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No real pitfalls other than they are quite costly. They work well.
*** Official SONOS Thread ***
- Thread starter RoyMi6
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Soldato
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- 6 Sep 2016
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Yeah not exactly cheap, £450 pet streamer
If you're not in to very hi-res audio streaming then Sonos is good. I'll second @bazzabear's comment that Sons is very easy to live with.
Bluestream and Yamaha Musicast are also worth a look too.
Bluestream and Yamaha Musicast are also worth a look too.
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Man of Honour
Haven't we worked out that hi res audio is all marketing junk? I'm sure that was the case a few years back. Sonos already supports lossless CD quality.
But I think they are starting to add 'hi res' with the S2 app, starting with the new soundbar thing.
My Sonos sounds pretty good, not as good as my 'proper hifi', but 99 times out of 100 I'll shout at Alexa to play something in whatever room I'm in and life is good. The rooms where I have it hooked up to amps + proper speakers are great, the Play 5s are nice, and the Play 1s are good for small rooms or when they can be positioned on a not-entirely-solid surface (or in a corner) so you get a bit more bass.
It also just works with tunein, Spotify, Amazon, NAS collection, etc.
Makes the 1 time out of 100 (OK 1 in 1000) I go to the man cave to actually 'listen' to something even better I guess, but for everyday convenience it's hard to beat the Sonos stuff.
I admit to wanting the new Arc and not being too happy at needing to replace my old amps+connect if I want this new S2 thing, but it's less costly than upgrading laptops every few years....
But I think they are starting to add 'hi res' with the S2 app, starting with the new soundbar thing.
My Sonos sounds pretty good, not as good as my 'proper hifi', but 99 times out of 100 I'll shout at Alexa to play something in whatever room I'm in and life is good. The rooms where I have it hooked up to amps + proper speakers are great, the Play 5s are nice, and the Play 1s are good for small rooms or when they can be positioned on a not-entirely-solid surface (or in a corner) so you get a bit more bass.
It also just works with tunein, Spotify, Amazon, NAS collection, etc.
Makes the 1 time out of 100 (OK 1 in 1000) I go to the man cave to actually 'listen' to something even better I guess, but for everyday convenience it's hard to beat the Sonos stuff.
I admit to wanting the new Arc and not being too happy at needing to replace my old amps+connect if I want this new S2 thing, but it's less costly than upgrading laptops every few years....
Really; have 'we'? Who is we, and why wasn't I informed of this unilateral decision by the mysterious 'we'?
I think it's true to say that Hi-Res Audio (HRA) isn't for everyone. It's the same with a lot of things that have diminishing returns, be it wine or DVD-to-HD-to-UHD-to-8K or cars of audio gear. This list isn't anywhere near comprehensive. The point with HRA is that there are a lot of hurdles to overcome just in getting the signal to someone's ears without mashing it. Even then, whether the person listening can appreciate the difference is a whole extra layer of complication.
Setting all this aside though, the fact is that several of the major streaming services offer HRA subs packages, and that there's a whole raft of gear out there compatible with 24/96 and 24/192 audio signals. Sonos S2 still doesn't go that high.
They've improved the resolution from 16bit/48kHz to 24bit/48kHz, but gone no further. They're doing HRA but it's not the full fat or even semi-skimmed version. Even if they did an S3 version which supported 24/192 file playback, the current Sonos hardware would be the limiting factor, and so I doubt you'd hear any difference compared to 24/48. For someone with- or considering- a HRA streaming subscription, I think these are important considerations.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 19 May 2005
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- 6,891
Absolutely love my Sonos,
I've got 9 of them now so one in each room.
Sound quality is good and it's super easy to use.
I've got 9 of them now so one in each room.
Sound quality is good and it's super easy to use.
Yep, same for me. It sometimes takes 10-15 seconds to even find the speakers when I open the app (which is a long time when you want to play something). Overall I'm annoyed that I upgraded the app as it doesn't do anything the old one couldn't.
Soldato
Considering upgrading my Onkyo TX-NR808 with the Sonos Amp, I intially purchased a Port, but now thinking of sending it back to change to the amp and replace. I looked through e-mails and I purchased the Onkyo TX-NR808 in 2010.
System is bi-wired to Kef Reference 1 bookshelf speakers, Meridian CD player, Samsung TV, Apple TV, Sky HD and Sony Blu Ray player.
How good is the virtual centre speaker on the Sonos amp?
System is bi-wired to Kef Reference 1 bookshelf speakers, Meridian CD player, Samsung TV, Apple TV, Sky HD and Sony Blu Ray player.
How good is the virtual centre speaker on the Sonos amp?
Associate
It looks like Sevenoaks Sound and Vision are accepting the Sonos Bridge and giving 30% off with the Trade Up scheme against all Sonos products...... Looks like the bedroom will get a Beam now!
Great deal!
Associate
I had a spare one from a previous purchase that I was about to throw in the bin, saw the deal on HUKD just in time!
I think I can get it for £279.30 which with man maths, seems to cheap to pass up.
Soldato
Which is why Sonos isn’t for you and the tiny percentage of people who care about this stuff, you are not the sonos target audience.Really; have 'we'? Who is we, and why wasn't I informed of this unilateral decision by the mysterious 'we'?
