Sonos...

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rodog123

rodog123

0
Nov 13, 2013
311
Pearland, TX
So we recently purchased 2 Sonos play 1's for my master bed and bath. I must say set up was super easy and I plan on expanding the system. I was shocked at the sound quality of such a small speaker.

Although as my wife pointed out, not a true "wireless" speaker because you need a power cord for each speaker

Love the SONOS app which allows me to control everything from my I pad or Iphone. Our wi-fi connection is pretty good (At&T Uverse) and the speakers play outside under the patio with no problem.

Unfortunatly SONOS does not make a weatherproof speaker although the speakers do play outside @ $200 a pop I dare not leave them in the elements.

We were first considering purchasing a bluetooth battery powered speaker for almost the same price, but after reading the batteries wear down over time we decided on the Sonos play 1's. very happy so far but only time will tell.

I'm totally hooked on these wireless speakers.
 
Another option to consider (this is my setup): Get a sonos connect:amp. Basically it contains everything but the speaker itself. You can then put the sonos connect:amp somewhere indoors (or just waterproof) and connect it to normal waterproof outdoor speakers.
 
The sonos system looks nice. Had I known about it before, the amp with outdoor speakers might have been a nice alternative to what I did to get streaming poolside music, because I'd have had the benefit if sonos-in-the-house. But I'm happy with mine too so will just file that idea for future conversion ;)

That said, if anyone is looking for a weatherproof, standalone Bluetooth system suited for poolside and highly portable, I've had good luck so far with Brookstone's big blue party. It sat out is pouring rain etc. all season an still works like a champ. Downside is that with a lithium battery, you do not want to leave it in direct sun all the time (but in my case, I have a shaded area on my terrace.) With the battery, you likewise want a location you can wire to charge. But the portability is awesome and the sound is great.

I took it into the house for the winter, and use it more than my h's high-end, old-school system ;) Carry it out to the shop if I'm putzing around. Or up the hill if I have guests camping out. So if you're looking for a highly portable solution that packs the power of a much larger system, its a good candidate for that.

I will let you know how the battery holds up.
 
physicsrob said:
Another option to consider (this is my setup): Get a sonos connect:amp. Basically it contains everything but the speaker itself. You can then put the sonos connect:amp somewhere indoors (or just waterproof) and connect it to normal waterproof outdoor speakers.
Click to expand...

I looked at the sonos system as well. Found it to be expensive for what you get. Using all AirPlay technology I can, from my iPhone or iPad, turn on and off different zones. I have Outside, Garage, Living Room, Upstairs. This is done through the Whaale app. You can adjust volume independently and they are in perfect sync.
 
Jabooh1 said:
So you just move them outside when needed? I plan on getting the green Bose speakers connected to a spare receiver with an Apple TV plugged in.
Click to expand...

Yes unplug power and connect on the patio or deck it takes seconds for them to find the wi/fi network again and then you are good do go. I did notice I cannot stream youtube, guess I could work around by getting the playbar, figure I will add it later.
 
We have Sonos, Bose and some other system we use through our Mac mini. I love the Sonos. The sound quality is excellent! I have the app on all my iPads and iPhone and it works flawlessly. My husband said something about buying outdoor speakers and hooking it up to the Sonos through some gizmo. The Sonos wins hands down for me.
 

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Jabooh1 said:
I looked at the sonos system as well. Found it to be expensive for what you get. Using all AirPlay technology I can, from my iPhone or iPad, turn on and off different zones. I have Outside, Garage, Living Room, Upstairs. This is done through the Whaale app. You can adjust volume independently and they are in perfect sync.
Click to expand...

I've been a huge fan of airplay for years and have used it with multiple speakers and devices. I too, thought that the Sonos was overpriced for what you get when compared to devises uses airplay. In practice, I found airplay to work great - but only 95% of the time. I'd have occasions when certain speakers wouldn't show up, and I'd have to restart them or reboot my router. I found myself increasingly annoyed at the 5% of the time it didn't work.

On a whim, I bought a the Sonos Soundbar for one of my tvs as well as two Play 1's to use as rear channel speakers and two plays 2's for use in other parts of the house. I have to say, I LOVE these products. They are very "Apple-like" in their simplicity and ease of setup, they sound great and they work 100% of the time!

They also have some tricks that you can't do on airplay. I have a Play 2 in the Master bathroom that we listen to Pandora on the morning while getting ready. If one person starts the music using their iPhone, then goes out of range (leave the house for work etc.), the music keeps playing. Further, you can stop the music by pushing the stop/play button on the speaker. When you push the button again, it restarts the music on the same channel - even if its a day later - no tinkering with an iPhone/ipad/computer required.
 
physicsrob said:
Another option to consider (this is my setup): Get a sonos connect:amp. Basically it contains everything but the speaker itself. You can then put the sonos connect:amp somewhere indoors (or just waterproof) and connect it to normal waterproof outdoor speakers.
Click to expand...

This is what we did as well and it works great. We have the Sonos soundbar in the living room and I can play all of them at once if I wanted or switch it up between the outside and inside. I think we used Polk outdoor speakers with the Sonos connect amp.
 
rodog123 said:
Yes unplug power and connect on the patio or deck it takes seconds for them to find the wi/fi network again and then you are good do go. I did notice I cannot stream youtube, guess I could work around by getting the playbar, figure I will add it later.
Click to expand...

We love our sonos stuff as well. You should be able to stream anything (including youtube) by selecting play from this device in your phone or tablet.

We love the playbar and sub! But, had to run optical cable from directv box direct to playbar and not through tv so that we could get dolby digital 5.1. TV only passed through stereo audio. BIG difference in sound.
 
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