Skip to main content
So i'm wondering if it's possible to use Sonos speakers with the new HomePod. So for example, maybe using two home pods instead of the playbar, but still using a sub, and 2 play ones? I have yet to hear the audio from a Sonos system or the HomePod and just trying to figure out what will work best for me. I use all Apple products, so if the new play ones will support Siri and airplay 2 then i'm probably sold on an all Sonos system.
I use all Apple products, so if the new play ones will support Siri and airplay 2 then i'm probably sold on an all Sonos system.



It's highly unlikely that Apple will ever allow third parties to include Siri, so if you want to stick with the worst-in-class assistant you'll have to go with the HomePod 🙂
Heard the HomePod today, it did sound better then the play one. It was pretty impressive for a speaker the size of the play one. It is up there with the play 3 and play 5 imho. But siri need a bit more work. Apple did not put all the siri function they should have from the iPhone. If falls behind the google home mini in abilities. But they will be a to be pair down the road. So you can have full stereo sound. At 700 dollars vs 2 play one at 350. But I pretty sure if you are completely into the Apple ecosphere, that AppleTV will be linked to the HomePod. Surround 5.1 might have to wait for homepod expansion.
I'm admittedly biased against much of what Apple does, but I can't imagine that the HomePod will deliver a better "home theatre" experience than any good SoundBar. It's not what they are designed to do after all.



There will remain the issue of how you connect them to the television.
Thanks guys, although I believe 2 home pods will probably sound better than the sonos soundbar, it's probably not worth the headache trying to get it to work together. Might just have to use the HomePod in the bedroom as a standalone speaker and use airplay when wanting to send the same music throughout the home.
@chicks It looks as though the homepods are capable of stereo pairing and some reviews suggest they sound slightly better than the the Sonos play 3's. But like I said, if it is a hassle to try and make it work, i'm not going to do it. I'm not trying to say one is better than the other, and I don't want to assume something due to preconceived biases or assumptions.
I like apple products but as they have always been they keep within their ecosystem so much!



As with Homekit - which is essential to the usefulness of a home assistant. Your limited to homekit compatible devices.



I use my Alexa with my Smartthings hub and can utilize about every smart device made. It makes the voice part so much more useful. Just asking for songs and the weather gets a little old with smart assistants.



Homekit expansion to me is key to Homepod being successful. It's going to sound good. And if you like apple music your going to like the voice control abilities for music. But after that it need to be much more useful in a grand scale around the house.



You are certainly going to get a much tighter integration of voice control and music with homepod then about any other speaker (as long as you stay in the Apple Music ecosystem). And the processing power it will have provides a lot of future upside.
At its price, the HomePod will need to be significantly better than the One - it ought to be compared to the 5 for sound quality. But the thing also is that HomePod is a very different design based on its 360 degree tweeter array, meant to be placed more centrally in the room, whereas Sonos speaker design hews to a more traditional design/placement adjacent to a wall, firing into the entire room. In that way a single HomePod, by being centrally located in the room, will better address the problem of music from speakers placed in one part of the room, off to one side, having to be played too loud closer to them to be properly heard on the other side of the room.



What that will translate to in practice remains to be seen, and subjective assessments will necessarily be all that are available.



But it certainly sounds interesting. Pun not intended:-)
@Kumar: Interesting -- thank you!



@Chris: True: Homepods will not stereo pair at launch, as Apple notes on apple.com/homepod/



I'm really happy with my Sonos: one stereo pair of Play:1's downstairs, a single Play:1 upstairs, and a Connect for the old-school stereo.



Like @craftytony, I'm totally sold on Apple...but I also do not want to just up and toss the Sonos investment. Sonos works really well (as if I need to convince anyone here) -- I would just like to control it with Siri.



(The Sonos iOS app drives me crazy, so mostly ditching that would be a huge plus.)
Word is that Homepods won't even stereo pair at launch either.



At launch Homepod will really just be an Airplay speaker with built in Siri (and the trueplay type tuning built into itself).



I'm going to be anxious to hear the Homepod vs. Sonos One reviews.
While I can agree that Siri isn't the best, she actually performs great for the things I would actually use an assistant for. I don't mind sacrificing in one area to have the best option for many many more other areas. :)



To play Devil’s advocate: like what? A more expensive speaker you can’t listen to or buy yet?
I did not know that -- thank you for the correction! :)



[time passes...]



