Sonos or other Wireless Speaker

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#2586148 16-Oct-2020 08:35

I have a Sono's one for my office with Google assistant. One thing that surprised me is the Google Assistant on the Sonos is inferior to the Google assistant on my Google Home device. I had assumed it would have the same functionality. The GA on the Sonos frequently fails to comprehend my verbal instructions.

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#2586151 16-Oct-2020 08:42

lxsw20:

A lot of these smaller speakers will sound horrid in a big space, so it doesn't surprise me if you're finding they all sound bad in a showroom. I've got the Apple Homepod. It sounds rubbish at work, but in my home office it sounds great, very impressive sound output / SQ for its size.

That's what I was wondering. A lot of these devices are designed to calibrate themselves to the acoustics of the room.

I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who actually owns a Sonos Move. It would be good to get some real world experience from someone who has used one for a period of time in a 'normal' listening environment.

I am more than happy to spend $750, but the sound quality needs to be good enough for music.

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#2586153 16-Oct-2020 08:47

I have Sonos and have been very happy with quality. They had a marketing disaster in the last 12 months when they suddenly announced they would no longer support older devices with updates, but have now offered a workable compromise which allows users like me who have both older and new Sonos speakers.

However, if I was in the market now, I'd probably opt for the MusicCast WXA Amplifier which opens up the options to choose a speaker of my choice with all the benefits of MusicCast and Bluetooth streaming.

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#2586173 16-Oct-2020 09:39

alasta:

lxsw20:

A lot of these smaller speakers will sound horrid in a big space, so it doesn't surprise me if you're finding they all sound bad in a showroom. I've got the Apple Homepod. It sounds rubbish at work, but in my home office it sounds great, very impressive sound output / SQ for its size.

That's what I was wondering. A lot of these devices are designed to calibrate themselves to the acoustics of the room.

I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who actually owns a Sonos Move. It would be good to get some real world experience from someone who has used one for a period of time in a 'normal' listening environment.

I am more than happy to spend $750, but the sound quality needs to be good enough for music.

Room calibration is never going to be able to properly compensate for a speaker simply being so far out of its comfort zone - and I totally agree auditioning a small speaker in a large space like a showroom is just asking for trouble. If the OP wants a realistic idea of what a speaker will sound like in a smaller space then perhaps they could ask to have a listen in an office or other similar space within the shop?

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#2586177 16-Oct-2020 09:45

dafman:

However, if I was in the market now, I'd probably opt for the MusicCast WXA Amplifier which opens up the options to choose a speaker of my choice with all the benefits of MusicCast and Bluetooth streaming.

Wow, cute and I'm sure it's a good performer but that's certainly not cheap at $849! But I'm totally in favour of such devices that provide 'smarts' to existing speakers or systems; I'm just thinking that I spent only about $300 on six Chromecast Audios that provide incredibly flexible distribution of music across most of our house using existing stereos or stand-alone speakers bought for the purpose.

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#2586242 16-Oct-2020 11:40

Most speakers are fastened for security reasons. The Sonos are all Wired in. There isn't an option.

Smaller stores perhaps, but the smaller stores aren't that big to start with, so the room was reasonably representitive.

I have decided I am going to have a crack with the Amazon Studio and see if the 3D audio and sound quality / loudness are acceptable as it's half the price of the alternative, the sound staging is quite frankly, jaw dropping and it covers our ongoing desire for an Alexa integrated device.

If it's rubbish, I'll sell it and buy the C5A or C10 I think. It's a bit of a pain, but if it works out, I'll have spent half what I would have otherwise needed to.

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alasta

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#2591570 25-Oct-2020 08:32

Yesterday I bought a Sonos Move and I thought I would share my observations for the benefit of anyone who may be reading this in the future.

As you would expect from Sonos the Move appears to have the sort of clinical sound signature that would be targeted at more mature buyers. The bass is delivered well without washing out vocals and overall the performance is what you would expect given the design compromises of a product of this type.

I have a Playbase which delivers an astounding amount of detail with instruments such as harmonicas, tambourines, cymbals, etc. which is probably due to its ten drivers with seperate amplifiers. The Move, with its two drivers and amplifiers, can't come close to the performance of the Playbase so I definitely wouldn't want to be using it as my main home audio system. However for background music at social gatherings it's perfectly adequate.

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#2591596 25-Oct-2020 10:21

Thanks for the update @alasta it's good it will meet your needs. I do wonder if I had tried the Move at home, if I would have formed a different opinion.

In the end I decided to try @freitasm recommendation of the Amazon Studio, and I also decided to try the Audio Pro C5A, but thanks to some terrible service by the supplier, it didn't arrive, so I now have the studio at home, and I am very happy with it! It works really well as a speaker, as a speaker for my TV and built in Alexa will come in handy as well and means I can move the Spot we had previously, into one of the kids rooms or something.

The Studio has enough volume for my room and the 3D audio is pretty impressive. Even my wife was totally surprised and she isn't one to care much for sound quality.

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#2591601 25-Oct-2020 10:26

I hope you used optical to connect to a TV (if not Fire TV). You can then say "Alexa volume up (or down)" to control volume without having to find the remote control (you can also say "Alexa set volume {1 - 10}")

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ashnizzle

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#2591609 25-Oct-2020 10:50

I bought the Beam but for some reason can't get Google Assistant to work? says not available in NZ?

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#2591621 25-Oct-2020 11:39

ashnizzle:

I bought the Beam but for some reason can't get Google Assistant to work? says not available in NZ?

Will Alexa suit your requirements? She lives in the Beam.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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#2591670 25-Oct-2020 14:53

freitasm: I hope you used optical to connect to a TV (if not Fire TV). You can then say "Alexa volume up (or down)" to control volume without having to find the remote control (you can also say "Alexa set volume {1 - 10}")

No I used the home theatre set up wirelessly. I have headphones connected via optical which is the only option for those specific ones. I can voice control my TV using the commands you suggested?

The only major downside of what I have found is, that if I ask Amazon to play music, it turns on my TV and if I turn off the TV, the sound stops. I need to work that out.

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#2591674 25-Oct-2020 15:50

Those commands will control the Amazon Echo Studio volume, either standalone or when connected to the TV.

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#2607672 20-Nov-2020 17:08

My Arc soundbar and sub arrived today. The setup was super simple to add to the existing One SL's in the lounge and turn those into rear speakers. Holy moly, this setup ROCKS. I have only tested a little bit with some Atmos scenes of Mandalorian and some Marvel movies, but far out it's amazing quality audio. Can't wait to play some Miles Morales on it tonight on the PS5 🤤

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#2607835 20-Nov-2020 20:04

Out of interest, does the Arc have drivers on the left and right sides of the soundbar? I have built in entertainment cabinetry at my place which means that any soundbar has to be placed in an enclosed space so anything with drivers angled at more than 45 degrees is a no-go.

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