In the knowledge that I was moving with my family to a new larger property, I have been preparing/researching/saving for several items of audio and AV equipment. One absolute must was a multi-room wireless system. We still have traditional stereo in our office/guest room, and the main system in our 'Snug' has a great stereo and 5.1 system. But, the heart of the house, the kitchen diner, needs music to be readily available, and this means intuitive above sound quality so that my wife actually plays music.
Cutting to the chase, I borrowed, one at a time, to demo in situ, a Bluesound Pulse Mini, a Play:3, a Bluesound Pulse and finally (playing as I type) a Play:5. I'd done a lot of reading, and spoken to staff at the shops, and was in no doubt that I would prefer the 'audiophile' sound of the Bluesound, and that the ability to play my high-res files (I have a Pono and a Pioneer N-50 network player) would be the clincher. The only possible thing that might gain some points for the SONOS products was functionality.
How wrong I was! I instantly disliked the sound of the Pulse Mini, it deals well with instrumental music, but is unbearable with vocals. The midrange sounds smothered and discoloured. I tried to like it, occasionally finding tracks that it handled well, but within a fairly short space of time I found it... offensive. I took it back and headed home with the smaller Play:3. I loved it, very neutral, but very competent. It didn't put a foot wrong, dealing with my music files on shuffle without missing a beat. I've never spent so long in a kitchen! I took it back with the intention of taking a Play:5 to try, believing it to be an over zealous, overweight teenager, and probably settling for the Play:3, but instead I took the bigger Pulse home. It faired better than the Mini... marginally, the low and high frequencies are more to the fore, and cover up the tonal oddities of the Bluesound midrange, but not enough. Back to the shop and home with a Play:5... hooked, instantly! Grin inducing sound, muscular bass, but with total control, good at low and high volumes, great clarity, good in vertical or horizontal, not positionally fussy at all, but importantly for my tastes, tonally neutral.
I'm confused by my experiences, as mentioned in other posts, retailers may be influenced by margins etc, but I know the guys at this shop, they genuinely believe the bluesound to sound better, but they said things like "everybody who has listened to both preferred the Bluesound" not actually laying their own opinion on the line.
Anyway, once I have decided which rooms will be getting the SONOS treatment I'll be back on to bore you all with my setup choices
Yours, a SONOS convert (apologies for the length of the post!)
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@Rascal6000, you might be interested in this article.
ratty - you once mentioned a room / system for 'serious listening'. Do you still have it and is it Sonos driven? Welcome back, by the way - I was concerned by your recent, longish absence...
I have never had a chance to hear any BS unit and though it is a surprise to read what you say on the "anyone" bit, I have no basis to contradict you, so I won't:-). Every review I have read - for what that is worth, agreed - speaks of BS sound in glowing terms.
@ratty: any self respecting audiophile would be scandalised to hear a recommendation that corrupts the purity of the source signal - most insist on buying kit that isn't sullied by even tone controls for this reason! But with room response DSP becoming more common these days, I am surprised that BS does not offer it.
Hi Kumar
As a very regular contributor to this community (and I've seen a few posts from you that delve in to the subjective world of sound (High-res, Bluesound, blind tests etc)), I'd strongly recommend that you audition some Bluesound products in an environment that you listen to SONOS in.
Any self respecting audiophile wouldn't be drawing comparisons with traditional stereo equipment and modern wireless, digitally powered and acoustically modified multi-room systems, any more than they would listen to stereo music through an AV amp on anything other than 'source direct' or any other proprietary setting to bypass the electronic EQ. The underlying feeling I have about my in depth testing of BS Vs SONOS is that this electronic wizardry is what is at fault with the BS sound, and is what SONOS have dealt with brilliantly in attempt to offer good quality tonally neutral sound. Are you of the belief that either of these systems utilise a source direct route for the sound? .... they don't!
Hi ratty
No, I'm an android man, so I'm planning on nabbing the first person through my door with an apple phone. That said, the Play:5 in it's required placement doesn't need tuning, as Kumar says, it's surprising that BS don't offer it, especially as it appears to a) need it b) have already had some EQ tweaks made to take it so far from neutral
Hi pwt
Brilliant! that's the reason I posted this thread; I agree with Kumar, sound preferences are subjective, but, I had exactly the same experience as you. The SONOS sounded great, as I'd hoped a decent wireless speaker would sound, the BS sounded awful, not a subjective observation, it sounded like something was wrong with it. Now either there was something wrong with the two BS speakers I tested, people really aren't testing them, people assume that they have no right to sound any better than they do being wireless speaker an' all, their eyes are doing the decision making for them, they must sound better because everyone says they do, or something else...
