Question about Sonos
- Thread starter ccurchin
- Start date
Just wanted to get some feedback from anyone really familiar with the system. We are getting ready to pull the trigger on a system for 2 tv rooms 3auxillary rooms and out by the pool. Just looking for some validation before dropping several thousand
I like the Eco system. I have a play one and a play three in my children's rooms. But I also have a sonos connect and that I use to control in ceiling speakers in my dining room, porch, bedroom, bathroom, and living room. Really flexible system. the sonos speakers sound decent for what they are.
I have three Play3s, two Play5s, and four Play1s. They're not set up for surround sound or anything, just connected throughout the house. They all sound great. The Play5 is more than I need in most places; the 3 would do just fine.
They're insanely simple to set up and use. Only thing I don't like is the limitation on content. I can't stream shows from Archive.org or PanicStream.com without plugging directly in to one of the Play5s.
They're insanely simple to set up and use. Only thing I don't like is the limitation on content. I can't stream shows from Archive.org or PanicStream.com without plugging directly in to one of the Play5s.
The house I bought had a bunch of in wall and in ceiling high end speakers, but they were not all hard wired connected. I have a Sonos Connect driving two sets of speakers in my office and dining room, a connect driving speakers in my bedroom and the porch off the master, a connect driving the speakers / tuner for my main entertainment system in the media room, and a final connect driving my outdoor speakers in my summer kitchen / bar. I have a Sonos sound bar with my game room TV only Sonos speakers I have are in my master bathroom, garage and guest suite bathroom, they are all Play 1's.
I've been extremely happy with the system. It's easy to set up, easy to control, the customer service has been great, upgrades to the controller are quick and easy. I control it from my iMac, my MacBook, my iPhone and from my iPad.
Because I have the sound bar connected to a TV and the Connect aligned with the Tuner in the media room, I can run games through the whole house during football season, which is pretty cool, to get the Noles blasting on 23 speakers and 2 subwoofers is a sound to behold.
All the speakers in my house are PSB speakers, with the exception of the Sonos Play 1's and the Soundbar, they are a mid to high end speaker company and the Sonos speakers sound just as good, and the Sonos Connects driving those speakers do a great job.
A buddy of mine built his house from scratch and he installed s system called Savant, I may do that if I built a house tomorrow, but the Sonos retrofit was cheaper considering what I already had.
I say for the money Sonos is a good option, I've been very happy.
I've been extremely happy with the system. It's easy to set up, easy to control, the customer service has been great, upgrades to the controller are quick and easy. I control it from my iMac, my MacBook, my iPhone and from my iPad.
Because I have the sound bar connected to a TV and the Connect aligned with the Tuner in the media room, I can run games through the whole house during football season, which is pretty cool, to get the Noles blasting on 23 speakers and 2 subwoofers is a sound to behold.
All the speakers in my house are PSB speakers, with the exception of the Sonos Play 1's and the Soundbar, they are a mid to high end speaker company and the Sonos speakers sound just as good, and the Sonos Connects driving those speakers do a great job.
A buddy of mine built his house from scratch and he installed s system called Savant, I may do that if I built a house tomorrow, but the Sonos retrofit was cheaper considering what I already had.
I say for the money Sonos is a good option, I've been very happy.
Why 3 connects? For multiple zones, I guess? I am running one to control all in ceiling and in wall. I control zone on or off with wall panels. But, of course, I lose zone independence this way. I'm not sure how I would rectify that though. I have one controller interface for the built in stuff (a russound unit along with the remote controlled wall panels to control volume independently) and I hook the connect up to that.
I do really like all the in ceilings and in walls. When I bought my house, I didn't initially notice them. They are great for the Wife Approval Factor. The only negative is that the prior owner setup his 5.1 in his living room centered around the fire place. It's not too bad but I find it mildly distasteful. The sound quality is good, though not comparable to my primary system.
Some things I like about the sonos ecosystem.
- lots of content/services. I use Apple Music and Pandora primarily. It's very handy. Just pick up your iPhone or iPad and pick something.
- easy to setup playlists.
- my kids go to sleep with music. It's very convenient to remotely turn off.
- you don't have to turn on an amp or speaker independently. Just load the app and hit play.
- one play one produces a very nice sound quality accounting for its size and that it is just one speaker cab.
- the playbar/sub combo is quite nice. I got one of these for my brother which he uses in his bedroom. The sub is an attractive and unobtrusive design.
There are some competitive alternatives especially w regard to sound quality.
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I didn't have much of a choice, the woman who owned my house before me, added all the in-wall/ in-ceiling / marine quality outdoor speakers after she moved in and they are not all wired to one point. It cost a little more to get it set up with all of the connects, but it is very nice to be able to independently control all the zones, which is one thing that I think Sonos could do better.
I have two speaker control center splitters one for my office, my office speakers and the in wall speakers in my dining room are on one connect so I like to be able to turn one set of speakers off independently. I have another one in my bedroom, my in-ceiling speakers are connected to the marine speakers off the patio to the master, so again, I like to be able to turn off one or the other set.
The zones work well in my household, because my wife and I don't care for the same music all the time. We both like about 60% of the same music, but I'm a big punk rock and early 90's alternative fan and she likes country pop and never the twain shall meet.
