Hey all.
I am seriously considering purchasing a non-sonos system for my simple home theater needs, but am worried about leaving the sonos 'ecosystem'. My plan is to either go with the Beam, then sell/upgrade to the next Sonos Home Theater product when available, or buy a different system entirely. What has my interest is the Sony Z9F with wireless rear surrounds: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BMRB49C/ref=twister_B07BMPT97F?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Does anybody have experience/thoughts on this Sony system?
Rant: I'm a long-time sonos supporter, bought the Playbar on day one with rear surrounds. I was very disappointed in the playbase (no new codec support, no HDMI, etc) and did not upgrade. And now, when the new Home Theater announcement was being teased for the Beam, I thought this was going to be the hardware we've been waiting for! I quickly sold my Playbar before the June 6th announcement and waited. Then the articles came out with even more disappointing news: No new codec support, smaller soundbar built for smaller rooms, less speakers, cheaper product overall. Ugh. Now I have no playbar and not enough money from selling mine to buy another, little interest in buying a beam because all of the codec issues from five years ago (three home theater products now!) still exist, and feel ignored as a customer of sonos.
Beam 5.1 system vs something else?
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First off, selling your playbar in preparation to buy an unknown product at an unknown price wasn't the brightest idea. I wouldn't try and fix your impulsive decision with another impulsive decision. If the Beam isn't the soundbar you want, then don't buy it. If you really want your playbar back, then look at the used market and see if you can get one around the price you sold yours for.
Maybe the Z9F has all you want then go for that. Since you're hesitant though, perhaps it's best to just wait. I would not be surprised if Sonos comes out with a new version of the playbar, and it sounds like you have the same expectation. Maybe it's best to do nothing right now. Wait till the fall when everyone has their new products and sales out for the Holiday shopping season.
Maybe the Z9F has all you want then go for that. Since you're hesitant though, perhaps it's best to just wait. I would not be surprised if Sonos comes out with a new version of the playbar, and it sounds like you have the same expectation. Maybe it's best to do nothing right now. Wait till the fall when everyone has their new products and sales out for the Holiday shopping season.
You're absolutely right on the money about that. Trying to get ahead of the curve really bit me on this.
Out of my own curiousity, why? Where you think the Beam would prompt other customers to sell the playbar, flooding the market and lowering the sale price for used playbars? Or did you just have a buyer that couldn't wait till the announcement?
@melvimbe yes, I really thought the beam was going to be a big release. Playbar 2.0, if you will. I thought that the market price for the current Playbar would plummet immediately. Hehe.. whoops. I let my excitement create quite the false (impossible?) reality.
I am seriously considering purchasing a non-sonos system for my simple home theater needs, but am worried about leaving the sonos 'ecosystem'. My plan is to either go with the Beam, then sell/upgrade to the next Sonos Home Theater product when available, or buy a different system entirely. What has my interest is the Sony Z9F with wireless rear surrounds: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BMRB49C/ref=twister_B07BMPT97F?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Does anybody have experience/thoughts on this Sony system?
Rant: I'm a long-time sonos supporter, bought the Playbar on day one with rear surrounds. I was very disappointed in the playbase (no new codec support, no HDMI, etc) and did not upgrade. And now, when the new Home Theater announcement was being teased for the Beam, I thought this was going to be the hardware we've been waiting for! I quickly sold my Playbar before the June 6th announcement and waited. Then the articles came out with even more disappointing news: No new codec support, smaller soundbar built for smaller rooms, less speakers, cheaper product overall. Ugh. Now I have no playbar and not enough money from selling mine to buy another, little interest in buying a beam because all of the codec issues from five years ago (three home theater products now!) still exist, and feel ignored as a customer of sonos.
I agree with you with Sonos being lacking in HT. I have sonos for music only. And was too hoping more from the beam. But was let down. I could never get myself to buy a sonos playbar or playbase for the HDMI and and a small degree the DTS. So give a great deal I go the samsung HW-MS751 to go with my new 75 inch Q7FN.
If I did not get a great deal on the samsung. I was seriously considering the Sony Z9F, it is a very nice sounding bar that support DTS and Atmos. And had 4K UHD pass through and additional HDMI imputs. It has chromecast built in. And it is google assistance ready. So if you are into the google eco system. This fits in nicely. It was one of my short list for a sound bar.
You might also want to consider the Yamaha YSP-5600. It is a insane sound bar 46 built in speakers and more in the sub. And you get to use the yamaha music cast system. Similar to sonos and heos.
But both the sony and the Yamaha sounds great. Samsung has the HW-MS850 and 950, but are Atmos bars and sound good and are the top two in their high end sound+ line. But the remote speaker do not compare to the sonos play speakers.
If you are comparing beam for home theatre against the z9f it’s a joke
Do yourself a favour and get the z9f with the surrounds and thank me later
You’re going to get high def sound, support for every audio and HDR pass through format and sound from above your head as it supports Atmos and it also can upscale all sound to give you Atmos like sound
The beam cannot compete at all its useless for home theatre
Do yourself a favour and get the z9f with the surrounds and thank me later
You’re going to get high def sound, support for every audio and HDR pass through format and sound from above your head as it supports Atmos and it also can upscale all sound to give you Atmos like sound
The beam cannot compete at all its useless for home theatre
I use my Sonos 2x Ones and Sub purely for music and it's really impressive but for home cinema I've got the Sony ZF9, the Sony sub is great for effects but overwhelmes the dialogue so waiting for Richer Sounds to come out and 'optimise' the Sony 4k and soundbar for me. Virtual Atmos sounds really bright but I am not going with wall- mounted rears as I want to keep the walls clear and have been advised against positioning the rear speakers on the floor; so I haven't got true surround sound in that sense but my reasoning was to get the best home cinema I could afford....similar decision regarding listening to music ( music played through the Z9F isn't a patch on the Sonos set-up)
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