Sonos Speakers

[bruceb58]

Anyone have these wireless Sonos speakers?

I heard Leo Laporte talk about them on his radio show today. They sound pretty like they are pretty awesome...and pricey!

They basically are able to play music through your wireless internet.

Amazon.com: Sonos: Electronics

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Nice but call me cheap........ I would rather spend less (saving more for my wallet) and go the "old fashioned" way and use wires.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Nice but call me cheap........ I would rather spend less (saving more for my wallet) and go the "old fashioned" way and use wires.

Sometimes its not an option.

 

[jkust]

Re: Sonos Speakers

I'm a bit anti wireless speaker just because of the limitations with the equipment up to now. If you don't have a choice, Sonos is a widely regarded home audio control equipment. All of their stuff is expensive but it is a small niche market. I got into whole house audio in May when I installed a full home audio system plus a main room 5.1. Running wires and Cat5E and a bunch more kinds of wires in my current house to every room was a monumental chore. It took about 2 months of every spare minute to complete. My wife pretty much ran out of patience and so left a couple rooms untouched. Just understand if you happen to ever consider anything BOSE...Bose is like a 1984 Bayliner marketed to people not in the know as something that it isn't. It is some of the lowest quality, least features, beyond overpriced stuff available with a great marketing machine. You would be amazed what a fish tape and some patience can accomplish.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Sonos Speakers

I'm a bit anti wireless speaker just because of the limitations with the equipment up to now. If you don't have a choice, Sonos is a widely regarded home audio control equipment. All of their stuff is expensive but it is a small niche market. I got into whole house audio in May when I installed a full home audio system plus a main room 5.1. Running wires and Cat5E and a bunch more kinds of wires in my current house to every room was a monumental chore. It took about 2 months of every spare minute to complete. My wife pretty much ran out of patience and so left a couple rooms untouched. Just understand if you happen to ever consider anything BOSE...Bose is like a 1984 Bayliner marketed to people not in the know as something that it isn't. It is some of the lowest quality, least features, beyond overpriced stuff available with a great marketing machine. You would be amazed what a fish tape and some patience can accomplish.

True that BOSE is way overpriced but they do put out a product that sounds good. Any audiophile knows you can get a way better sounding system for less but as you stated BOSE is for those who don't know any better.

My wife just baught a SONY egg type blutooth speaker about twice the diameter of a golf ball. I have to admit that for it's tiny size it sounds incredible. I'd want to hear the sonos speakers before I would even consider buying them.

 

[jkust]

Re: Sonos Speakers

True that BOSE is way overpriced but they do put out a product that sounds good. Any audiophile knows you can get a way better sounding system for less but as you stated BOSE is for those who don't know any better.

My wife just baught a SONY egg type blutooth speaker about twice the diameter of a golf ball. I have to admit that for it's tiny size it sounds incredible. I'd want to hear the sonos speakers before I would even consider buying them.

Yeah when the formal testers put Bose up against pretty much anything else, Bose is at or near the bottom and of course is simply inexcusably expensive. They've figured out the sound that impresses the masses but is sub standard to folks who have even a small amount of experience....Bayliner sound but at a Formula price. It's not Ford vs Chevy, it car versus horse.


As for the wireless situation and your home internet. My whole house audio system is controlled through my wifi on all of my tablets and cell phones. It's all app driven now and still in the phase where people are impressed when they see it in operation (of course you still need volume controls in each room as a start). It will be mainstream Walmart type stuff available soon I'm sure. I actually ran all the CAT5E for future proofing since I was already going through the hassle. I hate wires and am crazy about making sure everything wire related from my undercabinet lighting to my TV cables to all of my speakers are completely hidden. Of course all the smart TV's are controlled through wifi as well and many have a smart phone or tablet app too.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sonos Speakers

True, I would never buy a Bose product. When I worked for GM, we could get Bose for massive discounts because the two companies had a partnership and I still wouldn't get them.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sonos Speakers

What is nice about the Sonos speakers is that you can bring them out in the yard when you want to use them and put them somewhere else when you aren't. You can move then around all over. That's why they are nice.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Sonos Speakers

You know the saying.. No highs, no lows, it must be Bose..

 

[jkust]

Re: Sonos Speakers

What is nice about the Sonos speakers is that you can bring them out in the yard when you want to use them and put them somewhere else when you aren't. You can move then around all over. That's why they are nice.

Yeah I could see that being a nice feature. There are other brands not quite at SONOS level out there. Sonos is pretty serious stuff in their little niche and I was actually super surprised to see their wireless speaker commercial a couple weeks back as it is more mainstream than I would expect. I'll give you a little tip if you need to buy any cords or installation equipment or modules, etc. The website Monoprice.com is a diy dream for saving money. I probably cut the cost of my installation by 75% or more using monoprice cords and even some of the inwall and in ceiling speakers. They make their own stuff or at least brand their own stuff and it is literally 25% the cost of the same thing at a Best Buy or retail store assuming they even carry it. Newegg is also a great source for any components since they have some amazing sales where prices on really good stuff are drastically cut for a week or days or until they sell out. You can sign up for the Newegg email blasts where they announce their sales. I got some stuff from Amazon too. I took a few months to gather all of my equipment on sale then a couple months to install and run wires so you can't see any components because of IR repeaters that send the IR signals through the walls to the components.

