Sonos... Do you have one? Thoughts?

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Disrespective

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#177711 12-Aug-2015 10:09

I'm starting to invest in some gear for the house and like the idea of the Sonos systems.

I picked up a Zone Player 90 (yet to arrive from Trademe) so I can give some smarts to an older AV receiver but I am thinking a little Play 1 might also be good for the kitchen (so the big stereo doesn't need to be used for basic radio duties).

I think it would be nice to use it with OpenHAB to do some basic automation control such as turn it on and play the morning news radio if a multisensor shows movement in the kitchen after 6am.

Can anyone comment on their real world experience with a Play 1, or maybe Play 3, speaker?

Also, are they ever on sale? It seems like it's rarer than seeing Apple products on sale...

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239 posts

Master Geek

#1363495 12-Aug-2015 10:26

We have 2 Play 1 and they get a lot of use. We also pair them so that we get the same music upstairs and downstairs.

I have seen very few Sonos specials in NZ which is a shame because they do nice specials in Europe

Worth the money? Most definitely!The only thing I don't like is the incomplete Spotify integration, Sonos does not support the Spotify radio functionality

davidcole

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#1363520 12-Aug-2015 11:04

I started looking at it to replace some inbuilt speakers (3 sets) - but it ended up getting way too expensive to replace regular passive speakers driven by a single wire, to a play 3 or 5, or mulitple connect amps....especially since it didn't have FM at the very least.

I ended up skipping it, and using my old 6.1 surround system to power the existing system and adding a raspberry pi with volumio for streaming spotify/nas/internet radio (iheart).

While not an flexible for app control, or varied multizone audio it worked in my situation + SO much cheaper.

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CYaBro

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#1363596 12-Aug-2015 12:14

I have setup a few Sonos systems in the past, used to be a dealer for them up here in Whangarei, but we don't do the home audio/automation stuff anymore.
I still have a Play:5 at home and it gets used every day, and will look at adding a Connect:Amp when I get around to installing some in-ceiling speakers in the living area.
Also want to get a couple of Play:1s to use in the bedrooms and also to pair together (left & right stereo) for extra music when we have a party. :)

The systems that we installed never had any issues except the Sonos controllers but they don't do those anymore since touchscreen devices are everywhere now.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

dafman

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#1363608 12-Aug-2015 12:51

I've got two Play 1's in the bedroom (configured for stereo), plus two Play 3's and Play 5 distributed throughout the house.

Originally purchased to link to mp3 library on Synology NAS, but tend to now use streaming - Radio Paradise, Pandora and Google Play music. Sonos app has recently updated for improved Google Play functionality, so I tend to bypass the NAS library and stream my Google Play library.

Speaker hardware is very good quality - none of the Plays are going to shake down the walls with volume, but sound quality is very good and more than adequate for home listening.

Can't rate Sonos functionality highly enough. The ability to pick up your phone and instantly configure listening all around your house is great. Sonos have recently pushed through quite a few app updates and current UI is really great.

Yes, they are expensive, but we gradually built up our Plays over time, so ok from affordability.

jnimmo

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#1363611 12-Aug-2015 12:57

Lostja: We have 2 Play 1 and they get a lot of use. We also pair them so that we get the same music upstairs and downstairs.

I have seen very few Sonos specials in NZ which is a shame because they do nice specials in Europe

Worth the money? Most definitely!The only thing I don't like is the incomplete Spotify integration, Sonos does not support the Spotify radio functionality

The latest or next version (can't remember if it has been released yet) does Spotify Radio, not immediately obvious where to find it, but if it isn't there yet it will be soon :)

davidcole

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#1363627 12-Aug-2015 13:25

CYaBro:The systems that we installed never had any issues except the Sonos controllers but they don't do those anymore since touchscreen devices are everywhere now.

This was one of the bits I didn't like about sonos. Not way of controlling it without a phone/tablet. Meaning Id have to buy a cheap tablet to wall mount to control it since my phone and tablet are always with me.

Seems odd there were no on device, or separate controller available.

Disrespective

1925 posts

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#1363661 12-Aug-2015 13:47

Yeah I can’t imagine ever investing in a full house or replacement 5.1 system. I’ll still retain the 5.1 multi room system I have, I just want to be able to stream web radio/spotify/iTunes to the existing system at times. We currently have an old 16GB iPhone 4 plugged into the amp’s aux but it’s so slow that Spotify is next to worthless...

I see the Play 1 as a separate component that in essence behaves like a bench top radio but happens to also have the ability to sync to the Connect/ZP90 on the amp to bring the music into the kitchen easily.

What I don’t know about is the interface. Although it sounds like it’s going to be fine from what you’ve all said. My partner will be the one using it for music in the kitchen area primarily so it will need to pass her test. She was wanting a Tivoli Model 1 but at $350 and “only” a radio I’m trying to lean her towards something more versatile.