I use Pandora, Spotify and my own music collection, which is plenty for me.
I'm not really an audiofile, and all the years in the military have ruined my hearing, so I can't comment on how great or bad the sound quality is, it sounds really good to me.
I have two speaker control center splitters one for my office, my office speakers and the in wall speakers in my dining room are on one connect so I like to be able to turn one set of speakers off independently. I have another one in my bedroom, my in-ceiling speakers are connected to the marine speakers off the patio to the master, so again, I like to be able to turn off one or the other set.
The zones work well in my household, because my wife and I don't care for the same music all the time. We both like about 60% of the same music, but I'm a big punk rock and early 90's alternative fan and she likes country pop and never the twain shall meet.
I use Pandora, Spotify and my own music collection, which is plenty for me.
I'm not really an audiofile, and all the years in the military have ruined my hearing, so I can't comment on how great or bad the sound quality is, it sounds really good to me.
Absolutely love sonos. Love being able to stream my iTunes library, rhapsody, tune in radio, etc from my phone to rooms thru out the house and deck. Very easy to use and sounds great. I use sound bar and sub in living room vs. builder prewired surround. I also ran a sonos amp to home theater system in basement to stream music in basement. Only issue is giving NoleDaddy password and having him get control of music.
Not necessarily. If one of your Sonos players is hard wired to your Ethernet, they create there own network outside of your wireless. They communicate with each other and You can also extend the range with a Boost unit
Though they are independent from your wireless you can piggy back your internet on them. I have my tv plugged in by an Ethernet cord to my Sonos. For streaming it is much better than using my wireless. The signal is incredibly amplified. It's a bonus for sure, and expands your band width exponentially.
I don't have a Sonos, but you can do something similar with Chromecast Audio. For $35, you can stream music using any "dumb" speakers you already have. You just plug the Chromecast into the aux jack and choose which device(s) you want to stream to. Somewhat limited to music apps that have Chromecast support (Google Play, Pandora, Spotify Premium, a few others). Although with an Android device you can mirror that. I've tried it with Amazon Music and it works well. You'd need a Chromecast for each room/device you want to stream to, but once you have them you can link them all to play the same thing or any combination you want.
I believe one of the Sonos units has to be plugged in. I could be wrong.
From my understanding, one has to be hard wired for them to create their own network outside of your wifi. If none are plugged in they will still function properly, but they will do so over your existing wifi signal
I just bit the bulllet and bought a soundbase, a Play3 and four Play1’s. I’m pumped to get it all up and running. The downside of Hawaii life, I can’t get them delivered until Thursday.
I’m thinking the Play3 in kitchen (where we spend the majority of our time, and the Play1’s in offices/bedrooms. I’d love to hear insight from anyone else that has a set up.
I’m thinking the Play3 in kitchen (where we spend the majority of our time, and the Play1’s in offices/bedrooms. I’d love to hear insight from anyone else that has a set up.
Juice... I have Play 1s in the Kitchen, master bath, guest suite bath, and garage. My kitchen is an open floor plan shared with a living space with a pool table and wall mounted TV so there is a Sonos Soundbar with that TV. I have Connects with inwall and inceiling speakers in my outdoor kitchen, upstairs lanai, master ceiling and media room system. The play 1's are great for small rooms, but the kitchen without the sound bar coming from across the room would be great for you while you are cooking etc but doesn't fill the room with sound.
Thanks for the info. I don’t have any in ceiling speakers, so I’m hoping this will cover me. Worst case, I buy more speakers!
The updates need to be done on a regular, but I love my soundbar and sub. If you turn it all the way up it fills the majority of the house. It is definitely worth the money. It is pretty easy to set up and easy to hide the handful of wires. I do like the new Bose system though. When I bought my Sonos a little over a year ago the current Bose system wasn't as good.
I checked out the Bose system as well in a Best Buy the other day. My totally unprofessional opinion is that the Sonos Playbase sounded better than the comparable Bose unit. However, I think the smaller Bose speakers are slightly better than the Sonos. I decided to take the trade off with Sonos. I’m definitely not an audiophile, I haven’t had a surround sound system 7 or 8 years. It’s more about having music throughout the house than movies/TV.
I will tell you this, as you know my wife is a gator. This weekend having all 18 speakers on full blast to listen to their pain and the gnashing of teeth was a thing of beauty. Every corner of the pad was in full glory. The only good part of this football season so far.
Everything finally made it's way to Hawaii yesterday. So far, I am very impressed with the system. I have a playbase under the TV and a Play 3 in the kitchen, which is all basically open to the den. Between the two speakers, they definitely fill the room with sound. I also got two Play 1's, one for my office, and one in our master bedroom. I'm also planning to get two more to put one in the dining room, and one to take outside when we eat on our lanai.
The system could not have possibly been easier to set up. I'm not even close to being a tech guy, and I even managed to get it right the first time. I'm looking forward to seeing how I can continue to make the system better down the road. Great buy!
The system could not have possibly been easier to set up. I'm not even close to being a tech guy, and I even managed to get it right the first time. I'm looking forward to seeing how I can continue to make the system better down the road. Great buy!
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