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  • Any Sonos experts?
  • bluearsedfly
    Free Member

    Reet.

    We’ve recently moved and now have more space, the kids are older and not in bed at 6pm so it’s time to finally add some kind of music system downstairs.

    I originally wanted a Play 5 for the dining room after hearing one at a friends party but now fancy the idea of starting off with a Playbar in the living room and slowly adding bits on, a sub and a couple of 1s etc for a surround/music system.

    I had previously read the Playbar isn’t great at streaming music/playing off idevices etc but all the current bumpf implies you can? Will the Playbar on its own be ok for music until I get clearance from my domestic operations manager to add more bits or will it need a bit more oomph from the start?

    Or should I ignore Sonos altogether and try something else?

    tuskaloosa
    Free Member

    I find the 1’s more than adequate for the living room.

    The 5 sounds way better than the Playbar though and has an inline option

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    We have a couple of 1’s and I’m amazed at how much sounds they can output – only for streaming though.

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    Why start with the Playbar? Is it because you want to use it for the TV? If not I’d start with a pair of Play1s that can be a stereo pair or used alone. As your system grows you could use them as rears in a 5.1 setup.

    zinaru
    Free Member

    I’m on my second full house sonos set up (first was sold as part of the last house). its a mixture of connect amps and connects with speakers in walls or ceilings.

    i cant fault the whole thing, a house full of music with no clutter at all. music sits on its one wireless hard-drive and everything just works. living in an old cottage with thick walls means ‘party mode’ is ‘normal mode’.

    RobHilton
    Free Member

    my domestic operations
    manager

    You are subordinate unerderling bluearsedfly and I claim your 5 lashes

    Freester
    Full Member

    I had previously read the Playbar isn’t great at streaming music/playing off idevices etc but all the current bumpf implies you can? Will the Playbar on its own be ok for music until I get clearance from my domestic operations manager to add more bits or will it need a bit more oomph from the start?

    Dunno where you read that. Playbar is fine for music. This is how I started in my first house. Playbar for the TV plus added bonus of music etc via NAS Drive / Streaming etc.

    When I moved into a bigger house I added a Play 1 to the kitchen and bedroom.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    isn’t great at streaming music/playing off idevices

    You probably want to read into this a bit if that’s important to you. Can’t (easily) stream directly off an iDevice to Sonos.

    Freester
    Full Member

    You probably want to read into this a bit if that’s important to you. Can’t (easily) stream directly off an iDevice to Sonos.

    Admittedly I don’t have any Apple devices but when I was looking at a Playbar this is exactly how the guy in the store (local independent) demo’d the playbar streaming tracks from his iPhone.

    http://blog.sonos.com/cool-music-news/sonos-now-plays-itunes-music-and-podcasts-directly-from-iphone

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Ah yes, but has to be done via the Sonos app, and it’s limited.

    What you can’t easily do is be listening to something via some other app on the iDevice and then just decide to stream that to the Sonos, in the same way you can with something like AirPlay. Or maybe be watching some video on the iPad and want the audio via the Sonos, which again you could do with an Airplay speaker.

    There are ways around that though.

    Freester
    Full Member

    What you can’t easily do is be listening to something via some other app on the iDevice and then just decide to stream that to the Sonos, in the same way you can with something like AirPlay. Or maybe be watching some video on the iPad and want the audio via the Sonos, which again you could do with an Airplay speaker.

    Ahh righto see where you’re coming from.

    Same on Android actually. Youtube audio on Sonos from your Apple or Android device anyone?

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    You can do it if you hook up something like an AirPort or Apple TV to the back of a Sonos and stream via that (here).

    Freester
    Full Member

    Or by Chromecast via the TV or Audio Chromecast via the Sonos Line in.

    convert
    Full Member

    Oh, this is me too. New place to live in a few months which will mean new telly and music provision etc. A fresh start.

