Sonos Wireless Digital Music System Review

[Audioholics]

<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/SonosDigitalMusicSystemReview1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 94px" alt=[SonosDigitalMusicSystem] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/SonosDigitalMusicSystem_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>You've probably heard&nbsp;the name&nbsp;"Sonos" before; but&nbsp;you may not&nbsp;be aware of what exactly all the hype is about which surrounds the Sonos Digital Music System. We weren't entirely sure either, until we got our hands on one. With its wireless Sonos LCD Controller and clean lines, <EM>this</EM> is the streaming music system to beat in an industry that is flooded with streaming music servers of one form or another. The Sonos Digital Music System, in a nutshell, is one of the more progressive and user-friendly systems we've ever seen. <SPAN>The system sets up in 3 easy steps, and adding additional units takes a whopping two steps</SPAN> and the LCD Controller is something you'll want to "casually" leave on the dining room table when guests come over. Read on for more...</FONT></P><P><FONT face=Arial size=2>[Read the Review]</FONT></P>

 

[Cygnus]

Awesome review. Sounds like a good multiple zone system. If I wanted to, would I be able to hook it up to a receiver and play - through it - whatever plays through the receiver?

 

[Audioholics]

It has line inputs that can send to any of the zones, so you could route the 'record out' of the receiver and send that to any ZonePlayer you wanted. It's very cool.

 

[coach2win]

Any speaker recomendations

Looking to purchase the system but have no idea what speakers match up well with sonos any suggestions would be helpful
thanks

 

[Audioholics]

I would try to pair a clean pair of bookshelves with a sub. Unfortunately, Sonos tried to make their speakers a bit too well-rounded in the low-frequency area, and as a result they are a bit muddy and boomy for those who prefer a more flat response (but then again they only cost $179).

You could pick up a pair of these:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/m2i_main.html

and also check out this thread

And maybe add a subwoofer to get a really nice sounding system. The bottom line is try to get a pair of bookshelf speakers that don't try to play lower than they are able.

 

[nickandbrenda]

Great review - I'm totally psyched about what this product offers. The Controller is absolutely brilliant. But I'd like a little more flexibility. I keep thinking there must be a DIY alternative - all you need is a software package for your PDA, and speakers with a built-in amp and wireless capability right? (assuming you already have a wireless network). Almost like a squeezebox with minimal audio hardware (amp & speaker) attached.
Am I being thick here, or am I just in a niche the market hasn't filled yet?

 

[Audioholics]

I keep thinking there must be a DIY alternative - all you need is a software package for your PDA, and speakers with a built-in amp and wireless capability right?

Haha - good luck making it all work as tightly as the Sonos.

 

[nickandbrenda]

Yep

My thoughts exactly. But I'm not crazy. A little more research and I found NetStreams out of the UK (no, Texas - Imerge out of the UK has PDA software for Netstreams systems) - they've done exactly what I'm talking about with an Ethernet network - check out the SpeakerLinx product - all they need to do is expand this to a wireless application. They already have the software applications for PDA control of system.
As usual, I am failing to be an early-adopter, because I'm looking ahead to the next development. Explains why my house is practically devoid of A/V equipment (except for the PC, which is easily and cheaply upgradeable).
Thanks for the response. Keep up the great reviews - I'll be watching for your first reviews of more 'open-architecture' wireless streaming audio!

 

[denveraudio]

Sonos v. Musiccast v. Wired

Great Review. You also appeared to love the Musiccast.

Just purchased my first home and want multi-room music. It is a small, old house with plaster walls (plaster = pain to work with). Not too afraid of in-ceiling speakers and running wiring, but the less I have to impact the plaster the better. Tradeoff of course is in a small house, sunken speakers are "cleaner" and take up less space.

I currently have NO music in MP3 form or otherwise on a harddrive. I do have a computer that I could dedicate to music. Obviously, unless I go the traditional wired route, I'm going to be making the leap to electronic storage. I have about 400 CDs.

Questions: anything you care to say about comparing Musiccast to Sonos to wired (such as Russound A-BUS) in terms of:

- Controls
- fidelity
- ability to drive speakers with the client vs. the zone player vs. amplified russound keypads
- cost
- simplicity
- expandability

Thanks: I know these are enough questions for another article. My main concerns after reviewing and comparing:

- Musiccast: The yamaha clients seem the most limited in their ability to drive speakers. Also, not sure what it would mean for installation if I chose in-ceiling speakers.

- Sonos:given 2x50w and 8ohm nature of the zoneplayer, my "zones" would seem to be limited to 2 speakers. In other words, even if the dining and living room are the same "listening zone", if I needed 4 speakers to fill those spaces with sound (2 in each room), I'd need two zone players. No problem there except for cost. If I went with in-celing, could I put the zone players in the attic? (gets pretty hot up there)

- Wired: seems cheapest (maybe?), simplest. Most installation work. least control in terms of source. Also, couldn't do different sources to different rooms/zones, but don't care about that as much. Its not a very big house.


THANK YOU very much for any guidance.

Michael

 

[BMXTRIX]

I think the Sonos is a great product - and definitely a step in the right direction. I personally think that it is in desperate need of IR and RS-232 control. Especially 232 so it can be integrated into higher end control systems to allow for things like XM & any other A/V source to be a part of the music serving that is offers up.

I've had an iMerge S1000 for a few years and I love it, but dedicated music servers just end up running out of room or are just way to expensive for what amounts to a hard drive, operating system, and some program to run it all. Then an upgraded hard drive (say from 120GB to 200GB) costs an extra $800.00... That makes NO sense at all.

 

[yiv]

<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/SonosDigitalMusicSystemReview1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 94px" alt=[SonosDigitalMusicSystem] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/SonosDigitalMusicSystem_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>You've probably heard&nbsp;the name&nbsp;"Sonos" before; but&nbsp;you may not&nbsp;be aware of what exactly all the hype is about which surrounds the Sonos Digital Music System. We weren't entirely sure either, until we got our hands on one. With its wireless Sonos LCD Controller and clean lines, <EM>this</EM> is the streaming music system to beat in an industry that is flooded with streaming music servers of one form or another. The Sonos Digital Music System, in a nutshell, is one of the more progressive and user-friendly systems we've ever seen. <SPAN>The system sets up in 3 easy steps, and adding additional units takes a whopping two steps</SPAN> and the LCD Controller is something you'll want to "casually" leave on the dining room table when guests come over. Read on for more...</FONT></P><P><FONT face=Arial size=2>[Read the Review]</FONT></P>

Just like Denveraudio above, I would be very interested in the comparison between Yamaha Music Cast and Sonos and the question asked by Denveraudio, including - but not limited to - the question about whether it is possible to place the Sonos Zoneplayer in the attic.

 

[Audioholics]

Well I've personally reviewed both here... They are very different devices with somewhat different features and target uses.

Gene is reviewing the new MusicCAST system that allows interfacing to a PC (a major missing feature in the original). That will be a more apropriate comparison products to the Sonos - but to be honest it's really apples to oranges.

If you want sexy and sleek, go with the Sonos. If you need touch panels, RS-232C, S/PDIF, XM/FM, and a computer-less approach your grandpa could use, then the Yamaha may be for you.