Just Went Full Sonos

Hi there pbanders . . . .its been a month so how has the transition gone and how different is the sound especially for TV/Movie viewing ?

Briefly, I couldn't be happier. TV/Movie dialog performance is excellent. While the sub doesn't have the frequency range my VTF-3 had (below 20 Hz), in the range that it works (~35 Hz and above), it's got plenty of volume and is very musical. The Play 1 surrounds are excellent, I very much prefer them on the Sanus stands to my previous installs with ceiling dipoles. Musically, the system is great, especially with acoustic instruments like guitar and piano. Plenty of bass for my son's "music", too. Functionally, the system is excellent, easy to use, and is also very attractive and stylish. The two One's are excellent and easy to locate in any room I want quality audio in. Hoping for that Google Assistant update soon. I'm also hoping that Sonos comes out with a battery powered product for easy use in patio areas which lack a power outlet.

Do you find that you are listening to music more now? I know I’ve been listening to a ton of music. It sounds great and it’s convenient.

Listening to more music is the biggest benefit I have obtained from Sonos, by exploiting the explosion in the easily available excellent music on the internet in the last few years. Even when one pays for one/two streaming services, it is also a lot cheaper than buying music via downloads or, prior to that, CDs/Vinyl. With the earlier big rig, I would have been hung up on providing it media "worthy" of it and denied myself of a lot of the purpose of the kit - Music. With little to no loss in sound quality.

For patio areas, I recommend not waiting - there are many excellent battery equipped bluetooth speakers now. I use a Minirig speaker these days away from home, that is small, has a realistic time of 40-50 hours of music play between charges, and with an old, dedicated to being a music source iPhone, serves brilliantly. As a permanent patio solution if needed often enough, a play 1 in a covered space there is even better if mains power is available, while the best thing to do is run some speaker wire, mount a pair of USD 100 passive speakers like the ones that Dayton makes, and drive these via a Connect Amp kept indoors.

Hey pbanders - great to hear cause after reading 4 hours of reviews, and on Engadget and Cnet was blown away - I have Onkyo TXR838 (I think) + sub + 7 x Q7 series satellite speakers which I’ve always loved BUT because I have so many damned devices that I watch movies from, the tv is set away from the amp above a fireplace making wired connections from all devices not great and now that I’m watching downloaded movies direct from my pc to tv via wifi - just too hard to get it all configured for me and my wife and 2 young daughters : literally driving me nuts not having surround for the pc to TV movies not to mention all those remotes !

So yesterday I went all in and am now officially Sono’fied - bought the setup from Myer who matched online pricing here in Australia 🙂

Bought 1 x Soundbar + 1 x Sub + 2 x Play 5’s + 2 Play 1’s . . . . holy shit !

What a sound boys and now I see what you mean - just incredible even with 2 roaming play 1’s for kitchen and pool - watches first movie last night and can’t wait for tonight’s flick !

Have to agree on

1) portable version - that’d be the perfect extension without power

2) definately need to bin the Play 3’s design with an upgrade cause it pales in comparison to the Play 5 build quality and design - even the Play 1 could do with a cosmetic lift with the vertical logo band in the Play 5 - even the sales staff were bagging the Play 3 Design being dated so I’d be saying sales are down Sonos ?

3) dedicated Sonos digital screened remote - already a bit frustrating having to use mobile all the time cause of the battery charge - iPhone 6+ - I’m going to look for an older model iPad mini to keep on the wall in the kitchen with the Sonos app permantly on and plugged into charger - so we can select tracks easily with going to bedroom or office for our phones

Any thoughts your end ?

#3 was already done... though a while ago now in terms of technology years. I'm pretty sure Sonos has no intention of returning to creating a separate, dedicated controller device when there are plenty of low-cost tablets (and older WiFi-enabled MP3 players) that are perfectly fit for the purpose. Amazon sells their own 7" Fire tablet that could run the Sonos Android controller... it's a whopping $70 as of my posting this, and at times has been as cheap as $50, IIRC.

Why would Sonos design their own single-use device at great expense to them, with a likely higher price point, when there's competition like that?

Good point MikeV - and I do recall that Sonos controller - definately ant equated in today terms - so yes I’ll look for a cheap tablet

Is anyone else having issues with the app - every time I wake and open it, it says can’t connect and I have to go through the whole turn wifi off on my iPhone - taking ages ?