Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

Do the speakers have any sort of battery whatsoever or do they have to be plugged in at all times during use? My deck has no outlet.

They do not have a portable sonos speaker yet, no.  Because they all have at least one amp that needs to be powered, they all need to be plugged in to a power source to operate.

This is the #1 request in the community right now and Sonos has been pretty steadfast that doing so with current technology would degrade the sound quality to a level they are not comfortable with.

A competitor has done it though.

Hmm. I'll have to figure out something there.

[Yada]

This fits the bill for outdoors, but my biggest gripe with Sonos is the non outdoor speaker.

UE Mini Boom

[vansmack]

I think that maybe part of the knock on "wireless" speakers.

Sonos works over WiFi and can transmit much more data much more quickly at a much greater range.

Bluetooth speakers are low power, low data and low distance.

Putting any BT speaker in the same category as a WiFi speaker is apples to oranges, albeit in the outdoor portable category, it's the only option. 

Truthfully, I dislike BT sound so much, I have a rechargeable speaker that I plug a phone into rather than use BT.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

Managed to find a brand new in box Sonos soundbar and two (one new, one used) Play:1s off craigslist for $820 total. Very impressive clear sound. Need to spend more time researching all the online music services it integrates as I've never used/signed up for any of those (sans the MLB audio) but physical setup and integrating my entire library and getting the app on my three iOS devices was right at an hour. I like the radio integration since my place is older with thick brick walls and NPR and the two local indie stations have poor antenna reception inside, and it will make it much easier for me to listen to Michigan Insider with Jim Harbaugh every week without firing up a laptop and listening through the tiny speakers.

I'm going to have to play around with a Play:1s in another room this week when I have more time to get a better sense of how much sound one produces on it's own but thinking the kitchen, master bedroom, and parlor might be better off with a 3s or 5s in a month or two when I expand out my system. Need to find some place I can actually hear all three models one at a time to decide if the sliding hundred dollar price scale between each of the three is legitimately worth it since my rooms are not enormous.

[grateful]

I still can't quite wrap my head around buying a bunch of mono speakers and having them all play simultaneously.  It's only the 5 that's true stereo, yes?

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

I still can't quite wrap my head around buying a bunch of mono speakers and having them all play simultaneously.  It's only the 5 that's true stereo, yes?

I don't think that's correct. The Play:3 when put in horizontal mode has left and right speakers in it and assigns the left and right channels of any stereo recording to them automatically, from everything I've read. (Obviously this does not provide you good stereo separation as two speakers placed ten feet apart.) If you're planning on putting two 3s in the same room like as part of an actual physical surround-sound setup, you put the speakers in vertical mode and it runs the entire speaker as a mono device then.

[grateful]

But that costs you $600.  For 2 speakers.  You can buy phenomenal bookshelf speakers for that.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

I made it quite clear that I wanted someone else to make my purchasing decision for me and I could not run wires where I am at. Take it up with Smackie.

*kind of just ambles out of the thread*

[vansmack]

I still can't quite wrap my head around buying a bunch of mono speakers and having them all play simultaneously.  It's only the 5 that's true stereo, yes?

No, the Play:1 is the only mono speaker in the bunch.  But if you have two and assign it to channels with the app, you no longer have that problem, hence why I told Jules to buy 2 and assign one to the left and one to the right.

The PLAYBAR has nine amplified speakers ? six 3.5-inch midrange drivers and three 1-inch tweeters that provide a Left, Right and Center setup.  Add the Play:1's and you've got a 5 channel system, and if you're completely insane you'll add the sub woofer for full 5.1.

[vansmack]

But that costs you $600.  For 2 speakers.  You can buy phenomenal bookshelf speakers for that.

Have you priced out what it costs to run speaker wire through the walls, and to multiple rooms?

$600 all of a sudden looks cheap, and 2 Play:1's only cost $400.

And that's if you live in a home where you can run wires and not, say, in a brick place like Julian where you don't have that option.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

But that costs you $600.  For 2 speakers. 

I also don't really need 2 speakers for most rooms. From what I see online, most people aren't putting multiple Play3s in anything but their main home theater room. I'm don't exactly need surround-sound to play classical music in the parlor when we're having martinis. So you're talking more $600 ($500 if I buy thru any of the multiple Buy-It now eBay auctions) for 2 rooms.

3 Play3s at like $750 and I have my dining room/kitchen, master bedroom, and parlor done. (And effectively my entire system unless I stumble upon a cheap used Play1 and decide my guest room or bathroom needs audio for some reason or I suffer a brain injury and start liking hiphop and need a subwoofer.)

[grateful]

I guess my thought is that speakers only have one job - reproducing sound.  My BS radar goes off when other features interfere with accurate sound reproduction.

I have not ever heard any Sonos product.  Considering that it uses wi-fi and not bluetooth, there is some preservation of sound quality.  If you're listening to MP3s over wireless speakers, you've already lost the quality fight. 

If you're satisfied with listening to Space Oddity in mono, I've got nothing for you.

[chaz]

But that costs you $600.  For 2 speakers.  You can buy phenomenal bookshelf speakers for that.

I used to have a pair of surrounds from this company.  Prices sure have gone up.  They were nice speakers though.

[vansmack]

I have not ever heard any Sonos product.

Awesome.

[shemptiness]

I got a pair of Play:1's a while back on a Kinja deal.  I think they were $250.  Paired up, they sound great.  I've also used them individually, though the sound suffers.  Don't use them for TV sound, but that's an option down the road with the added soundbar.

Just checked - I paid $350 for the pair.