No, not for any of the speakers. I'd considered a Connect Amp (or Node) with ceiling speakers in the kitchen, or perhaps a pair of 1s or 3s. But a wall mounted 5 in a better suited central position probably offers the best solution. (There is no 'hotspot', or regular listening position being a kitchen, so a stereo pair could cause problems.
That said, I'd love to hear a well set up stereo pair, perhaps 3s, so I'm planning the other rooms now!
You ain't seen nothin' yet! 🆒
I agree. And they refuse to appreciate that there has been no real tech advance in these system components for over 50 years now - where separate amps and passive speakers are concerned, the stuff sold today is basically obsolete, no matter how well wrapped in metal and wood. There is some justification in vinyl in the visible engineering to be appreciated along with the associated rituals of using it, but why high end CD players still sell is a complete mystery to me. The less said about expensive standalone DACs, the better.
Presumably BS does incorporate active tech though, so it a surprise to read about they having used the tech to colour the sound bad in the manner said on this thread.
Many such types would be equally scandalised by the straightforward concept of per-driver active amplification, when a true audio engineer would know that it's the best solution. For the audiophile it takes away the 'fun' of mis-matched components, poor coupling and cable fetishism.
House was one of the best shows on television.
Digressing a little, but on the subject of music - I recommend a listen to the Hugh Laurie music albums too. A very creditable interpretation of New Orleans jazz/blues. With a great band and guest artistes in support.
I have never had a chance to hear any BS unit and though it is a surprise to read what you say on the "anyone" bit, I have no basis to contradict you, so I won't:-). Every review I have read - for what that is worth, agreed - speaks of BS sound in glowing terms.
@ratty: any self respecting audiophile would be scandalised to hear a recommendation that corrupts the purity of the source signal - most insist on buying kit that isn't sullied by even tone controls for this reason! But with room response DSP becoming more common these days, I am surprised that BS does not offer it.
@Rascal6000, as a matter of interest did you Trueplay-tune the Sonos units? You'd obviously have needed an iDevice for this (owned or borrowed).
To my mind this is the clincher. No matter how 'high end' the kit, the placement compromises encountered in the typical home can wreak havoc with in-room response. Other than in some near-field situations, I now consider Digital Room Correction to be absolutely essential.
To my mind this is the clincher. No matter how 'high end' the kit, the placement compromises encountered in the typical home can wreak havoc with in-room response. Other than in some near-field situations, I now consider Digital Room Correction to be absolutely essential.
Userlevel 7
+20
I auditioned a PLAY:5 against a Bluesound PULSE 2 before making my first Sonos purchases last year. The PLAY:5 demonstrated such substantially better sound quality (depth, clarity, fidelity) that I'm surprised anyone could reach a different conclusion, even allowing for different sound preferences. Tastes must differ a lot.
The nature of sound signature preferences is such that what your post will be useful for is limited to ensuring that Sonos is not dismissed out of hand for various misleading reasons such as - does not do Hi Res, is too cheap, doesn't look audiophile, isn't made a company with background of making HiFi kit - to name some common ones, and it will persuade people to make the final call only after listening to both. Thereafter an equal amount may still prefer BS as don't, but will do so for much better reasons than otherwise. Unfortunately, buying is rarely done on this basis, and many will not buy BS only because it is too expensive and buy Sonos thinking that in doing so, they have been forced to make a sound quality compromise.
On the other hand, I don't know of any BS fans that claim superiority on the ease of use or feature set criteria.
On the other hand, I don't know of any BS fans that claim superiority on the ease of use or feature set criteria.
Thanks for interesting post. Did your listening involve stereo pairs?
Thanks BCM
I couldn't help feeling that something electronic was at fault with the bluesound, in this age of digital amplification and electronic EQ who knows. There's signs of quality in the drivers but BS seen to have engineered something odd in to the final sound. They actually sounded better with the tone on and the treble up and bass down a little IMHO, but I haven't used tone controls since 1987!
House was one of the best shows on television.
Indeed. Outrageously impossible statistically, but great watching. My binge is just halfway through season 2; I had not been drawn to it in the past in the occasional watching. The way the entire ensemble cast plays off each other is brilliant.
I wasn’t sure where you were going with your review. Well done in your quest. Enjoyed your critique.
House was one of the best shows on television.
House was one of the best shows on television.
Good for you. In this comparison, sound signature preferences are a very subjective matter of personal preference and those that prefer that of Sonos have the best of both worlds because Sonos has the better feature set and user experience.
As to what salesmen say, the famous statement of Dr House from the TV series comes to mind: Everybody lies.
As to what salesmen say, the famous statement of Dr House from the TV series comes to mind: Everybody lies.
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