Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsSonos Sub Rocks!
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016
I guess I SHOULD have given Sonos Sub only four stars because of the ridiculous price they charge for this thing!
That aside, I'm extremely pleased with the SSub's sound quality, control software and overall functionality.
(There's a bunch of info contained here in, from my other Sono's purchases.)
THE SUB
The $700 sub unpacks from a fancy $25 box which you will keep for the rest of your life. LOL
The Sonos Sub sets up and begins thumping in a couple of minutes after running a simple pairing software, which you probably have running on your PC/Tablet/Phone assuming you are adding the Sonos Sub to your existing system. That said, IT'S EASY to set up.
Just plug it in to an AC outlet. Run the software. Should take about 5 minutes. You'll need to choose which other Sonos speakers you'll be pairing the sub with!
The Sub looks high tech with it's basic black finish, smooth lines and rounded corners. I'm running the sub paired to a set of Play:5 speakers to play music in my 26'x26' kitchen/LR/DR open floor plan. It's half carpeted. The sub delivers (what I think is) clear, crisp bass tones, mega deep, mega loud. In my experience, 50% power setting was more than enough for all but my classical music(50% cranks your rock, jazz, fusion). At higher levels pictures rattle and glass winces. ; ) I also read this prior to purchasing the sub, but it's TRUE.
Is the Sonos Sub "worth" $700? That's up to you. I'm saying the sub sets up easy. The sub cranks. I'm glad I have mine and would buy it again.
...COPIED FROM MY PLAY1 AND PLAY5 WRITEUPS:
The Sonos products do what no other product does(AFAIK). They allow you to play music thru-out your living space wirelessly.
Further, you can select speakers(other Sonos products) to play different tracks simultaneously.
You can choose songs from your music library to form a cue.
You can adjust EQ.
You can adjust volume or mute, pause/continue, cue fwd/rev, etc
You can do all this from your PC, tablet or smart phone. How do you top this?
SEVERAL people can perform all these functions SIMULTANEOUSLY. (which gets interesting when your child is home from college LOL)
If you ask me, it's a miracle! "Ah but, setup must be difficult!", you say.
Nope, setup was a snap. Once unpackaged and plugged in, I downloaded the software and configured the speakers in less than 30 minutes. REALLY! The software is simple and intuitive.
Cons:
Price
I wish they had a better equalizer program. The current one has a basic treble/bass slide bar.
I wish they had outdoor speakers. I wish they had wireless headphones.
Note:
All the Sonos products require AC electric source(plugged in). Remember, they're wireless, NOT battery operated . . . a good thing.
My experience: (Play:1 content 2 paragraphs down)
My highest priority was to be able to play music off my PC located in the 26'x26' kitchen/LR/DR open floor plan, over a set of decent quality speakers. The thought of integrating the whole house seemed wonderful, albeit unattainable. We listen to a variety of music, but mostly rock, jazz and jazz fusion. Occasionally, we like to blast it. How loud? "loud enough to NOT hear myself sing" LOL. I wanted to "hit it out of the park", so I wound up buying 2 Play:5s and Sonos Sub.
First, I set up the Play:5s to see if/how they would work. They immediately reminded me of Apple products with they're ridiculous gratuitous packaging. I mean the boxes alone must cost $25! LOL
As I said, the setup was a snap. I downloaded the app from the Sonos site*. It loaded quickly and I was on my way. Setup** was a couple of screens similar to pairing blue tooth stuff. What did take a while(***and there's a serious issue! see below.), was importing my 10K track music library.
As for sound quality, I'd rate the Play:5 speakers as "very good", to "excellent". If one considers the size of the format, ease of setup and they are wireless, I'd say "excellent"! I paired the speakers as stereo and listened to flawless music stream for about an hour. The bass response was so good, I almost didn't open the sub. I'm glad I did! While a huge expense for a seemingly frivolous component, the Sonos Sub is amazing! It definitely adds another dimension to the system.
Several days later, I bought the Sonos starter set (2 Play:1s). I put one in the 12'x18' bedroom and one in the 24'x30' garage. Admittedly, these speakers do not deliver the sound quality of the 5's, but when you consider the size of the format and functionality, they absolutely rock!
Describing things like sound quality is tricky at best. Here's what I'd say based on my listening experience; When you listen to the Play:1s, you will be amazed at the volume and clarity of music that emanates from this tiny package. I was blasting Led Zep in my garage via only 1 speaker and it was surprisingly loud, and with little or no distortion. On the other hand, if you expect "high fidelity", I'd go for the Play:5. It's the best Sonos has to offer.
I'm saving my $ for more Sonos products!
------------NOTES----------------------------------------------
*I downloaded the app from Sonos. There's another app on the google app site which is rated rather low. I don't know if they are the same.
**You need ethernet (hard wire) connection for the first Sonos product you install. Later, you can move remove the wire or move the speaker wherever you like.
***my ITunes PLAY LISTS did NOT import. The library is all there and the playlists titles are there, but the data within the playlists is erroneous and does not play. I'm on Sono's site attempting to fix this. WARNING, there appears to be NO real FIX at this time.
UPDATE: I found an esoteric file "fix". It will work short term. FLASH! I was contacted by Sonos support regarding this post. I'll update.
