Glad this thread is still going. Went to Best Buy the night before last and they had most of the wireless speakers side by side. I listed to the Play 1, 2 and 3 then listened to the Samsung Rx series and finally the Bose SoundTouch. My thoughts
Sonos
The Play 5 certainly sounds like a generation better than the Play 1 & 2. Hopefully Sonos will get revamped 1 & 2 models out in 2016. Love the Play 5 form factor. Sonos did a great job with the fit and finish.
Samsung
I actually was surprised with the sound quality of the R2 and R3. I felt like they had a peaky midrange that jumped out a bit more than the Sonos. They had some Jazz tracks that sounded great. I have no idea about their control software and how good it is but the speakers were better than I expected honestly.
Bose
Yes I've used the phrase "No highs no lows must be Bose" but as far as a lineup of speakers goes they were my favorites. They have a more warm midrange/midbass and the SoundTouch 10 was the best $199 speaker of the lot IMO. The SoundTouch 30 was equal to the Play 5 to my ears in quality and power output. A notable advantage of the Bose is that the new models are Series III and they have Bluetooth natively which can synced across multiple SoundTouch speakers. Wish it had native Airplay but BT ensures that guests can easily play tracks for you.
I'm torn because I like the sound of the Bose system but don't necessarily trust their software yet. Their iOS app is not favorably reviewed. I love the white color the Bose come in.
I did have a chance to demo the Denon Helios and Polk Play-fi systems but they were in another room. I preferred the Denon. I think Polk's offering at the lower end just doesn't hold up well.
What I'm likely going to do is do an in-home test next year of low end systems (roughly $199-249 spkrs) and return the speaker I do not want. I won't base the entire decision on the low end speaker but if i'm honest with myself I know i'm likely going to have a few of the smallest speakers in my home and will augment with the larger systems later
Sonos
The Play 5 certainly sounds like a generation better than the Play 1 & 2. Hopefully Sonos will get revamped 1 & 2 models out in 2016. Love the Play 5 form factor. Sonos did a great job with the fit and finish.
Samsung
I actually was surprised with the sound quality of the R2 and R3. I felt like they had a peaky midrange that jumped out a bit more than the Sonos. They had some Jazz tracks that sounded great. I have no idea about their control software and how good it is but the speakers were better than I expected honestly.
Bose
Yes I've used the phrase "No highs no lows must be Bose" but as far as a lineup of speakers goes they were my favorites. They have a more warm midrange/midbass and the SoundTouch 10 was the best $199 speaker of the lot IMO. The SoundTouch 30 was equal to the Play 5 to my ears in quality and power output. A notable advantage of the Bose is that the new models are Series III and they have Bluetooth natively which can synced across multiple SoundTouch speakers. Wish it had native Airplay but BT ensures that guests can easily play tracks for you.
I'm torn because I like the sound of the Bose system but don't necessarily trust their software yet. Their iOS app is not favorably reviewed. I love the white color the Bose come in.
I did have a chance to demo the Denon Helios and Polk Play-fi systems but they were in another room. I preferred the Denon. I think Polk's offering at the lower end just doesn't hold up well.
What I'm likely going to do is do an in-home test next year of low end systems (roughly $199-249 spkrs) and return the speaker I do not want. I won't base the entire decision on the low end speaker but if i'm honest with myself I know i'm likely going to have a few of the smallest speakers in my home and will augment with the larger systems later