Sonos Speakers Now Available on Apple Online Store Around the World

[swajames]

Been a Sonos customer since 2004. Absolutely love the products.

The bottom line for me is this - I agree that Sonos is expensive if you're a one speaker/one room customer, for those scenarios you're probably better off with an Airplay device. If, however, your use case is whole house/multi-room - with absolutely no drop out and rock solid synchronization - then Sonos is great value for money.

As for the Sonos Sub, it's not inexpensive but it's very good. The drivers are mechanically opposed so there is no vibration. In one of my zones I have a pair of 2nd gen Play:5 speakers running as a stereo pair coupled with the Sonos Sub. It genuinely sounds great - deep, loud, clear, taut and fast.

 

[ozaz]

Maybe WiFi is better in this regard, but then why not just offer Airplay?

IMO, Airplay is inferior in terms of stability/reliability. Two reasons

1. Sonos uses a different streaming model to Airplay
2. Sonos is not limited to operating on the standard home Wifi network. It builds its own wifi mesh network if one of the components is connected to the home network via Ethernet and this helps reliability a lot in large homes and difficult wifi environments.

Also, from a features viewpoint, Airplay can't do multi-room synchronisation without involving a Mac

 

[loon3y]

Been a Sonos customer since 2004. Absolutely love the products.

The bottom line for me is this - I agree that Sonos is expensive if you're a one speaker/one room customer, for those scenarios you're probably better off with an Airplay device. If, however, your use case is whole house/multi-room - with absolutely no drop out and rock solid synchronization - then Sonos is great value for money.

As for the Sonos Sub, it's not inexpensive but it's very good. The drivers are mechanically opposed so there is no vibration. In one of my zones I have a pair of 2nd gen Play:5 speakers running as a stereo pair coupled with the Sonos Sub. It genuinely sounds great - deep, loud, clear, taut and fast.

Hmmm my friend wanted a SONOS but he has a 1bedroom, is that worth it? I have the same but he was more wanting a sound bar for his TV with the sub?


What are you're thoughts? I'm sure he wants it in his living room and his bedroom

 

[dexterie]

Does anyone know if the card for the free 3-month Apple Music applies to family subscriptions?

 

[Jungo]

"a free 3-month Apple Music gift card" ?

wow ?

 

[RickInHouston]

Why does Sonos seem like a top player? What are they doing that makes their product worth buying?

I always hear people rave about them but it just seems like any other BT speaker...

Think, "It's like apple 15 years ago - type of product." It just does it all correctly.

 

[zubikov]

Sonos is great for a couple of rooms, but expenses get out of control for multi-bedrom, dining room, kitchen, etc setups. I still don't feel easy about buying hardware that only works through one piece of software. That's a huge bottleneck and you're betting a lot of money on a small company's future. You can't always get the latest features from streaming apps working, you have to use the app or lose the speakers. That's just not fair. If I'm paying $300 - $1000 per component, that component better last me 10-20 or more years. Speakers are meant to be durable and fairly future proof.

I'm still favoring AirPlay despite a tide of hatred against it. It's really been improving, and it works reliably now with good wifi. More manufacturers need to flood the market with DLNA/AirPlay speakers and adapters.

 

[mw360]

Does anyone know if the card for the free 3-month Apple Music applies to family subscriptions?

It's just an iTunes gift card so you can spend it on whatever you like. I'm guessing it will buy 2 months of a family subscription.

In case anybody's wondering, I looked at the terms and you can get five per cards per customer.

 

[spazzcat]

Am I the only one that thinks its really odd that Apple is offering a "wireless" speaker system THAT DOES NOT SUPPORT AirPlay ??? Bizarre!

WTF is that all about??? I was going to buy some - but got a B&W Zeppelin instead as it works well with any AirPlay device.

You don't need airplay.

 

[Mazeman]

Needs Siri integration.

Right now you have to open the Sonos app and choose what you want to play from Apple Music.

It would be nice to be able to just say "Hey Siri, play some Beatles on my Sonos Living Room".

 

[daanodinot]

Stopgap until Apple releases their own speaker. There's reason Apple refused to integrate Sonos into the Apple Music app.

I honestly can't see a future for Sonos, with Apple and Google releasing their own assistant speakers. Between Siri and Google Assistant, Sonos is more or less useless.

 

[Polekat]

How do these compare to Enclave?

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Goodbye AirPlay - you were never very good.

If you think AirPlay wasn't very good apparently you don't anything made by Sonos.

Hell their TV sound bar doesn't even support DTS.

 

[rdlink]

I think there will come a time in the not too distant future when we'll be able to control Sonos speakers direct from within the Apple Music app (like is happening with Spotify soon), maybe even from iOS system controls.

But from a technical viewpoint, I don't think this will be via Airplay.

If they do this I will buy Sonos speakers.

 

[Leonard1818]

Why does Sonos seem like a top player? What are they doing that makes their product worth buying?

I always hear people rave about them but it just seems like any other BT speaker...

If only there were this resource -- a machine of sorts, that was networked with other machines around the globe, offering up seemingly infinite information, searchable, at your fingertips... If only.... because only then would all of your deepest questions be answered!
[doublepost=1477082858][/doublepost]

If they do this I will buy Sonos speakers.

It's really not *that* big of a deal. Yeah, I wish I could just toggle the volume up and down on the side of my phone, but meh... isn't stopping me from getting another 4 Play:1's when (or IF, I should say) they ever go back on sale for $350/pr.

