My Sonos story (Love Sonos)


Userlevel 6
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My Sonos Story;I have a wife and two young boys and no sound system of any kind in the house other than the TVs (big TV).  All in the course of one week each boy wanted a stereo system in their rooms and the wife wanted speakers out by the pool and a sound system in the house, I wanted a surround sound system for that big TV.  I live in Florida with no basement and no attic so running and hiding wires is a mess.  I also live in an Apple house, if Apple makes it I have a least three of them and what ever I get for a sound system must work with Apple.  So I was at looking a three different systems and a whole bunch of wire and money.

So I began asking all my friends what they have and only one of them had a Sonos system.  After doing some more research I purchased two Play 3 speakers and a Bridge.  Right off the bat I had problems with the system dropping out.  I contacted Sonos and they told me to move the Bridge as it was having troubles with my router.  That was because I had it sitting on top of the router (not to smart) I moved it a few feet away and now I have a rock solid awesome system.

Like many folks here I have drank the tea and will never have anything else in my house for sound that is not made by Sonos.  I now have:

2 x Play 1
2 X Play 3

2 X Play 5

PlayBar and a Sonos bass

I have plans on buying more speakers and another Play Bar soon

I no longer have a bridge in my system as I have one of the play 5s plugged in to the router.

When you first enter this site you may think that Sonos has a lot of problems with their gear.  But if you buy a Rolls Royce to go camping with the family in Yellow Stone you my friend have chosen badly.  Same goes with Sonos, if you do not understand what it does and does not do you may not be happy with it. 

Sonos does all the things my family wanted and a whole lot more.  Take the PlayBar for example there are two features that a first glance may not seem like much but are huge.  One is speech enhancement, not sure how it works but it brings up the speech levels without bringing up any other sounds.  My parents purchased a Play Bar just for this reason and love it and only watch TV with it.  The other is the night feature so if I am watching a movie and a machine gun goes off Sonos will turn it down so I do not wake the whole house but still make it so I can hear the rest.

Now when a friend comes over I can tell them to get on my Wi-Fi and down load the Sonos app (free).  Once they have done that they can now play their music from their device through my whole house wireless and easily.  Be carful here has my friends like to pull up in the drive way and mess with my sound system just to drive me crazy, but I am sure you have better friends than I do.  

Let say you have a great set of speakers that you want to move to another room.  With a Sonos Connect Amp you can move the speakers anywhere in the house and the Connect Amp will drive them.  Yes, you will have wires to the speakers from the Connect Amp but the rest is wireless. 

We now have more remotes than I can count as each Apple products can control the whole system.  The remote for that big TV controls the Play Bar music levels even when the TV is off.  If the boys have their music to loud (most of the time) I can grab any Apple gadget and turn just their speakers down.  (They now know that they are not allowed to turn it back up)

 The wife hates tech and a first did not want Sonos in the house, as she was sure that it would be too hard to use.  Now she is buying Sonos speakers as gifts for her friends and is sure we have saved money by buying Sonos.  Had I not gone with Sonos I am sure I would have spent a lot more money and not be as happy as I am now.

All I can tell you is once you have Sonos you will wonder why you did not get it sooner.

 

 

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35 replies

Userlevel 6
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One of my less tetchy relatives said exactly what your wife did when we bought our Play:5 in 2011 (then known as an S5), but now she finds it pretty easy to use (that's not to say she actually uses it though)

I just thought I'd rattle off my Sonos setup:

Living Room - Playbar + 2xPlay:1s + SUB.
Stereo - Linked with Connect and to be relocated to a new zone.
Kitchen - Two Connect:amps, wired to 2 ceiling speakers each.
Garden - Wall mounted waterproof speakers linked to a Connect:Amp.
My bedroom - Play:5

😉 Josh
Userlevel 5
Badge +4
May as-well add my system here too! :)
Bedroom - 2x PLAY:1's + CONNECT:AMP + SUB.
Living Room - PLAYBAR + CONNECT:AMP + SUB.
Kitchen - PLAY:5

I use the two PLAY:1's in a Stereo Pair with the SUB assigned to them and I use the CONNECT:AMP as a kind of left and right rear speaker setup. I have the PLAY:1 pair grouped with the CONNECT:AMP. When I have music playing it gives me a really nice surrounding sound. - I also use the CONNECT:AMP to allow me to input my TV audio to my system so I can have my PLAY:1's playing the audio from a TV Show, Movie, or Game. It sounds great!