    My first instinct was to (subject to financial controller approval) sonos the lot, but reading the above I’m going off that a bit. I had just assumed that you could just use whatever audio/video source you wanted (spotify/iplayer radio/netflix etc) but if it’s more propriety than that without lots of workarounds the appeal wanes. Has anyone who has bought into Sonos and then decided to add surround sound to their TV not used a sonos solution and just bought something standalone?

    paulx
    Free Member

    We have a Sonos Play 5 – the original one and its brilliant, however the new Play 5 is really much better at kicking out some serious bass for the size of the thing.

    We also have a Connect 100 amp connected to 4 speakers in the kitchen ceiling and another Connect ZP80 connected to my old Arcam HiFi amp running thru my old monitor audio speakers in the office.

    I’d start with the Play 5 and add to it from from there. The Play 5 is portable so you can stick it anywhere in the house – if you start with the sound bar it will just end up under the TV.

    To make it more versatile we have a Chromcast Audio thingy – (£14 from Currys) plugged into the Play 5 – that way you can cast / stream YouTube, iTunes etc off any device into the Sonos and select which Sonos player (or all of them) you want to hear it from.

    The Chromcast audio really has added to the versatility of the Sonos setup.

    bluearsedfly
    Free Member

    Some interesting reading, thanks. Even if I have been outed as a Dom!

    Have to agree, was really impressed with the new 5. It packs a decent punch for the size of it.

    The reason I fancy a playbar is that it kind of kills two birds with one stone, we get to stream/play music along with the added bonus of being able to build up a decent home cinema system where as the Play 5 would be limited to music only duties.

    I presume having a smart tv all the apps like YouTube etc will play through the set up ok? It would just be an issue directly between a device and Sonos? I have a Panasonic tv and can drag any media through the app on my phone to play on the tv so I’m hoping that would help?

    gravity-slave
    Free Member

    The PlayBar is great. It just connects to the TV via optical out and replaces your speakers, so should play all sources.

    If you are looking to go full surround, be aware that not many TVs pass 5.1 sound through the optical port, you the PlayBar ends up just receiving stereo and having to upmix, so you either need a TV that passes 5.1, or an HDMI/optical switch. There’s info on this on the Sonos forums.

    We started with a PlayBar, now have a Connect, 1 and 5. The 1 is the best bang for the cash and a pair would be great.

    As above, Chromecast Audio looks very promising, if I expand to speakers I’ll do it this wayi think.

    bluearsedfly
    Free Member

    If you are looking to go full surround, be aware that not many TVs pass 5.1 sound through the optical port, you the PlayBar ends up just receiving stereo and having to upmix, so you either need a TV that passes 5.1, or an HDMI/optical switch. There’s info on this on the Sonos forums.

    See, it’s things like this that put me off. How would a casual punter like me be expected to know things like this? How do I find out if my tv does?

    http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv—all/panasonic/viera-tx50cx680b/pana-tx50cx680b

    gravity-slave
    Free Member

    Richer sounds are pretty good and should offer advice or agree a try and return if it doesn’t.

    From the Sonos app you can find out what the PlayBar is getting as an input.

    I think more modern TV’s are supporting pass through.

    But yup, confusing, annoying and not clear at point of purchase so beware.

    nicko74
    Full Member

    To the OP: I’ve switched over to Sonos recently, from a different streaming setup. So far it’s good – it’s very reliable, I’ve had few software crashes and so on.

    I started with a Play 1 to see how I liked it, then bought another couple and a Connect to attach to my existing amp.

    I looked at the Play 5 for the kitchen/ dining room, as it’s a big space, but the price difference over a pair of Play 1s – especially given I’m listening to a lot of radio, so not amazing quality streams – just didn’t seem worth it.

    I have a NAS for all my music, plus listen to a lot of BBC and other radio stations. I’ve also found that (on Android), if you’re playing Google Music, you can then stream it directly to the Sonos – even though I haven’t installed Google Music on the Sonos itself (it needs a premium account).

    tl:dr – definitely worth getting into Sonos, but don’t discount a couple of Play 1s to start, and then build as you go.

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