 

[rdlink]

It's really not *that* big of a deal. Yeah, I wish I could just toggle the volume up and down on the side of my phone, but meh... isn't stopping me from getting another 4 Play:1's when (or IF, I should say) they ever go back on sale for $350/pr.

The deal killer for me is the inability to perform free text searches on the Sonos app. On Apple Music (or any other modern search engine besides Sonos) I can just do a free form search for and artist's name and it will find anything with that artist's name. Whether it is an album, song or whatever. But with the Sonos app I have to specify that I am searching for an artist, song, album, etc.

 

[ChazSch]

Every thread on Sonos has covered this and its not hard to find information on it

e.g.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/124856-sonos-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-alternatives

I love the sound of my little play 1's. place them around the house and its sounds great!

 

[OutGolfn]

I'd be hesitant to with their layoffs earlier in the year. Wonder if Apple makes an offer to acquire Sonos and brings their hardware together into their new AI Home initiative. A new Apple TV as hub support + sonos speakers all over your house via wifi for Apples iOS 11 AI Home system. Sonos App should be unnecessary though, everything should just work directly through iOS' native applications. Apple make it happen, then I'll invest in sonos hardware when the native Music app and all features work like magic!

 

[swajames]

Hmmm my friend wanted a SONOS but he has a 1bedroom, is that worth it? I have the same but he was more wanting a sound bar for his TV with the sub?


What are you're thoughts? I'm sure he wants it in his living room and his bedroom

For just the one room it may well be that other solutions might be better value, for home theater only your friend can build a great system for less than the cost of a PlayBar and Sub, but the Sonos components would be good places to start if your friend did have any plans to expand the system to other rooms.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Needs Siri integration..<snip>

Nothing needs Siri integration! Siri cant even send a text message to my wife, even when I follow Apple's guidelines to the letter. Bloody thing keeps trying to send an email.

Me: Hey Siri, play The Rolling Stones.
Siri: Calling your Mother-in-law

 

[Havokland]

I hear you...but if you choose Apple Music from the Sonos app, you should have access to everything, including playlists. Seems to work for me.

Works great for me. I've had SONOS for about 12 years. Currently 8 Zones. Love it. I buy the old original controllers off of ebay and replacement batteries for them there too. VERY Easy to replace the battery although Sonos will tell you it's not possible!

I'm an audio mix and one obscure handy feature is being able to broadcast from the studio into every room. That was I can hear how the balance and EQ of a song sounds on a variety of speakers without making a stereo bounce, saving it to disc and running around from room to room. It's incredibly useful.

 

[swajames]

Sonos is great for a couple of rooms, but expenses get out of control for multi-bedrom, dining room, kitchen, etc setups. I still don't feel easy about buying hardware that only works through one piece of software. That's a huge bottleneck and you're betting a lot of money on a small company's future. You can't always get the latest features from streaming apps working, you have to use the app or lose the speakers. That's just not fair. If I'm paying $300 - $1000 per component, that component better last me 10-20 or more years. Speakers are meant to be durable and fairly future proof.

I'm still favoring AirPlay despite a tide of hatred against it. It's really been improving, and it works reliably now with good wifi. More manufacturers need to flood the market with DLNA/AirPlay speakers and adapters.

I'd say Sonos is actually most cost-effective (and most compelling) when we're talking multi-room. The first two zone players I bought in 2004 are still working perfectly and are still receiving updates from Sonos to this day. I don't think I have any other product I bought 10 to 12 years ago that's still updated by the manufacturer.

 

[crisss1205]

Stopgap until Apple releases their own speaker. There's reason Apple refused to integrate Sonos into the Apple Music app.

I honestly can't see a future for Sonos, with Apple and Google releasing their own assistant speakers. Between Siri and Google Assistant, Sonos is more or less useless.

How did Apple refuse to support Sonos in the app? Also, how is Sonos a competitor to Google Home in any way? In fact, the Amazon Echo will work with Sonos in the future.
[doublepost=1477086296][/doublepost]

If only there were this resource -- a machine of sorts, that was networked with other machines around the globe, offering up seemingly infinite information, searchable, at your fingertips... If only.... because only then would all of your deepest questions be answered!
[doublepost=1477082858][/doublepost]

It's really not *that* big of a deal. Yeah, I wish I could just toggle the volume up and down on the side of my phone, but meh... isn't stopping me from getting another 4 Play:1's when (or IF, I should say) they ever go back on sale for $350/pr.

I can control the Sonos using the side buttons on my device. It shows up on the lock screen too.

 

[jdag]

Ah, another Sonos thread. Which can only mean a division of those that OWN Sonos vs. those that constantly put down Sonos...

Those that don't own Sonos:
Sonos is overpriced
It doesn't even support bluetooth
Airplay is better and I don't have to buy anything more
Sonos forces you to use their app
etc.

Those that own Sonos:
It is my favorite technology I've purchased in years
It works, and works incredibly well
I have speakers all over my house, and use them every day, flawlessly
I can't wait to buy more speakers
etc.

So decide for yourself. The people that own Sonos equipment overwhelmingly love it. Don't just like it, love it. It's pretty logical that those that own and extoll the positives actually have more basis for their opinions.

 

[porkrind]

I'd be hesitant to with their layoffs earlier in the year.

They are hiring like nobody's business from what I can see now. But if you browse their openings, a substantial number of the positions are technical roles in the voice area.

And from what I've heard, it's highly likely that control from directly within the Apple Music app is coming.

So decide for yourself. The people that own Sonos equipment overwhelmingly love it. Don't just like it, love it. It's pretty logical that those that own and extoll the positives actually have more basis for their opinions.

Put me down in the 'love' camp too.