Anyone use a Sonos?

[king3pj]

I'm curious if anyone here has any experience with Sonos? I'm getting my friend a either a Play 1 or Play 3 as a wedding gift. They registered for the Play 1 but he's my best friend and I'm one of the groomsmen so I don't mind splurging for a Play 3 if their is a substantial difference.

I've talked to the bride and she told me my friend is planning to put several of these around their house. They only asked for one and he is going to buy the rest. They currently use those Bluetooth Jambox speakers and want to upgrade for a whole home system with better sound.

These Sonos devices have a lot of cool features but they look very similar to the little Bluetooth speakers they are trying to upgrade from. This is why I was considering spending the extra $100 for a Play 3. For those who use these devices, is it worth the extra money?

I had never even considered Sonos before but after looking into this stuff I wouldn't mind a setup for my house if the quality is really there. I would hook a Sonos Connect to my Onkyo AVR in the living room and maybe a Play 3 in my kitchen.

The one thing (besides pricing) that has me questioning any of this for my own setup is that Amazon Prime Music, which I currently use a lot, is not currently compatible. Music you own can be streamed from Amazon Music but not all the stuff that comes with your Prime subscription. The same limitation is in place for Apple's music subscription.

I'm not sure why Pandora and Spotify are both allowed to stream subscription music to these devices but Amazon and Apple are restricting it to stuff you own.

 

[Foxbat]

With the Sonos One, it can only produce a single channel of sound so you need two to produce stereo. The Sonos Three can produce stereo sound on its own or can be paired for true stereo separation. I'd say spend the extra $100 (but it isn't my money!) as the extra sound and flexibility seems worth it in my book. Just be expected to help them get it set up with their WiFi router.

I've always used Apple AirPort Express or Apple TV with my music systems to play music from my iTunes or use AirPlay so apps can send output to the same systems. But for a new setup the Sonos system looks very attractive, especially if they have it on their Registry.

 

[king3pj]

With the Sonos One, it can only produce a single channel of sound so you need two to produce stereo. The Sonos Three can produce stereo sound on its own or can be paired for true stereo separation. I'd say spend the extra $100 (but it isn't my money!) as the extra sound and flexibility seems worth it in my book. Just be expected to help them get it set up with their WiFi router.

I've always used Apple AirPort Express or Apple TV with my music systems to play music from my iTunes or use AirPlay so apps can send output to the same systems. But for a new setup the Sonos system looks very attractive, especially if they have it on their Registry.

Yeah I went with the play 3 and they love it. They actually ordered a few more play 3 speakers already. They didn't want to go with the play 1 for other rooms like they originally planned after hearing the play 3 in action. I haven't heard it for myself yet but I will get a chance to check the system out at their Halloween party.

I will say that the Sonos whole home audio system sounds like a cool idea but at $300 per room it's a bit pricy to get setup. The people I bought it for are always the hosts when our friends get together though. They love to throw parties and they really wanted an easy to use system they could play throughout the house.