl all around your home.

Step 1:

Connect your turntable to your Sonos system

There are a number of ways to do this. First, you’ll need one of the following Sonos products:

Era 300
Era 100
Five (+ Stereo Mini-Jack to RCA Y-Audio Cable)
Amp
Port

Of course, you’ll also need a turntable, like the T1 SB Phono turntable from Pro-Ject. We recommend that one because it has a phono pre-amp built in. If your turntable doesn’t have a phono pre-amp (most of them don’t), you’ll need to get one for the Sonos vinyl experience to work best. You can learn more about this on our Community site.

A black Sonos Era 100 and a black Sonos Era 300 with their corresponding line-in adapters

For Era 300 and Era 100

Our most advanced all-in-one speakers come with a direct line-in port for easily connecting your external audio devices to your Sonos system using the Sonos Line-In Adapter.

Plug the Line-In Adapter into the USB-C input on the back of your speaker, and use a standard stereo RCA to 3.5mm cable to connect to your turntable. You can also connect to Era 300 and Era 100 via Bluetooth® (more on that later).

For Five and Play:5

Plug your turntable directly into our biggest speaker using the line-in port on the back.

Plug the single end of an RCA Y-audio cable into the line-in port of Five/Play:5 and attach the split cable to the corresponding colours of the L/R audio outputs on the back of your turntable.

For Amp

If you have a turntable and third-party speakers but no amplifier, you can connect them to the Sonos system directly using Sonos Amp.

Just take the stereo RCA audio cable that comes with your Amp: plug one pair of white and red connectors into the left and right audio outputs of your turntable or pre-amp, and the other pair into the left and right audio inputs on the back of your Sonos Amp.

For Port

Sonos Port is perfect if you already have an amplifier and a set of third-party speakers. Port lets you use your amplified audio equipment to bring the sound of your vinyl collection into your multi-room Sonos system.

Just take the audio cable that comes with your Port. Plug one end into your turntable and the other end into the corresponding colours of the L/R inputs at the back of your Port.

Step 2:

Switch the audio source on your Sonos app to Line-in

Open the Sonos app on your phone or tablet. Go to the Browse tab, select Line-in, and then choose the Line-in source. You can even set up AutoPlay so your Sonos system knows it’s time to switch into vinyl mode as soon as the needle drops.

Step 3:

Add extra speakers and rooms

If you have multiple Sonos devices set up in different rooms, you can group them together using the Rooms tab in the Sonos app, and spread the sound of your favourite vinyl throughout your home.

A Sonos user sitting in a chair in their living room controlling a white Sonos Era 300 from their phone

Bonus:

Connect a turntable via Bluetooth®

Some newer turntables, like the T1 BT from Pro-Ject, include not only a built-in phono pre-amp but also Bluetooth® connection, which means you can send audio to Bluetooth-capable Sonos speakers without the need for a wired connection.

Once you’ve set up your Sonos speakers over WiFi, then you’ll need to pair them via Bluetooth® to your turntable. Press and hold the Bluetooth® button located on the back of the speaker. When you hear a chime and the status light flashes blue, this indicates that your speaker is ready to be paired. From there, you can connect to your speaker from your device's Bluetooth® settings.

Need help setting up Sonos to play vinyl? Our community site is loaded with answers to your most pressing questions.

More information on using a turntable with Sonos.
Learn about multi-room vinyl playback.
Read other discussions about specific issues related to playing vinyl on Sonos.