Question

What radio will work alongside sonos speakers

  • 26 August 2017
  • 11 replies
  • 3062 views

From what I have read the sonos speakers have a good reputation, sorry if my questions seem daft but I am after a dab+ radio that is compatable alongside the speakers. I am looking for a radio that not only can be used on the internet but also one that can be used on it's own ( in case the internet goes down) I would like to have the radio in say , the bedroom and then have sonos speakers in say, the kitchen and lounge playing the same music , so that my wife can have music all around the house,( I suppose a multi room system) , but if I am going to have decent speakers I would then like a decent radio to go with them. I don't think sonos make a radio as such but suggest plugging into a current one, whereasI would like a seperate set up.

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11 replies

My Internet connection is stable, but I do not have a smartphone, or ipad, just a laptop which is not always switched on, my impression was that you needed the sonos app to run it
All correct in general, and I see your point; except the need then to also have Sonos. Will you then fire up the laptop for that part of the set up whenever you want to use it?
Note also that there is one way to use Sonos directly, by leaving it on, loading a playlist or station via the app, and then using just the stop/start buttons on the body of the units - I do that often when I can't be bothered to first locate my smartphone or access/open the laptop.
The DAB radio stations will also be a very small subset of the ones available for free on the net. And you will not be able to access the many excellent ones provided by streaming services like Google/Apple.
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My Internet connection is stable, but I do not have a smartphone, or ipad, just a laptop which is not always switched on, my impression was that you needed the sonos app to run it, and I assume you need the app on all the time?looks like I need to look at another system, but thanks for your answers at least it gives me another viewpoint.

No the app is just used to start the radio / music, the controller (iPad/iPhone/Pc/Mac/Android) can be turned off once playing unless of course the music is stored on the device.
No. You should get this system and an Amazon Fire tablet on which to install the controller app. But i have tried my best.....
My Internet connection is stable, but I do not have a smartphone, or ipad, just a laptop which is not always switched on, my impression was that you needed the sonos app to run it, and I assume you need the app on all the time?looks like I need to look at another system, but thanks for your answers at least it gives me another viewpoint.
I understand what you are asking, but I am suggesting it is unnecessary, sub-optimal and a waste of money unless you have a very unreliable internet connection. If you really must do this you need a DAB radio with some form of analogue audio out (a headphone socket might do) and a Sonos component with a line in, the best option in your situation being the Play:5.

But I think this is a daft idea to be honest, if you have a stable internet connection.
Ok, sorry, can i for example have have a roberts stream 65i or a Bose wave sound touch system and connect them to a sonos speaker?
Thank you for your replies, I wanted a "stand alone" style system , using a dab radio joined to the sonos speakers in different rooms - if that makes sense.No, it doesn't really make sense. Apart from having a back up if the internet is unavailable - hopefully a rare event - what are you hoping to gain over using Sonos as designed, which for radio means internet radio.
Thank you for your replies, I wanted a "stand alone" style system , using a dab radio joined to the sonos speakers in different rooms - if that makes sense.
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Just to clarify that Sonos speakers are "Internet Radio's" as supplied, you can add your own stations if you know the URL or just use the inbuilt Radio (TuneIn). If you go to the TuneIn website you will see the vast array of radio stations that are available.
Well, Sonos does supply the options of a line-in on a couple of devices that you might want to do some research on.

The PLAY:5 has a 3.5mm jack in the back of it, the equivalent form factor of a headphone style jack. You can feed this input to any speaker in the Sonos ecosystem, even choosing not to have it on playing on the PLAY:5 if you want.

The other option available is the CONNECT, which provides a stereo pair of RCA jacks, similar to what you'd find on the back of a normal amplifier.

Note that both of these are analog inputs, and as such, incur a slight delay while the signal is processed to make it digital and able to be sync'd across all Sonos speakers. It's about 70 ms, but probably means you wouldn't want to listed to the radio's speaker and your Sonos speakers at the same time.

Sonos makes two devices that have a digital input, both incur minimal delays when accepting a digital signal via their optical inputs. These are the PLAYBAR and PLAYBASE, which are relatively large in width devices intended to be used as TV speaker bars.