Anyone have experience with this? My friend has it and it looks really nice and easy, but is extremely pricey. I love the fact that it runs off your pc network, but i’m deciding if its worth pulling the trigger on Sonos or maybe something cheaper like a logitech system.
Get the Squeezebox instead. They’re really solid, they work well with just about any kind of environment in terms of servers, they integrate well with services like Rhapsody and internet radio, and they have a really slick Android (and presumably iOS) app for remote control.
Sonos just came out with a less expensive standalone player, the Play:3. I’m still looking at a cool $800+ to do all my rooms, so I don’t think i’m pulling the trigger.
They look interesting as a way to have a speaker in every room. That they’re essentially mono would make placement a lot easier.
But I worry that if there’s any delay between the individual units — caused by walls or something, I don’t know — your ears would be able to hear it, and it would bother you.
We have a Squeezebox downstairs and a Squeezebox boom in the bedroom. They rock, particularly if you have an iPhone to run their controller software. You could skip the Squeezebox Remote that I have nowadays if your phone has the software.
JMJ, I also read that if you put a pair together, they will transmit in stereo. They also adjust to the position they are placed in. I just wish they weren’t so expensive.
Denny, do you know if Squeezebox has an amplified unit that hooks up to external speakers? I’d want to wire it to a pair of outdoor speakers. Sonos has the 120, but it is $500.
I’m totally geeking on the Sonos. This won’t end well…
For real? Wow.
Not sure, Jag. I’m using the Squeezebox with a set of amplified speakers. (And old high-end PC 2.1 setup, actually.)
Love our Sonos. Super easy to install - press a button (but it comes with a 300 page manual to tell you to press a button). Works with all your services, can stream from networked drives, pandora, internet radio etc.
When I researched a few years ago the squeezebox was much more complicated to setup with fewer options available. Not sure now.
The ipad software for the sonos is awesome (iphone nice but the ipad layout is awesome).
Thread necro: anyone who is already invested in Apple devices can get a multi-room/multi-speaker playback from iTunes on Windows/Mac via AirPlay. I just got 6 room/speaker playback to Apple TV/AirPort Express/iHome iW2 AirPlay speaker and to a Pioneer VSX-822 receiver.
Arise!!!
So what’s the current feeling about Sonos. My wife has been thinking we need more music around our house. I did a little research and figured might start with one speaking in the living room and expand as needed. But I read something about requiring a “bridge” hooked up to your router. It that true? I thought the speaker just worked with your wireless network.
How’s the sound quality?
You used to need a bridge (or to plug straight into the router), but I’m pretty sure that you haven’t needed to, even on old hardware, for a year or two now.
Sound quality is very good (I’m no audiophile myself, but it reviews well, especially the three and five models).
The main downside with Sonos is that you can’t, generally speaking, just push things to it. You mostly have to use the Sonos app and hope that it works with the service you want, or access music from your library that way. For the most part, that’s OK, but it does make it fairly useless for, say, podcasts, because there’s no native service other than TuneIn. A handful of third party apps do let you push, including recently Spotify, and it seems like Sonos plans to move away from the centralised app, but I wouldn’t count on it.
No bridge required anymore, they operate over your existing wifi network now. You can still use a bridge if you desire or experience issues with your network.
Otherwise I quite like mine, other than the limitation Ginger lists. Sometimes I’d really like to push an audiobook from my phone to the Sonos as an audio target, but the functionality does not exist.
Yeah, for music, Sonos is wonderful. I just wish there was a way to push podcasts or audiobooks that I’ve started on my phone to them, so I could use the speakers at home and then pick up in my car.
Amazon Echo lets you do this because it can also work as a Bluetooth speaker. But it’s not in the same audio or ecosystem support realm as Sonos.
You can play podcasts, pretty easy on iOS if you want to use the Apple app. But, yeah, it’s kind of a pain otherwise.
https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/325/~/how-to-listen-to-podcasts-on-sonos
Unless it has dramatically improved, like Windows 3.1 to Windows 7 improved, the iOS Podcasts app is terrible.
“Terrible” seems a bit harsh. The iOS app is fine, it just lacks the bells and whistles. When I used it last, it synced, downloaded new episodes, and did everything it needs to, but it doesn’t have many features.
I really just wish Sonos supported Bluetooth, but that isn’t going to happen.
The move from Music to the app was what triggered me abandoning iTunes altogether for podcasts. It was atrocious. Slow, unstable, awful at handling subscriptions, stupid skuomorphism, obviously no cross-compatibility with non-Apple devices and lacking even the features that the old system had.
Not sure if you’ve spent the money on Sonos yet, and if you have its fine as they are good speakers, just pricey.
On the other hand Chromecast audio does the same thing for less in my opinion. Multi room sync, or multiple different streams to different rooms. Runs off USB power. Use your existing stereo, or any old powered speakers or stereo with an audio in, including computer speakers. Or get $100 speakers and a $60 amp and beat the quality and volume of the Sonos for a third the cost (may not look as nice).
Have a portable Bluetooth speaker? Use a portable USB battery (I have a 10000 mah for charging my phone), and hide the synced speaker somewhere clever such as in the guest washoom. People’s minds are blown, then you say the whole setup cost you $90.
Only minor drawback is that Spotify only streams to the audio if you’re a premium member.
Pulled the trigger on the Play One.
Thanks for the advice, Scott. I think Sonos will work well for what we’re looking for at the moment.