I looked at the product pages both for the Sonos One and for the Play:1...but neither mentions Google Assistant, and both mention Alexa. Where should I be looking?



[more time passes...]



I found an article on The Verge saying that support for Google Assistant would be coming in 2018...so either it's not here yet (my misunderstanding of "are supporting"), or the product page has not been updated.
Sonos has tied themselves to no horses. They have deliberately made their voice interface sevice neutral, which is why they are supporting both Alexa and Google Assistant.
[quote=pwt]It's highly unlikely that Apple will ever allow third parties to include Siri



Not sure what you mean.... If you're talking about having Siri integrated into a third-party hardware product, then I would probably agree. (Kinda pointless in this context, given that Sonos has already tied their horse to Amazon/Alexa.)



But certainly Siri can control third-party devices. I always have the watch on, so why do I care if it's a speaker that's hearing the command or the watch? All I care about is that the requested action is taken.



Just today I learned of an indirect means of controlling a Nest thermostat (which does not yet support HomeKit) via Siri. I guess that kind of thing is my best hope for controlling Sonos via Siri.
What others are saying, I simply won't assume something before hearing the audio quality of the HomePod.....



"They’re using some form of dynamic modeling, and current sensing that allows them to have a p-p excursion of 20 mm in a 4″ driver. This is completely unheard of in the home market. The practical upshot is that that 4″ driver can go louder than larger drivers, and with significantly less distortion. It’s also stuff you typically find in speakers with five-figure price tags (The Beolab 90 does this, and I also suspect that the Kii Three does). It’s a quantum leap over what a typical passive speaker does, and you don’t really even find it in higher-end powered speakers





Meh, Philips was doing Motional Feedback way back in the ‘70s. Once again, Apple never innovates, but they do a pretty good job of perfecting technologies invented elsewhere.



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motional_Feedback



Panasonic was doing it way back in 1964. It wasn’t new then, either.



http://www.proaudiodesignforum.com/forum/php/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=707&start=5



http://www.waynekirkwood.com/images/jpg/Motional_Feedback_Miami_News_October_19_1964.jpg
Can someone tell me what Airplay2 does for the average Sonos user?...that the current app doesn’t do?..what is its purpose?.



Airplay 2 will allow you to stream directly from Airplay 2 compatible apps, instead of using the Sonos app.
Can someone tell me what Airplay2 does for the average Sonos user?...that the current app doesn’t do?..what is its purpose?.


It is unclear as far as connecting the HomePod to your TV, but there are two potential options. Connect a 4th gen Apple TV to your television, and then connect the HomePod to your Apple TV and then connect to your Sonos AirPlay 2 speakers.



The other option would be to purchase a Sonos Playbar or Playbase, connect it to your TV, and then connect the HomePod to your Sonos System. In theory, you could then use a pair of HomePods as the rear channels in your home theater system, and to play music.





I really don’t see how Airplay 2 would support 5.0 sound separation even in theory. Apple hasn’t stated anywhere about this functionality, describing Airplay 2 as a multiroom streaming ability. I think 5.0 sound separation works on entirely different level and it would require more than just a multiroom support. I’m not even talking about inclusion of Sub which I almost sure will not be supported in earlier iteration of Apple’s protocol, as it is not a speaker per se, what leaves Sub owners, who want to use it, with no other options than reverting back to using Sonos app. Just my thoughts though
All those tweeters are there to allow 360 degree horizontal dispersion. That will destroy proper stereo imaging.


Yes, it's not simply a number game, and that's why I didn't restrict the comparison to Sonos' soundbars. I think any good soundbar setup will be significantly better for a "home theatre" setup than any speakers designed like HomePod/Echo to "fill a room".



Keep in mind that the HomePod isn't likely to feature any input ports, so even if you could pull it off, Apple clearly isn't intending that to be the use case.
Good points, and i'm pretty much sold on going full Sonos. Any idea on how well the playbar/2 play ones/subwoofer combo might compare to my old 12" infinity tower speakers with kenwood surround and center channel speakers?
Apple will use boatloads of sound processing to simulate surround sound. No thanks.