Skip to main content
I_want_coffee
Contributor I
March 7, 2017

Playbase: Sonos no longer recommandable for home theater

  • March 7, 2017
  • 47 replies
  • 42144 views
Hello,

today I read the specifications of the brand new Playbase. What have I waited for a new gen2 Playbar, supporting DTS, DD+, maybe having HDMI or (now I am getting really crazy) supporting Dolby Atmos. There are even soundbars providing Dolby Atmos sound! Really, you can search for yourself, these things are possible in 2017...

And now the brand new Sonos Playbase is out... The only difference between the Playbar (based on the first test and specifications I read): It's flat and, oh yes, it will support Alexa.

Sonos, did you even listen to your customers? To the complaints about your old product, the Playbar? Did you recognize that the home theater world is moving into a future where you have 4k, HDR movies, losless audio formats, dolby atmos?

We (your beloved customers) should pay $700+ for a piece of hardware that supports only stereo if you use e.g. Netflix (Netflix uses DD+, the same for Maxdome in Germany). Not to mention that you could end up with no sound at all if you use 4k Bluerays (search the Sonos community).

Sorry, Sonos. That is not the way to go in my opinion.

I cannot further recommend you. You want to listen to plain music? You will be happy with the Play 1, 3 or 5 from Sonos, but there are cheaper and equally good products around. You want to integrate your living room in your sound setup, with your TV as a central element? Avoid Sonos at any costs, You will not be happy, there are better products around.

A very disappointed customer.
    This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

    47 replies

    Show previous replies
    cinek2
    Avid Contributor I
    July 24, 2017
    have to agree 100% with this thread. I only have the sonos as I got the playbase for free. Would have returned everything otherwise. I bought 2 play 1s to be used as the rear speakers but that won't be happening now. Will stick them in another room for music or might just return them... still debating that. Sonos == Blackberry & Nokia at this point. It's 2017, move the ... on and keep up with the competition. Your name and hype can only get you so far.... no wonder the company is looking for acquisitions
      Korycell
      Korycell
      Contributor I
      August 30, 2017
      Mine soubds awesome
      Keithmac
      Virtuoso
      September 10, 2017
      I read all the bemoaning on here before I bought my Playbar (with my eyes wide open..).

      My Samsung TV will not natively stream 5.1 from HDMI over TOSlink but I solved that problem with 2 HDMI EDID emulators (this is a TV issue not Playbar).

      The Blue-ray DTS issue was solved with a £50 Samsung Blu-ray player which down mixes to 5.1, I needed a Blu-ray player anyway.

      As for 7.1 DTS, the 5.1 is more than adequate for my living room, clear vocals through the centre channel which was very import.

      The whole Sonus experience so far has been top notch and the quality and sound/ functionality of the Playbar has exceeded my expectations.
        DarwinOSX
        October 23, 2017
        So I got the new Sonos One, two of them, and love them. But no Sonos Home theater products for me until they update their range to something that can handle the latest technologies. Plus neither the Playbar or Playbase will work with my Samsung TV without dropouts due to an issue with optical.
        Maybe Sonos doesn't have there revenue to support R&D on HDMI equipped home theater products?
        Nobody can seriously argue that optical is sufficient.
        In any event it seems they don't want my money for home theater products.
        DarwinOSX
        October 23, 2017
        I read all the bemoaning on here before I bought my Playbar (with my eyes wide open..).

        My Samsung TV will not natively stream 5.1 from HDMI over TOSlink but I solved that problem with 2 HDMI EDID emulators (this is a TV issue not Playbar).

        The Blue-ray DTS issue was solved with a £50 Samsung Blu-ray player which down mixes to 5.1, I needed a Blu-ray player anyway.

        As for 7.1 DTS, the 5.1 is more than adequate for my living room, clear vocals through the centre channel which was very import.

        The whole Sonus experience so far has been top notch and the quality and sound/ functionality of the Playbar has exceeded my expectations.

        So you had to buy two devices to get your setup to work they way everything else does out of the box and cheaper...minus many of the latest home theater features and some of them have been out for years.
          moviedoc
          moviedoc
          Contributor I
          December 4, 2017
          I recently added Sonos Connect to my existing home theater which I built around 30 year old Spica satellites and Janis subwoofer For our nightly movies Sonos is irrelevant, but now we can control music throughout the house where most rooms have hard-wired speakers, and to add music to other rooms we just get a Sonos speaker. All my digitized LPs that I can't find on Amazon Music, I have on a USB flash drive plugged into my NetGear router.
          If I want Atmos for the theater, I just need a new receiver and to connect a couple ceiling speakers I'm not using now. (Suggestions for a receiver will be appreciated, maybe one with Chromecast built in.)
          BTW: The old 400 CD carousel is connected to the Connect analogue inputs, but I'll probably phase that out by ripping some of the CDs to that flash drive.
          DarwinOSX
          January 24, 2018
          Another article that sheds some light on Sonos strategy around the Playbase:

          https://www.wired.com/2017/03/sonos-playbase-smart-home/

          That's not a strategy.
            Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement