Discussion
Been considering a Sonos for a while now. Have made a few enquires is various shops but as usual sales staff know very little about what they're selling.
Was hoping a few on here could advise.
Looking to buy
Bridge £39
Play 3 £249
Connect £279
I've not found anywhere giving discounts or offers on these but if anyone knows where there is that would be great.
My other questions are with regard to the streaming.
If I am listening to the Play 3 using spotify can I listen to a different track using spotify on the Connect? I know I currently can only log in and listen on one pc at a time. Is it the same for sonos?
Thanks
Was hoping a few on here could advise.
Looking to buy
Bridge £39
Play 3 £249
Connect £279
I've not found anywhere giving discounts or offers on these but if anyone knows where there is that would be great.
My other questions are with regard to the streaming.
If I am listening to the Play 3 using spotify can I listen to a different track using spotify on the Connect? I know I currently can only log in and listen on one pc at a time. Is it the same for sonos?
Thanks
Thanks for that, a great help. I was considering a NAS for when one stream was in use but it seems if you can multi stream, thats not so much of an issue.
We can't afford to get the 2nd play from the outset, that means unplugging and moving the Play unit around. Is it a case of plug (back in) and play or will the unit need to be synced and set up again?
I almost resent having to buy a 'Bridge' at £40. I know there have been offers on this before i.e free but is anywhere/one still doing this?
Ironically I resent even more buying a Connect which is a play but without the speakers but for more money! I like how Sonos works but by eck its expensive! Sadly I've not found any other suitable option.
We both run android phones which I understand have a controller app. The other item i'm looking to buy is a Nexus 7 tablet. Have you any experiance of these as a controller? Is there a better option?
Thanks for the advice. I've had a look at your website, if there is anything you think you could help with drop me a PM.
Cheers
Rick.
We can't afford to get the 2nd play from the outset, that means unplugging and moving the Play unit around. Is it a case of plug (back in) and play or will the unit need to be synced and set up again?
I almost resent having to buy a 'Bridge' at £40. I know there have been offers on this before i.e free but is anywhere/one still doing this?
Ironically I resent even more buying a Connect which is a play but without the speakers but for more money! I like how Sonos works but by eck its expensive! Sadly I've not found any other suitable option.
We both run android phones which I understand have a controller app. The other item i'm looking to buy is a Nexus 7 tablet. Have you any experiance of these as a controller? Is there a better option?
Thanks for the advice. I've had a look at your website, if there is anything you think you could help with drop me a PM.
Cheers
Rick.
Edited by Rick101 on Sunday 5th August 21:32
Edited by Rick101 on Sunday 5th August 21:36
Rick101 said:
I like how Sonos works but by eck its expensive! Sadly I've not found any other suitable option.
Have you looked at Squeezebox? basically the same thing. The biggest difference as far as I can tell is that you need squeeze-server running somewhere in your network and it's slightly more technical to get up and running.Rick101 said:
If I am listening to the Play 3 using spotify can I listen to a different track using spotify on the Connect? I know I currently can only log in and listen on one pc at a time. Is it the same for sonos?
Thanks
This is one of the great things about Sonos - Spotify see the whole set-up as one client and definitely allows multiple streams (or at least it did when I last tried it a few months ago). I have had three different songs running at once before.Thanks
Rick101 said:
Thanks for that, a great help. I was considering a NAS for when one stream was in use but it seems if you can multi stream, thats not so much of an issue.
We can't afford to get the 2nd play from the outset, that means unplugging and moving the Play unit around. Is it a case of plug (back in) and play or will the unit need to be synced and set up again?
I almost resent having to buy a 'Bridge' at £40. I know there have been offers on this before i.e free but is anywhere/one still doing this?
Ironically I resent even more buying a Connect which is a play but without the speakers but for more money! I like how Sonos works but by eck its expensive! Sadly I've not found any other suitable option.
We both run android phones which I understand have a controller app. The other item i'm looking to buy is a Nexus 7 tablet. Have you any experiance of these as a controller? Is there a better option?
Thanks for the advice. I've had a look at your website, if there is anything you think you could help with drop me a PM.
Cheers
Rick.
A little while ago, John Lewis were doing a free Bridge with any 3 or 5. Don't know if the promo is still on or not. I saw it at High Wycombe.We can't afford to get the 2nd play from the outset, that means unplugging and moving the Play unit around. Is it a case of plug (back in) and play or will the unit need to be synced and set up again?