I use the PLAYBAR as it is meant to be, in a full 5.1 setup with left and right rears as well as a SUB. I receive a full Dolby Digital 5.1 signal and I must say, it's very impressive! - Occasionally I add the two SUB's together in the Living Room and damn do they have a ton of power. Even at the lowest volumes every seat in the room is vibrating, sometimes it literally feels like you're being hit with waves of sound, haha!

For the PLAY:5, I just use it for ambient music. That thing get's moved around all the time, it's the only player in the house free to go anywhere without having to be un-bonded from a pair.

I just love how easy the system is to use and I absolutely love the hardware. SUB is by far my favourite. The design really fascinates me and I don't know of any other subwoofer with a similar design. Sometimes I find myself just watching the drivers do their thing. The two driver design to me is a one of a kind and I still wonder just how the SONOS engineers came up with such a design. I've been tempted at times to open the thing up and see how beautifully designed the inside of it is but it's very expansive and it looks way too delicate to risk wrecking so I don't think I'll ever do that, haha! - I also like the networked aspect of SONOS, just having an Ethernet port on a speaker which can allow me to plug any of my devices in is fantastic. It's something that really makes every one of these speakers such a versatile product. - Then the aspect of them all having a little computer inside them is also a wonder. I like that I can check the temperature's of all my speakers and monitor connected controllers and plenty of other things. It gives you a little insight into just what goes on inside these things. There's so many other things I love about this system and brand.

Everyone I show or talk about SONOS to has fallen in-love. People have gotten hooked just from hearing my system. It's such a rare thing to find a company who is so passionate about what they are putting into the consumers hands. The fact that those same people who make the stuff are the ones who use it and love it is great. That they all love music and sound and audio as much as we all do. You can tell they have talented and passionate staff just simply by looking at the boxes that their product are packaged in. If the packaging goes through the same fine detail and perfection as the product then you know you can feel confident about your purchases. I have never had a single regret buying anything SONOS which is rare because I always question if it was a good decision with anything I purchase but when I buy something SONOS I know before I even try it that it'll be good.

I actually want to say thank you to all the employees at SONOS who work hard on their mission to fill every home with music and make listening a valued experience. A few years ago I didn't even know what SONOS was and then I walked into a store and saw this stand-out display showing the whole system. I searched for one of my favourite tracks. Pressed play and from there I was blown away. I had never heard music like that before. That easy. That simple. That defined. So for me they have done their job and I'm sure that applies to many others too. I thank you all for the time you put into the products and the fine attention to detail in everything you do. Your success is only a factor of how hard you work. That's what makes SONOS different from most companies, they work hard and they do it because they love it and they do it because they want to make a difference. In the end you can't fail if you do that.

Thank you to everyone who has made SONOS, SONOS.
Userlevel 6
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It is nice to hear folks saying they love their Sonos instead of saying it is broken.
Userlevel 5
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I completely agree. :)
I don't think I've ever actually had a problem with my SONOS! Everything just works!
Userlevel 6
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I forgot to mention that I use a Google Chrome Cast on my TV and now I can watch an listen to Youtube.  Works great and no monthly fees.  The TV feeds the PlayBar so I can hear it all on my Sonos.
Userlevel 6
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It's really nice to see threads like this crop up every now and again where SONOS users share their experiences and setup. Another great thing about this forum is that you always seem to learn something about the system and get tips from others that you never thought of, even when you've had it since 2011 or so (like me)
Userlevel 5
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Sonos[/b] mesh signal. ]Update: 
Woohoo! That's what it's all about! Always a way to take advantage of the vast system!

I love how easy it is! I wire most of my players so whenever I need Internet anywhere I can just plug the device into a speaker and then there we go! High speed Internet!

