IKEA's New 'Symfonisk' Sonos Speakers With AirPlay 2 Now Available for Purchase

[sirozha]

Most reviews are saying the sounds is close to a Sonos One, which is quite good for the cost. If I didn't already have a pair of Play 1s as surrounds for my Sonos Beam, I would definitely be looking at the bookshelf speakers considering the price.
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Hmmm... interesting. Most reviews are saying that the sound is similar to (although not quite as good as) the Sonos One. Can you elaborate on your Ikea experience? Maybe Ikea was playing something awful or the EQ was messed up?
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/sonos-ikea-symfonisk-bookshelf-speaker

I didn't know they were the newly released IKEA speakers. I happened to go to IKEA on the day the speakers were released, and I happened to walk by those speakers. I looked at them and noted that I would never put that junk in my house. They had no definition to the sound. They sounded like $15 generic speakers available from anywhere.

The review you linked to is weird. It says that these are the best bookshelf speakers that they ever tested and in the same sentence it says that Sonos One is better. That makes no sense because sonos One is a bookshelf speaker unless the term "bookshelf speaker" suddenly refers to a speaker that can be used as a bookshelf.

 

[Aegelward]

I didn't know they were the newly released IKEA speakers. I happened to go to IKEA on the day the speakers were released, and I happened to walk by those speakers. I looked at them and noted that I would never put that junk in my house. They had no definition to the sound. They sounded like $15 generic speakers available from anywhere.

The review you linked to is weird. It says that these are the best bookshelf speakers that they ever tested and in the same sentence it says that Sonos One is better. That makes no sense because sonos One is a bookshelf speaker unless the term "bookshelf speaker" suddenly refers to a speaker that can be used as a bookshelf.

To be honest an Ikea store is hardly the ideal demo space, unless they had them set up in some of their room type things. Though even then the acoustics would be fairly different from a typical room.

 

[kis]

I didn't know they were the newly released IKEA speakers. I happened to go to IKEA on the day the speakers were released, and I happened to walk by those speakers. I looked at them and noted that I would never put that junk in my house. They had no definition to the sound. They sounded like $15 generic speakers available from anywhere.

The review you linked to is weird. It says that these are the best bookshelf speakers that they ever tested and in the same sentence it says that Sonos One is better. That makes no sense because sonos One is a bookshelf speaker unless the term "bookshelf speaker" suddenly refers to a speaker that can be used as a bookshelf.

They sound just fine
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Why does a "smart" speaker/light need to have that huge hideous eye sore of a knob on the side? Maybe its just me....but cant I just ask the assistant to turn the light on? Or at least have a physical button on the plate looking thing it sits on....

has this nice retro-feel to it. Love it on mine

 

[MrkJensen]

Hmm...it looks similar to something else. Cant think of what it is.....hmm...I think Apple makes it.

Yeah another pineapple in a sock.

 

[Nuvi]

The Sonos ecosystem spreads like cancer. Why would anybody spend so much on speakers that are so horribly locked in? There is no reason for this high amount of lock-down other than vendor-bondage.

Locked in to what? You can use Sonos basically with every single streaming service there is on top of using it music from hard drive. Also you can use with every platform. So, where is this lock down you’re talking about?

 

[Vjosullivan]

Locked in to what?

Locked into having a choice/making a decision. You'd be surprised just how many people don't like that.

 

[CasparAremi]

How are they locked in? They support AirPlay 2, the Sonos One has Google Assistant and amazon echo built in. They’re easily the most compatible products on the market.

Note they’re based on the Play:1 not the Sonos One. They don’t have Alexa it Google Assistant support built in.
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The review you linked to is weird. It says that these are the best bookshelf speakers that they ever tested and in the same sentence it says that Sonos One is better. That makes no sense because sonos One is a bookshelf speaker unless the term "bookshelf speaker" suddenly refers to a speaker that can be used as a bookshelf.

For contest it says
“The result is that we can confidently say that this is the best-sounding bookshelf we have tested. Though it was never going to rival the Sonos One for sound quality – and it doesn't – the same character is there.”
The Sonos One isn’t a bookshelf speaker. This is a different product. The One is a more expensive speaker more on par with the HomePod.

 

[citysnaps]

Locked in to what? You can use Sonos basically with every single streaming service there is on top of using it music from hard drive. Also you can use with every platform. So, where is this lock down you’re talking about?

Sonos behaves just like a HomePod with Apple Music; ie you don't need another device/computer turned on, and it responds to "Hey Siri play..." commands to play music?

 

[roobarb!]

I'm planning on dropping by the IKEA in Tempe to check these out. I'd be surprised if they sound better than the IKEA Eneby speakers I have.

I was far from taken with the sound of the Eneby speakers, except for the little black portable one with the piece of cork used as a stand; I thought that was really very good for spoken content. These Symfonisk ones sound nice, especially the bookshelf one - the lamp sounds a bit boomy IMHO.

You can use them just as AirPlay 2 speakers and not bother with the whole Sonos thing, though whether that works for a stereo pair, I'm not sure. They have wired connections on the back as well as wireless too.