I almost resent having to buy a 'Bridge' at £40. I know there have been offers on this before i.e free but is anywhere/one still doing this?
Ironically I resent even more buying a Connect which is a play but without the speakers but for more money! I like how Sonos works but by eck its expensive! Sadly I've not found any other suitable option.
We both run android phones which I understand have a controller app. The other item i'm looking to buy is a Nexus 7 tablet. Have you any experiance of these as a controller? Is there a better option?
Thanks for the advice. I've had a look at your website, if there is anything you think you could help with drop me a PM.
Cheers
Rick.
Edited by Rick101 on Sunday 5th August 21:32
Edited by Rick101 on Sunday 5th August 21:36
Thanks all,
Invested in a Nexus 7 this morning to use as a controller (amongst other things) £208.
Mrs has given me the go ahead to get the Sonos equipment so I'll be buying this week.
As said above prices seem pretty fixed but if I can get some sort of offer or deal somewhere i'll happily take it.
Going to try Richer, J Lewis and the Sonos store in Harrogate.
Invested in a Nexus 7 this morning to use as a controller (amongst other things) £208.
Mrs has given me the go ahead to get the Sonos equipment so I'll be buying this week.
As said above prices seem pretty fixed but if I can get some sort of offer or deal somewhere i'll happily take it.
Going to try Richer, J Lewis and the Sonos store in Harrogate.
Rick101 said:
Thanks all,
Invested in a Nexus 7 this morning to use as a controller (amongst other things) £208.
Mrs has given me the go ahead to get the Sonos equipment so I'll be buying this week.
As said above prices seem pretty fixed but if I can get some sort of offer or deal somewhere i'll happily take it.
Going to try Richer, J Lewis and the Sonos store in Harrogate.
Sonos store in Harrogate? Where's that?Invested in a Nexus 7 this morning to use as a controller (amongst other things) £208.
Mrs has given me the go ahead to get the Sonos equipment so I'll be buying this week.
As said above prices seem pretty fixed but if I can get some sort of offer or deal somewhere i'll happily take it.
Going to try Richer, J Lewis and the Sonos store in Harrogate.
Simply Sonos Harrogate - http://www.simplysonos.co.uk/index.html
Ended up buying from Richer. Gave me a good price on the phone of £519 iirc for the 3 items above.
After comparing the Play 3 with the 5 in store I asked them to quote me for the bigger speaker.
We dealt at £599.99 for a Connect, a Bridge and a Play 5.
Simply Sonos gave me a good (similar) price by email but I didn't pick it up until after I'd done the deal with Richer.
Ended up buying from Richer. Gave me a good price on the phone of £519 iirc for the 3 items above.
After comparing the Play 3 with the 5 in store I asked them to quote me for the bigger speaker.
We dealt at £599.99 for a Connect, a Bridge and a Play 5.
Simply Sonos gave me a good (similar) price by email but I didn't pick it up until after I'd done the deal with Richer.
Sonos is expensive because its that good, the sound quality of the speakers is fantastic. I've had an S5 + bridge for 18 months or so and use it daily with Spotify. They work brilliantly and the sound quality is superb. I've tried a number of systems before this btw.
First off, used an Apple Airport, plugged into a decent Sony stereo with Itunes on a laptop. Sound quality was ok but the interface wasn't great. You'd need to have the laptop on to access music, obviously and Itunes isn't the best software. I'd occasionally have issues with sound dropping as well. Difficult to transfer the system to another room and big bulky stereo with separate speakers wasn't great.
So then I decided to try a Logitech Squeezebox Duet, again connected to the same Sony stereo with separate speakers. Worked ok and the Logitech remote meant you could carry it around the house. It would access my NAS drive for music, meaning no more laptop access. But the user interface on the remote was poor, the sound quality was ok again and had no loss of sound at anytime, so more reliable.
Finally, I took the plunge and spent cash on the S5 with bridge and instantly realised it was the holy grail. I'm considering buying an S3 now tbh for another room. Good thing about the Sonos as well is, you can stream different music to different rooms, or have all rooms play the same music, or even have 2 speakers in the same room to act as stereo.
Good deal on the S3 here at the moment -> http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sonos-play-3-black...
If your still not convinced, go into Currys where they seem to be showcasing Sonos products at the moment.
