Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsTruly amazing when used as part of a total Sonos solution for the house
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2014
My family remodeled our house 3 years ago. During the process, we decided that we wanted multi-room audio capability, so we pre-wired for speakers in our kitchen, back porch, dining room, office, and living room. Along the way I demoed multiple systems including Nuvo and Russound, and ultimately I decided on Sonos for a variety of reasons. I've now used the system literally daily now for 3 years, and I couldn't be happier with the purchase. My initial setup began with 4 CONNECT:AMP units and one CONNECT unit (it has since expanded). Some things to know about Sonos that I think aren't all that heavily appreciated by those that are new to the system:
1 - It is incredibly easy to setup. Like many Apple products, Sonos "just works" straight out of the box. There is no complex programming, no time consuming plugging/unplugging of wires, etc. Basically hook up power, plug in your speakers, push the two buttons on the front of the unit, and the AMP then wirelessly syncs to your system immediately. Upon connecting to your Sonos network, you are prompted to name your zone (there are stock names like bedroom or dining room or you can fully customize a zone name), and you are off to the races from there.
2 - It is easy for anyone to use. Sonos doesn't technically require a smartphone for operation, but having one is the easiest way to operate your system. The app for iOS devices and Android devices works great and gives you complete control over your zones, selecting music sources, volume, and even special per-room settings like EQ. My wife who is not interested in technology was able to use the system without any explanation on how it works, and even my 4-year old daughter knows how to operate it.
3 - It is expandable. As mentioned, we wired 5 rooms for multi-room audio initially. 5 rooms is a lot, but we have many more rooms in the house. The reason I wired "only" 5 rooms is because a) this stuff was/is not cheap, and frankly we couldn't afford the added expense of equipment for more rooms, and b) we thought we'd listen to music only in the rooms we wired for. Once you use Sonos, you will want the experience of it in all of your rooms. The good news is that Sonos was built for expansion. My system was initially setup for use as a centralized, multi-room solution, but Sonos actually built its reputation on its modular speaker line, first with the Play:3, then the Play:5, and now the Play:1. We wanted to expand our system by adding music in our master bathroom. I initially thought about having the bathroom wired up and adding a new CONNECT:AMP to the system, and then I realized that rather than waste the money necessary to do that, I should just try out one of the modular speakers. I bought an open-box PLAY:1 from Best Buy and gave it a shot. It is truly incredible. It not only seamlessly integrates with the rest of my Sonos system, but it also sounds fantastic and fully fills the space. Eventually we will add Play:3 units for our kids' bedrooms, and I am in the process of integrating a turntable into our system using the Line-In feature offered by the Connect unit so I can play records all around the house. While I wouldn't say that the possibilities are endless, I would say they are incredibly extensive, so know you can expand your system very easily in the future and build out units as your needs grow.
4 - The way we consume music is evolving, Sonos evolves with it. I grew up listening to records, then cassettes, then CD's, then purchased songs through iTunes, and now I stream almost all my music. One of the beauties of the Sonos infrastructure is the way in which it allows you to consume and access music. They've pretty much thought of it all. If your music resides on your computer through purchased music from iTunes, Sonos allows you to access that catalog and all your playlists. If you like to listen to local FM radio stations, they all are available on the Sonos system (as are national stations). If you like listening to internet radio (including things like Bloomberg Radio, Reggae, etc.), they are mostly all available. And perhaps most importantly in today's day and age, if you stream your music, all of the major streaming companies are on the system, including Spotify, Beats, Google Play Music, Songza, Pandora, Slacker, etc. In the three years that I've owned Sonos, they have been amongst the first companies to integrate new streaming services into their system. They listen to the requests of their customers and try to find ways to provide access to all channels of content.
This is an overly long review, but I hope helpful to those who are contemplating purchasing Sonos for the first time.
