Is sonos really worth it? (1 Viewer)

[mike carlton]

I close on my new home next week and it has Sonos in the living room and theater room. I plan on adding to the system and wanted to know if it's worth it to stay with

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Yes. The biggest problem with wireless audio is reliability. The iron law is that “reliable wireless” and “cheap” are virtually incompatible. The more the price drops, the more unreliability becomes an issue. Sonos is expensive because it works. If it were possible to make a comparable product cheaper, someone would have done it.

Here’s a dissertation on the subject of wireless audio. Not directly related to Sonos, but the basic principles apply.

https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/wireless-speakers-for-surround-sound-don’t-ask-it’s-a-mess.2057/

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[John Dirk]

Congrats on the new house! That's a huge accomplishment.

If you already have the core then I would agree with Wayne. If you were starting from scratch I would say it depends on your environment. My Theater Room is purpose built and used for nothing else but music, movies, etc so I don't mind wires as I have them all hidden behind walls. I don't stream much music but if I do get the urge, Airplay or the like is all I need.

 

[mike carlton]

Thanks for the info! I'm really excited and plan on finishing the theater room and having a great place for Sunday games and big UFC events.

 

[xx Brian xx]

Sonos is well worth the money for whole home audio but needs a strong and fast network to operate properly. The Sonos Playbar sounds OK but only supports optical, no HDMI. This means that you are limited on surround modes because the Playbar cannot receive or decode any of the newer high def surround modes.

I personally wouldn't use any soundbar in a theater room. I would rather spend the money on a decent receiver and speakers. You could use what is there for now but run speaker wires when you are finishing the room for future expansion.

Congratulations on the new house!

Brian

 

[mike carlton]

The theater room as an acoustic screen. So I should only have to add a few speakers to finish up the sound system. I think.

 

[JohnRice]

A Home Theater with front projection and acoustically transparent screen with a Sonos based audio system seems a little unusual. To put that much effort and cost, then cripple the audio.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Sonos is well worth the money for whole home audio but needs a strong and fast network to operate properly. The Sonos Playbar sounds OK but only supports optical, no HDMI. This means that you are limited on surround modes because the Playbar cannot receive or decode any of the newer high def surround modes.

I personally wouldn't use any soundbar in a theater room. I would rather spend the money on a decent receiver and speakers. You could use what is there for now but run speaker wires when you are finishing the room for future expansion.

Congratulations on the new house!

Brian

Sonos is also limited to Dolby Digital and does not support DTS.

 

[JohnRice]

Sonos is also limited to Dolby Digital and does not support DTS.

Which was the point of my previous comment.

 

[xx Brian xx]

I'm curious how you plan on connecting things. The Sonos Playbar has one optical input so, as an example, you would have to connect a bluray player to the Sonos with an optical cable and the HDMI to the projector, then if you have an Apple TV or cab/sat box, how would you connect it? You would have to add some kind of an HDMI switch for the projector or you will have multiple HDMI's run to it. Then you would have to constantly switch the soundbar cable. Some projectors have an optical output and then you would again have to have an HDMI switch or multiple HDMI cables running to the projector and a long optical running back down.

Brian

 

[mike carlton]

I'm not sure how everything is set up yet because I'm still waiting on everything to clear so I can take ownership of the home. Once I see exactly how it's set up I will let everyone know.

 

[kyle mote]

Congrats on the new home! Sonos is good if you have a strong wireless network, so that's a priority. That being said, if you have the ability to wire speakers then I would use the Sonos amps connected to in-ceiling or in-wall speakers. Only use normal play 1, 5s, etc if you don't want to install speakers, don't have the ability, or if pricing is a concern.