I guess it’s now a case of waiting for one to come up on Trademe, or bite the bullet and head to a brick and mortar.

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davidcole

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#1363667 12-Aug-2015 13:55

Disrespective: Yeah I can’t imagine ever investing in a full house or replacement 5.1 system. I’ll still retain the 5.1 multi room system I have, I just want to be able to stream web radio/spotify/iTunes to the existing system at times. We currently have an old 16GB iPhone 4 plugged into the amp’s aux but it’s so slow that Spotify is next to worthless...

I see the Play 1 as a separate component that in essence behaves like a bench top radio but happens to also have the ability to sync to the Connect/ZP90 on the amp to bring the music into the kitchen easily.

What I don’t know about is the interface. Although it sounds like it’s going to be fine from what you’ve all said. My partner will be the one using it for music in the kitchen area primarily so it will need to pass her test. She was wanting a Tivoli Model 1 but at $350 and “only” a radio I’m trying to lean her towards something more versatile.

I guess it’s now a case of waiting for one to come up on Trademe, or bite the bullet and head to a brick and mortar.

If you want a pretty quick and easy add on to your existing 5.1 system to tide you over. Look at volumio. A raspberry PI project with Spotify built in, and airplay. Plug it in to your existing amp to add streaming capability.

dafman

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#1364748 12-Aug-2015 16:36

Disrespective: Yeah I can’t imagine ever investing in a full house or replacement 5.1 system. I’ll still retain the 5.1 multi room system I have, I just want to be able to stream web radio/spotify/iTunes to the existing system at times. We currently have an old 16GB iPhone 4 plugged into the amp’s aux but it’s so slow that Spotify is next to worthless...

I see the Play 1 as a separate component that in essence behaves like a bench top radio but happens to also have the ability to sync to the Connect/ZP90 on the amp to bring the music into the kitchen easily.

What I don’t know about is the interface. Although it sounds like it’s going to be fine from what you’ve all said. My partner will be the one using it for music in the kitchen area primarily so it will need to pass her test. She was wanting a Tivoli Model 1 but at $350 and “only” a radio I’m trying to lean her towards something more versatile.

I guess it’s now a case of waiting for one to come up on Trademe, or bite the bullet and head to a brick and mortar.

An additional benefit of Sonos Play 1 over Tivoli is that you can keep adding to it. Buy one now and in a year or so, you can add another, and another, and another .... you can literally finish up wandering around the house with the radio following you room to room.

afe66

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#1365039 12-Aug-2015 21:51

I've 2 play 5s and a play one in the bathroom.
Streams my flac CD collection from synology seamlessly.

Use it every day to listen to radio over breakfast in morning and music (nas and Spotify)

No regrets at all.

Disrespective

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#1370244 19-Aug-2015 13:26

So I snagged a Zoneplayer 90 (Connect as it is now known) off trademe, and a Play:1 from a brick and mortar.

So far they're really good. I like the ability to group the players so they play in-sync.

The Play:1 does put out a heck of a lot of sound. I think my preferred volume level must be a tenth of the top end.

I can confidently say i'm not a huge fan of the app but I suppose it's not all that bad. It gets the job done but has plenty of little niggles I don't like.

My biggest gripe would be the lack of TuneIn Pro support but I think that must have something to do with Sonos' limited stream type support and TuneIn having a lot of stations available to Sonos can't play.

richms

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#1370258 19-Aug-2015 13:55

I briefly tried the zoneplayer, but it had issues with the number of tracks I have on my computer, and connecting to it. I just gave up and set a PC up to play music on. foobar2000 has no problems scanning my multiple TB's of music.

Richard rich.ms

Disrespective

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#1370322 19-Aug-2015 15:10

Yeah, my music library is somewhere in the 200GB of mp3 region, and now i'm culling that down to selected flac albums from specific artists so I have no trouble with the size of my library. The majority of my music listening is through streaming services these days.

CYaBro

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#1370372 19-Aug-2015 16:31

Yea that's probably my one issue with Sonos, the latest version of their app.
Since they changed to the orange style it hasn't been as nice to use as the old blue style app.
They do however update it pretty regularly so it is getting better.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

dafman

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#1370680 20-Aug-2015 08:56

CYaBro: Yea that's probably my one issue with Sonos, the latest version of their app.
Since they changed to the orange style it hasn't been as nice to use as the old blue style app.
They do however update it pretty regularly so it is getting better.

I think each app refresh improves on the previous, I much prefer the orange over previous. As with all UI, YMMV.

Since installing Sonos a year or so back, our household music listening has increased tenfold. Previously, we had a large bookcase stacked with CDs, but we rarely listened to these regularly. Now we constantly swap between streamed stations and our music library on Google Play, and have music playing constantly throughout the house. Can't rate Sonos accessibility high enough.

All the CDs are under the house in boxes. I can't quite bring myself to dispose of them yet, but know the day is not too far off.

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