No voice assistant on these is the one major downside. Otherwise they’re a good addition to the Sonos ecosystem.

It's a major bonus from my side of the fence.

 

[sracer]

I was far from taken with the sound of the Eneby speakers, except for the little black portable one with the piece of cork used as a stand; I thought that was really very good for spoken content. These Symfonisk ones sound nice, especially the bookshelf one - the lamp sounds a bit boomy IMHO.

You can use them just as AirPlay 2 speakers and not bother with the whole Sonos thing, though whether that works for a stereo pair, I'm not sure. They have wired connections on the back as well as wireless too.

Interesting. Responsiveness to sound definitely varies widely by the individual.

I have the large Eneby speaker mounted to the wall in my living room and the sound is exceptional... Evenly responsive across the frequency range, sound is clean from the lowest volume to the max with no perceptible distortion. We have an open floorplan where the living room and kitchen are one large space separated by an island and seating, and that single Eneby can fill the space. I'm looking into getting a 2nd one and modding it to work in tandem with the first.

I also have the mid-sized Eneby (with handle and battery pack) which we use for our backyard patio and entertaining. Guests are amazed at how well that little guy does in terms of both volume and sound quality.

I've got my eye on the smallest Eneby (with the cork stand) but given what I already have, I don't think I have a need for it.

But I am definitely interested in the bookshelf Symfonisk. I'd like to see how well a pair of them do compared to the large Eneby.

I'm impressed with all of IKEA's speakers and the quality offered for the prices they charge.

 

[sirozha]

Note they’re based on the Play:1 not the Sonos One. They don’t have Alexa it Google Assistant support built in.
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For contest it says
“The result is that we can confidently say that this is the best-sounding bookshelf we have tested. Though it was never going to rival the Sonos One for sound quality – and it doesn't – the same character is there.”
The Sonos One isn’t a bookshelf speaker. This is a different product. The One is a more expensive speaker more on par with the HomePod.

The Sonos One / Sonos Play 1 is a bookshelf speaker. Until IKEA decided that you can dual-purpose their speaker as a shelf, the term "bookshelf speaker" meant a small speaker that is normally put on a bookshelf, which is exactly what Sonos One is.

 

[Srinivasankh]

I got this (with the lamp one and NOT bookshelf)yesterday and as of now I am loving it, though I am new to Sonos.
Plus: Cheap, comes with lamp, can be made 'smarter' by adding additional devices from IKEA, decent enough audio for the price tag, Airplay 2.
Minus: No digital assistant built-in, vendor locked-in ?(IKEA and Sonos) though it has Airplay 2, no 360 degree sound, no aux in, no bluetooth!

 

[peterknopp]

so, if you have a sonos play one with voice assistant you can then add the HomePod to sonos - what i want to know is if you buy one of the new Ikea speakers which have airplay 2 and add this IKEA speaker to sonos, will you then be able to add a HomePod . thanks

 

[macdop]

I'm a little unclear here, do I need to have any other accessories, Sonos stuff etc., or setup this speaker with Sonos to use it as another AirPlay 2 zone? I would ideally like to buy it and plug it in and use it with AirPlay 2 without any other accessories or setup. Thanks!

 

[Mitochris]

I'm a little unclear here, do I need to have any other accessories, Sonos stuff etc., or setup this speaker with Sonos to use it as another AirPlay 2 zone? I would ideally like to buy it and plug it in and use it with AirPlay 2 without any other accessories or setup. Thanks!

As far as I understand, that’s all you need.

 

[bodonnell202]

I'm a little unclear here, do I need to have any other accessories, Sonos stuff etc., or setup this speaker with Sonos to use it as another AirPlay 2 zone? I would ideally like to buy it and plug it in and use it with AirPlay 2 without any other accessories or setup. Thanks!

You don't need anything other than what's in the box, and the Sonos App on your phone or tablet (and this is only required for the initial setup, you don't have to use it again once setup if you prefer to do everything through Airplay). It hooks directly up to your wifi - no bridges, hubs or anything of the sort is required.

 

[Arran]

The bookshelf speakers sound awful. I saw them at an IKEA store today - was there for a different reason.

Going through the TruePlay tuning process makes a HUGE difference. It only takes a couple of minutes to tune the speakers to your room's acoustics.

I have a two bookshelf speakers at home hidden behind a sideboard. The speakers are paired for stereo and fire out sideways from behind the sideboard in opposite directions. I didn't expect it to sound great, but I wanted the speakers completely hidden.

Without Trueplay it sounds terrible. Really cheap. But with TruePlay on it's amazing. What's really cool is flicking Trueplay on/off in the Sonos app while music is playing. $200 well spent.

 

[oscarteale]

Hi there. Does anyone know that once you've paired two of the speakers so I have stereo sound, must I play everything through the Sonos app or can I send music normally via Airplay and it will come out as stereo? Thanks

 

[bodonnell202]

Hi there. Does anyone know that once you've paired two of the speakers so I have stereo sound, must I play everything through the Sonos app or can I send music normally via Airplay and it will come out as stereo? Thanks

If you play through Airplay it will still come out in stereo.