You know the saying.. No highs, no lows, it must be Bose..

And the funny thing is it isn't a joke. The testers have to tear the Bose speakers apart because they don't have removable speaker grills and they don't even have tweeters....no Tweeters wtf? They even hide their substandard build by ensuring you can't even see what they are made of. Both of my GM SUV's have BOSE and I just don't understand what the "upgrade" with Bose is supposed to be. The sound worse than any rental car.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sonos Speakers

I am not running wires so that is not an option.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Just understand if you happen to ever consider anything BOSE...Bose is like a 1984 Bayliner marketed to people not in the know as something that it isn't.

Hum... so my Bose 901 are Bayliner quality junk?

You know the saying.. No highs, no lows, it must be Bose..

You forgot the rest.....

?No highs, no lows, it must be Bose.? And so the story goes in the wubbulous world of high-end audio. Other than using a green sharpie to get better CD sound, or that guy that calls you on the phone and osmotically makes your system sound better, no greater myth exists in audio today than that of the Bose 901 speakers. Much like Bigfoot, have you even seen a pair of Bose 901 speakers or, better yet, heard them?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Guess my Sonos discussion is now about Bose and wiring which isn't exactly helping me.

 

[jkust]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Hum... so my Bose 901 are Bayliner quality junk?

No comment on the Bose other than to say the used market cures a lot of pricing ills. For the right price and adjusted expectations, anything is possible.

As to this being a Sonos thread...I say go for it. I don't know that you are going to get any first hand info for that set up given the newness of it. Expand a bit on your build conditions. Are you in an apartment, cement walls etc?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Wood frame construction on both of my houses. One house is 3000 sq ft and the other is 2600 sq ft. WiFi receptopn is not an issue. In the 3000 sq ft house I have a wireless modem as well as a wifi repeater.

I was looking for peoples experience with them. They have been around for 3 years so I wouldn't exactly call that new.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Sonos Speakers

B Buy
O other
S Stereo
E Equipment

 

[agallant80]

Re: Sonos Speakers

Ok so you want to know about Sonos. Well my brother in law and sister who spend money like its going out of style have one in almost each room of their house. They sound great, work real simple and they have never had an issue with them. I would say that if you can afford it and want something that just works out of the box go for it. You won't regret it.

If you are really in to audio then there are better solutions out there for the money but you will be trading the "it just works out of the box" factor in return for better audio.

If you don't really want loud music and just something simple to use check out the Beets Pill, its way cheaper and sounds great.

 

[cjjjdeck]

Re: Sonos Speakers

I just happened to have a local store go through a Sonos demonstration for me a couple of days ago. I've been servicing the commercial and residential AV market for many years and I must say I was very impressed with the sound and convenience of the system. I was especially impressed with their sub woofer design. We put a Christmas ball on top of the sub while it sat on a built in shelf in the store and it didn't budge with the system cranked up. It was very cool the way the system is controlled over any mobile device. If you're not up to the fishin' wires challenge, this is a great alternative.

Bose Special note (apologizes, Bruce): AV Professionals refer to them as "Blowz"

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Sonos Speakers

You know the saying.. No highs, no lows, it must be Bose..

Depends on which model of Bose you have Roger, I can rattle the windows and break glass with my 901's. One of the biggest problems with the better quality Bose is most people don't run them with enough good clean power, you can't hook them up to cheap amplifiers, they are very power hungry and need clean power. I run my 901 series speakers with 2 Carver 500 watt mono-blocks and a Carver Pre-amp. They have deep tight base and nice clean highs.

As far as the Sonos, they are a great system and if you use them the way and what they are designed for, you are not going to be unhappy, they will do just about everything anybody will need.

I got lucky the other day and ran into a set of Amps that I have lusted for since I was in my 20's and picked them up, talk about great sounding, I got two Mark Levinson 532h amps, for a deal I could not pass up, now my wife says, I have purchased my next 20 years worth of Christmas presents in one fail swoop!

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Sonos Speakers

No experience with the Sonos products...we bought a Brookstone wireless water-proof speaker that works excellent at the lake/beach. We keep the transponder (standard 1.5mm jacks) inside the camper and take the speaker to the beach...with batteries we can run for about 24 hours straight up to about ~125' away. The ipod, iPhone or whatever device you use can be hooked-up directly as well. They are great for what they are...relatively cheap too, we paid $169 about 4 years ago, I see they're about $129 now.

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