I think it's true to say that Hi-Res Audio (HRA) isn't for everyone. It's the same with a lot of things that have diminishing returns, be it wine or DVD-to-HD-to-UHD-to-8K or cars of audio gear. This list isn't anywhere near comprehensive. The point with HRA is that there are a lot of hurdles to overcome just in getting the signal to someone's ears without mashing it. Even then, whether the person listening can appreciate the difference is a whole extra layer of complication.
Setting all this aside though, the fact is that several of the major streaming services offer HRA subs packages, and that there's a whole raft of gear out there compatible with 24/96 and 24/192 audio signals. Sonos S2 still doesn't go that high.
They've improved the resolution from 16bit/48kHz to 24bit/48kHz, but gone no further. They're doing HRA but it's not the full fat or even semi-skimmed version. Even if they did an S3 version which supported 24/192 file playback, the current Sonos hardware would be the limiting factor, and so I doubt you'd hear any difference compared to 24/48. For someone with- or considering- a HRA streaming subscription, I think these are important considerations.
Man of Honour
I guess you were off the internet that day. It was a good day!Really; have 'we'? Who is we, and why wasn't I informed of this unilateral decision by the mysterious 'we'?
Well that's entirely different, HD/4K picture quality is quantifiably different. You can literally see it. Try playing a VHS on a 65" TV.
And a Ferrari is better than a Skoda. It's faster, the interior is nicer, etc. Depending on what you want to use it for of course....
Yes, sold for easy revenue, probably to most people who can't even play them back, and even if they could, unless their dog is in the room.....
Hi res audio is like arguing that TV signals should include colours in the UV spectrum or that it's great to pretend to annoy bats or some such daft nonsense.
We're thinking about getting a Sonos Beam and 2 Ones for the living room to use it for a surround sound set up. We thought this was the perfect solution as we probably wont use surround sound all the time and would use one of the Ones as a speaker elsewhere in the house.
Bit of reading suggested that they wont work that way and we'd have to do the home theatre set up each time we wanted to use them for surround sound. Seems like it may be a bit of a palaver and makes us think it's probably too much money to spend on something like that just for surround sound when we could pick up dedicated hardware for cheaper/better.
I then remembered that IKEA have the Sonos bookshelf speakers and I believe they work with the Beam. Now wondering if it's worth getting 1 Play speaker rather than 2 and getting 2 of the IKEA bookshelf ones (only about £90 each so still works out a bit cheaper) to pair up with the Beam constantly.
Do they Ones sound considerably better than the IKEA speakers that it's worth the extra cost? Or if anyone has a similar set up, is it quite easy to disconnect the separate speakers and add them back on at a later date?
For what it is worth, the living room is quite small so part of me thinks that the Beam would be more than enough on it's own... But we have 'free' money so don't mind spending a bit extra if it will really make a difference
Bit of reading suggested that they wont work that way and we'd have to do the home theatre set up each time we wanted to use them for surround sound. Seems like it may be a bit of a palaver and makes us think it's probably too much money to spend on something like that just for surround sound when we could pick up dedicated hardware for cheaper/better.
I then remembered that IKEA have the Sonos bookshelf speakers and I believe they work with the Beam. Now wondering if it's worth getting 1 Play speaker rather than 2 and getting 2 of the IKEA bookshelf ones (only about £90 each so still works out a bit cheaper) to pair up with the Beam constantly.
Do they Ones sound considerably better than the IKEA speakers that it's worth the extra cost? Or if anyone has a similar set up, is it quite easy to disconnect the separate speakers and add them back on at a later date?
For what it is worth, the living room is quite small so part of me thinks that the Beam would be more than enough on it's own... But we have 'free' money so don't mind spending a bit extra if it will really make a difference
Soldato
Is the 100 day return guarantee still in place when buying Sonos equipment? If so, does it count if I buy it from Amazon etc or does it have to be bought direct from Sonos? Thinking of buying a Beam to replace my Yamaha soundbar.
Man of Honour
There's zero buying and selling outside of the MM, if it happens again MM access will be permanently removed and suspensions issued, thanks 
I use a Beam and 2 x One’s for my LG C9 in a reasonably small room. Sounds great TBH, and easily enough bass for a small room.
However, if you wanted to use the One’s separately you would need to ungroup the speakers from the Beam each time I believe.
I occasionally play music through all three but have a 5 in the kitchen, a 3 upstairs and a Move for outside, so it’s not something I’ve ever bothered with. Think it would be a bit of faff ungrouping and grouping again all of the time.
Looked at the Ikea speakers but although they’re considerably cheaper they do not sound as good. They might be good enough, but I went for the 2 x One’s instead after reading some reviews that compared both.
Hi, trade up question
I have a gen 1 Play 5 that I registered earlier today but when I click through to 'check trade up eligibility' there is no tick box next to the play 5 - what am i doing wrong? It's registered and working on the S1 app.
I also have gen 2 products on the S2 app, but pretty sure thats not causing issues with the trade up.
This is what I see:
Thanks, Kris
I have a gen 1 Play 5 that I registered earlier today but when I click through to 'check trade up eligibility' there is no tick box next to the play 5 - what am i doing wrong? It's registered and working on the S1 app.
I also have gen 2 products on the S2 app, but pretty sure thats not causing issues with the trade up.
This is what I see:
Thanks, Kris