Contributor I

Most economical setup for 3 rooms; new customer

12 replies
1072 views

I am interested in getting some Sonos equipment, but not necessarily the most expensive. I would like speakers in 3 rooms, and think 1 speaker in each would be fine. The options are a bit overwhelming, so would like input from those who have experience. Ideally, I would like to play one channel (from Calm) on all 3 simultaneously.

I might start with 2 rooms, and then add one later, depending upon the cost.

Thanks.
Ruth McClain

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ratty

How big are the rooms? If it's Calm it sounds like you're mainly after background music?

You could start with one, maybe two, PLAY:1s. See how you go. Try bonding them as a stereo pair as an experiment as well.

If you buy through the Sonos store you have a period (which varies by country) to return them if you want.

J

Jayne Mansfield

Enthusiast I

I started about a year and a half ago with two play one's in my living room. Believe it when people say they're addicting. I've since added a Playbar and sub to the living room, bonded with my original play 1's as surrounds; a Play 5 gen 2 in my MBR, a play 1 in my hallway and master bath and a play 1 on the kitchen/dining room. I am looking to add a Play 5 to replace the Play 3 and will relocate the Play 3 to another room.

R

ramcclainAuthor

Contributor I

My house will be 100 in 2019. Rooms not huge, but have living room, dining room @ 675; then a small den, @ same; and kitchen/breakfast room, @144. Is is difficult to 'bond' a pair?

TY

R

ramcclainAuthor

Contributor I

I am also a professional, classical musician, so yes, I am interested in background, and 'real' listening.

R

ramcclainAuthor

Contributor I

I started about a year and a half ago with two play one's in my living room. Believe it when people say they're addicting. I've since added a Playbar and sub to the living room, bonded with my original play 1's as surrounds; a Play 5 gen 2 in my MBR, a play 1 in my hallway and master bath and a play 1 on the kitchen/dining room. I am looking to add a Play 5 to replace the Play 3 and will relocate the Play 3 to another room.

Sounds very complicated to me. Also, my house is not huge, as you can see in earlier reply.

ratty

I'm unsure what "@144" signifies. Lost in translation I'm afraid. Square feet?

For quality listening you might want a pair of PLAY:5s. They'll fill quite a decent sized room. On the other hand a pair of PLAY:1s plus a SUB might suffice. A SUB provides low frequency support, most noticeably with the little PLAY:1s.

Putting a toe in the water with two PLAY:1s to start with won't be a bad move, however you eventually end up. They're pretty versatile.

Bonding into a stereo pair is trivially easy, and takes seconds.

R

ramcclainAuthor

Contributor I

Yep, sorry. Square feet. Thanks for your advice. Do I understand that each of these speakers is a stand alone, and no other device is needed to sync with an app?

Airgetlam

It can be, if you're using your own wifi. Or it can be wired directly to your router, and then not only will it play the music, but it will create a second "mesh" network that any other Sonos speakers would connect to, without using up the bandwidth on your router. But either way, with your own wifi, or setting up the Sonosnet, you'd be fine.

And I'd second the whole "dipping your toe in the water" with a Play:1 or a pair of them, to see how the system works. Once you've done that, you'll likely be purchasing a sub, if you're doing serious listening, and then some Play:3s or Play:5s.

They are pretty good speakers, and the whole networking thing makes them just that much better. No longer a need to trail those pesky speaker wires everywhere, just needs a plug for power, and you're good to go!

Bruce

K

Kumar

I'd second the whole "dipping your toe in the water" with a Play:1 or a pair of them, to see how the system works.

I agree; those are the most versatile things Sonos has made till now for music at home, and perform very well as very flexible and discreet building blocks for systems that can range from "cheap and cheerful" all the way to "HIFi for serious listening". Except perhaps for adding a Sub in the room where you must have the best possible sound, you may never need any other product in the range.

Sonos does need a stable home WiFi environment, as a foundation for working well, something to be aware of. Also, Sonos is a lot easier to use than to describe its use to someone.

O

Oscars grandad

Lyricist I

Hi, I started earlier this year by buying 1 play 1 to replace my old apple iPod dock. After installing my first play1 in just a few minutes, I was hooked. A few hours later (literally two hours) I went back to the shop and bought another 3 play1 a connect to use with a prewired set of speakers in the bathroom, and a boost to save on wifi bandwidth. Any music I have stored on any device in my home can now be played in any of five rooms in my house. I have also set up a stereo pair easily. If you wanted you could change them about such as using 4 in one room if you had a party. If you try one, be careful, you will want more.

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