I mostly take advantage of this by wiring speakers into each other. For example I have my CONNECT:AMP wired to the router and then my SUB wired into the CONNECT:AMP. Then I have my PLAYBAR wired into another CONNECT:AMP which is wired also to the router. At the same time I have my Xbox wired into my PLAYBAR.

This all works flawlessly, never had an issue at all! So convenient!
Userlevel 7
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Thanks for sharing your stories! We're very proud of the work we do here and love hearing from you. We're here for the music and are thrilled to be able to bring it to your homes. Rock on everyone, play something awesome for us!
Userlevel 7
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This is so refreshing a thread ... many the same things that made me expand my Sonos system.

My current system at Home:

Office - Sonos Connect hooked between computer and computer speakers (making my Connect a Sonos speaker and a method to push Computer Sound to whole house).

Bar - Connect:Amp powering 2 Polk Speakers and Polk Subwoofer

Living Room / Patio - I had an old 2 Zone Receiver.  It has a Connect hooked to it and powers my 2 B&W Speakers and B&W Subwoofer in Living Room as well as powers my 2 TIC in ground speakers on Patio Outside (my original zones).  Also the Connect here then pushes Receiver sound which includes my room TV, DVD etc.

Garage - Play:3

Kitchen - Play:5

Dinning Room - Blue Note Play:1

Master Bedroom - Connect powering and old receiver connected to 2 B&W speakers and Subwoofer (and my TV etc. in that room).

Master Bath - Play:1

Daughter 1 Room - Play:3

Daughter 2 Room - Play:1

Son's Room - Play:3

3rd Floor - Playbar and Sonos Sub hooked to TV in upstairs living room.

 Vacation Home:

Bridge and a Sonos Connect hooked to Amplifier that power outside speakers.

Still just barely not pulling trigger on the 2 Play:1 deal to add permanent surrounds to that 3rd Floor system!!!  I just bought a new car and feel bad for spending so much Money lately 🙂
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
This is so refreshing a thread ... many the same things that made me expand my Sonos system.

My current system at Home:

Office - Sonos Connect hooked between computer and computer speakers (making my Connect a Sonos speaker and a method to push Computer Sound to whole house).

Bar - Connect:Amp powering 2 Polk Speakers and Polk Subwoofer

Living Room / Patio - I had an old 2 Zone Receiver.  It has a Connect hooked to it and powers my 2 B&W Speakers and B&W Subwoofer in Living Room as well as powers my 2 TIC in ground speakers on Patio Outside (my original zones).  Also the Connect here then pushes Receiver sound which includes my room TV, DVD etc.

Garage - Play:3

Kitchen - Play:5

Dinning Room - Blue Note Play:1

Master Bedroom - Connect powering and old receiver connected to 2 B&W speakers and Subwoofer (and my TV etc. in that room).

Master Bath - Play:1

Daughter 1 Room - Play:3

Daughter 2 Room - Play:1

Son's Room - Play:3

3rd Floor - Playbar and Sonos Sub hooked to TV in upstairs living room.

 Vacation Home:

Bridge and a Sonos Connect hooked to Amplifier that power outside speakers.

Still just barely not pulling trigger on the 2 Play:1 deal to add permanent surrounds to that 3rd Floor system!!!  I just bought a new car and feel bad for spending so much Money lately :)


I love the way that the Blue Note Play::1 looks. Unfortunately, neither of my two Play:1s are Blue Note editions.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
This is so refreshing a thread ... many the same things that made me expand my Sonos system.

My current system at Home:

Office - Sonos Connect hooked between computer and computer speakers (making my Connect a Sonos speaker and a method to push Computer Sound to whole house).

Bar - Connect:Amp powering 2 Polk Speakers and Polk Subwoofer

Living Room / Patio - I had an old 2 Zone Receiver.  It has a Connect hooked to it and powers my 2 B&W Speakers and B&W Subwoofer in Living Room as well as powers my 2 TIC in ground speakers on Patio Outside (my original zones).  Also the Connect here then pushes Receiver sound which includes my room TV, DVD etc.