First off, used an Apple Airport, plugged into a decent Sony stereo with Itunes on a laptop. Sound quality was ok but the interface wasn't great. You'd need to have the laptop on to access music, obviously and Itunes isn't the best software. I'd occasionally have issues with sound dropping as well. Difficult to transfer the system to another room and big bulky stereo with separate speakers wasn't great.
So then I decided to try a Logitech Squeezebox Duet, again connected to the same Sony stereo with separate speakers. Worked ok and the Logitech remote meant you could carry it around the house. It would access my NAS drive for music, meaning no more laptop access. But the user interface on the remote was poor, the sound quality was ok again and had no loss of sound at anytime, so more reliable.
Finally, I took the plunge and spent cash on the S5 with bridge and instantly realised it was the holy grail. I'm considering buying an S3 now tbh for another room. Good thing about the Sonos as well is, you can stream different music to different rooms, or have all rooms play the same music, or even have 2 speakers in the same room to act as stereo.
Good deal on the S3 here at the moment -> http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sonos-play-3-black...
If your still not convinced, go into Currys where they seem to be showcasing Sonos products at the moment.
zedx19 said:
Sonos is expensive because its that good, the sound quality of the speakers is fantastic.
I would have to dissagre. It's a good sounds but far from fantastic.For the amount of money these things cost you could buy a pretty impressive HiFi system with far superior sound.
I think Sonos is a bloody rip off, but I'm still willing to part with my cash because it does something I need with ease and efficiency. I couldn't find another product offering the same, for less.
I tried a Sonos system in a shop once and that was my only experience with it. The salesman said it was easier to set up than a Squeezebox but achieved similar functionality. If you use digital out then I don't see the point in spending the money on a Sonos. I now run Squeezeboxes all round the house using digital out only.
If you wish to achieve multi-room on the cheap (and have a little technical know-how) look into running Squeeze server on an O2 Joggler. Basically you end up with equivalent of a Squeezebox touch for around £50-60. If you want decent sound you can connect a USB DAC or modify the unit to take an SPDIF or optical out. If you have a smart phone or tablet you can use that as the ultimate controller using Squeeze Commander app (or equivalent) and you have a great versatile multi-room system. The Squeeze Commander app is fantastic - way better than the standard Duet remote if used on anything with a decent screen.
If you wish to achieve multi-room on the cheap (and have a little technical know-how) look into running Squeeze server on an O2 Joggler. Basically you end up with equivalent of a Squeezebox touch for around £50-60. If you want decent sound you can connect a USB DAC or modify the unit to take an SPDIF or optical out. If you have a smart phone or tablet you can use that as the ultimate controller using Squeeze Commander app (or equivalent) and you have a great versatile multi-room system. The Squeeze Commander app is fantastic - way better than the standard Duet remote if used on anything with a decent screen.
Teetertank said:
If you wish to achieve multi-room on the cheap (and have a little technical know-how) look into running Squeeze server on an O2 Joggler. Basically you end up with equivalent of a Squeezebox touch for around £50-60. If you want decent sound you can connect a USB DAC or modify the unit to take an SPDIF or optical out. If you have a smart phone or tablet you can use that as the ultimate controller using Squeeze Commander app (or equivalent) and you have a great versatile multi-room system.
DoctorX said:
I suspect this is why many buy a Sonos. I'm sure you're right but, frankly, I've no idea what you're talking about.
Yes, if you want something that works out of the box then a Sonos is the way to go.If you want something a little cheaper but can achieve the same then Squeezeboxes.
If you want to achieve the same on the cheap then hack an O2 Joggler.
EXPENSIVE > MID PRICE > CHEAP
USER FRIENDLY > NOT BAD > NEED SOME SAVVY
Sonos > Squeezebox > O2 Joggler
The Joggler is a now discontinued 7" touch screen tablet type device that can run various operating systems. You can add to the Joggler the software than runs a Squeezebox thus effectively turning it into one.
With a Joggler, the audio output as standard is through 3.5mm headphone jack plug, the digital output suggestions above would be worth it if you were looking for ultimate fidelity, if not then you can just tap off audio as though it was an iPod or similar. But if you added off board digital to analogue converters then you would probably end up with a cheaper yet better than Sonos system. You would need additional amps and speakers though - this is not a one box solution where speakers are built-in, you would connect this to an existing hi-fi or speaker system.
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