Adding 2 ONE's to my BEAM - is it worth it?

  • 12 October 2022
  • 8 replies
  • 1324 views
C

Hello my fellow Sonofiles,

I own a BEAM which I set up just in front of my TV. I use it mostly with the TV, but also occasionally for music with AirPlay, mostly rock and jazz. I am very pleased with the audio quality.

I have been thinking lately of adding 2 ONE’s, in the back of the room, left and right. The idea is to pair them with the Beam, and play together.

The thing is, the financial effort would be substantial and I want to be sure it would be worth it.

So the question is: adding two ONE’s to my BEAM, do I get a substantial improvement over just the BEAM, for both the TV and music, or not?

Please share your opinions if you have been in my situation.

Thank you.

 

8 replies

Ken_Griffiths

The Wife and I have the Beam in our main bedroom and we added two ones to that setup and more recently a sub mini.. no regrets here.

We get 5.1 surround sound from Netflix, Prime, Disney+ etc; and I have set the system to play from all speakers for music (‘Full’ mode) and it is certainly much (much) better than a standalone Beam.

I particularly like the recent Sub Mini addition… so I recommend you perhaps take a look at the Sonos Home Cinema Completion Set - see this LINK

C

Thanks for your feedback. The thing is that getting both the One’s and the Sub, is really over budget. My options are:

  • keeping just the Beam
  • Beam + 2 Ones
  • Beam + Sub Mini (which is 40% more expensive than the Ones)

Which option will make a bigger difference?

 

Ken_Griffiths

It’s a close call, but I guess the ‘One/One-SL’s’ if your TV has 5.1 Dolby audio and you use Apps like Netflix etc.

If you use the setup more for music, then I would perhaps choose the Sub.. it’s obviously cheaper to buy both together, but if budget prevents that, then maybe start with the ‘Ones’, as you can always put those in other rooms too, if you decide you prefer that, to a Home Cinema (surround sound) setup. Then go onto add the Sub-Mini later, perhaps?

Ken_Griffiths

You may also find the ‘certified refurbished’ offers on the One/One-SL helpful too, perhaps? See this link:

https://www.sonos.com/en/shop/certified-refurbished

melvimbe

I don’t think there’s a wrong choice here, but I would probably go with the Sub Mini.  The reason being that it will be an improvement for all audio, since your adding bass for both TV and music sources.  When adding surrounds, you only get the benefit from TV when watching video that has surround sound audio,  You do get a benefit with streaming music audio, but the audio isn’t coming from the front stage, which some people don’t like.

Also note that you can bond a pair of the ikea speakers as surrounds with the Beam, which could save you some money. 

Danny
C

I’ve looked at refurbished, but they’re all out of stock :)  Besides, with transport to my country, they aren’t any cheaper than buying then new over here.

The Ikea Symphonsk are interesting, but they are not much cheaper that the Sonos. The question is, is the Simphonisk Bookshelf as good as One SL?

Ken_Griffiths

I’ve looked at refurbished, but they’re all out of stock :)  Besides, with transport to my country, they aren’t any cheaper than buying then new over here.

The Ikea Symphonsk are interesting, but they are not much cheaper that the Sonos. The question is, is the Simphonisk Bookshelf as good as One SL?

I think they’re reasonably close in terms of sound output, but as the attached chart shows the Symfonisk have less storage. I’m not sure how their processors or radio adapters compare. Some folks though in the community here do seem to choose the Symfonisk speakers as their HT surrounds.

1 Attachment
melvimbe

I have only heard the bookshelf speakers in ikea stores, so not the best place for a test.  My opinion is that they would be just fine for surround sound duty or a minor space where sound quality isn’t really needed.  Since you’re wanting them to approve the music streaming, I can’t say that it would definiltely be an improvement.

Danny

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