Garage - Play:3

Kitchen - Play:5

Dinning Room - Blue Note Play:1

Master Bedroom - Connect powering and old receiver connected to 2 B&W speakers and Subwoofer (and my TV etc. in that room).

Master Bath - Play:1

Daughter 1 Room - Play:3

Daughter 2 Room - Play:1

Son's Room - Play:3

3rd Floor - Playbar and Sonos Sub hooked to TV in upstairs living room.

 Vacation Home:

Bridge and a Sonos Connect hooked to Amplifier that power outside speakers.

Still just barely not pulling trigger on the 2 Play:1 deal to add permanent surrounds to that 3rd Floor system!!!  I just bought a new car and feel bad for spending so much Money lately :)


It fits in nicely in my dining room with the all blue - kinda hides itself.
Userlevel 6
Badge +3
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!
Userlevel 7
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Wait - this mean your a real Capn.     Best of luck on your voyage home!  Now we have to think of other things you can do with your Sonos.  Have you installed Sonos Voice yet to make it a paging system.
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


How about a Tips section on ask.sonos posted by or moderated by trusted members of the community and sonos reps?
Userlevel 6
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OK...now I have to get Sonos Voice as soon as I get to shore with real internet!
Userlevel 7
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I think they are still looking at other formats for the ask.sonos as there are so many limitations to how this board version works. 
Userlevel 7
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Have you all found your way to the old forum .. .which is still alive and well but abandon pretty much by Sonos.  Several champions here (that don't post here a lot) are moderators there.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


forums.sonos.com
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


I wonder if they're not mods here because of the limitations of this platform or if they are not mods simply because they aren't.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


Limitations of the platform - none of us are actual moderators just a few Sonos employees.  "Champion" doesn't give any privilages in moderating at all - - pretty much just makes us target practice!
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


I thought that would be the case with "Champion" when I emailed rep (who had emailed me) about the tag (and i was correct) (Thank you for making that thread about new members Chris, I received an email about my posts a few mins after)
Userlevel 5
Badge +4
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


Yeah, so did I Josh. I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to receive a personal email about my efforts. :)

I remember the old SONOS forum. Interesting place that was!
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


We've talked about a tips and tricks section before, the Blog also used to post some articles like that too. What sorts of tips would you like to see or would you be more interested in an open section where anyone could post their suggestions?
Userlevel 5
Badge +4
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


I think it would work best if you have registered people, like the Champions that you know are knowledgable and good at giving tips, as well as staff. Then have them add tips to the section where other users can then come and view them. Maybe categorised like network, sound, pairing, grouping, misc, and so on. So it's easy to find a tip, rather than just a huge list of random tips all doubled up or written confusingly. If they're done by 'certified' people then they will be easy to read, find, and view.

I think the most useful tips would be the more advanced ones or the lesser known ones, like not many people know that you can use your players to share their internet connection through Ethernet when on SONOSnet. I think stuff like that, gives the user a bit of insight and an even more expanded value for money kinda experience to be able to say "Hey. This also does this, I never knew it did that." and they become talking points too.

I just think it would need to be organised though and accurate and with the tip, a quick tip and that's it. You should be able to like it but I think comments would make it a more complicated thing again with people questioning it or saying it does this or that doesn't work and it becomes too complex. It should be simple. See the tip, like it, try it!
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
Hello All, I originally purchased my Sonos system just because it seemed like a good audio solution for my family and me.   It has turned out to be a great solution for us and I could not be happier with it.  Now that I am watching the Ask Sonos site I am learning that Sonos does a whole lot more than I knew!  Last week I did not even know what a NAS server was.  When I get home from sea next week I am going to turn an old Windows dual drive computer that has not been turned on in a least a year in to a NAS server.   I am also going to use that Sonos Bridge sitting on my shelf doing nothing to extend my home WiFi.  It is just driving me crazy right now that I am 2,000 miles from home and cannot touch my Sonos and try all the new things I have learned. 

Maybe Sonos should make a video “Advanced Sonos use for the newbie?”  Seems like a lot of people here are like me and do not fully understanding what they have and can do with Sonos?

 Thank you all for your help!


I completely agree with kmjy. Exactly how I think it should work.