Sonos people, where do I start?

Do you like your Sonos system? Where did you start? I stream Spotify, podcasts and Michael Shelley shows on assorted retired Apple products and repurposed computer speakers all over the house, and am ready to streamline. Advice welcome.

We LOVE Sonos. We stream spotify, pandora, plus every song on every device in our house (computers, network, phones, ipads). My son uses it to practice his saxophone -- any piece of music you want on instant play. We even used it instead of a DJ at our wedding last spring. (Only downside -- half the guests had the Sonos app on their phone and were able to change the song at will, including to songs on their phones that we weren't crazy about!)

I started with a generation 1 play 5 and recently added two more Play 1 speakers.  I use the sonos bridge that is connected directly to the router in my home.  I love it.  Simple setup, very simple to add components.  My only complaint is that when playing music off of my phone the songs cut off and start playing the next tune before the end of each song.  Seems to be an issue for many.

Other than that - I love it.  I stream Pandora and Spotify all the time.  I have music on my computer, on an external drive and my phone as well.  With the exception of the above issue it has worked flawlessly.

I actually like that you can purchase two Play 1 speakers and set them up for stereo sound.

You will not be disappointed.

sportsnut said:

I started with a generation 1 play 5 and recently added two more Play 1 speakers.  I use the sonos bridge that is connected directly to the router in my home.  I love it.  Simple setup, very simple to add components.  My only complaint is that when playing music off of my phone the songs cut off and start playing the next tune before the end of each song.  Seems to be an issue for many.

Other than that - I love it.  I stream Pandora and Spotify all the time.  I have music on my computer, on an external drive and my phone as well.  With the exception of the above issue it has worked flawlessly.

I actually like that you can purchase two Play 1 speakers and set them up for stereo sound.

You will not be disappointed.

agree.

question -- do you notice the issue on your phone when you listen on earbuds?  because I get the songs cutting off thing on iTunes even when I'm not on Sonos.  I chalked it up to an iTunes bug, not a Sonos issue.

ml1 said:

sportsnut said:

I started with a generation 1 play 5 and recently added two more Play 1 speakers.  I use the sonos bridge that is connected directly to the router in my home.  I love it.  Simple setup, very simple to add components.  My only complaint is that when playing music off of my phone the songs cut off and start playing the next tune before the end of each song.  Seems to be an issue for many.

Other than that - I love it.  I stream Pandora and Spotify all the time.  I have music on my computer, on an external drive and my phone as well.  With the exception of the above issue it has worked flawlessly.

I actually like that you can purchase two Play 1 speakers and set them up for stereo sound.

You will not be disappointed.

agree.

question -- do you notice the issue on your phone when you listen on earbuds?  because I get the songs cutting off thing on iTunes even when I'm not on Sonos.  I chalked it up to an iTunes bug, not a Sonos issue.

I don't have a Sonos system, but I had that same issue happen to me playing music on my iPhone (the Apple Music app) the other night for the first time....

I love my sonos. I started with 2 Play 1s, and a Play 3.  The sound is great.

A few things i would point out to you.

1 - Unless you want to spend a lot of money - kiss your repurposed speakers goodbye.  Go into this thinking of it as a replacement, not an addition.  You will need to by a $500 Sonos Amp to use old speakers, and they won't sound that great.  You would be better off buying 3 more sonos Play 1s.

2 - Set up is Easy - but make sure ONE of the speakers is hard wired.  You can go all wireless, but if one speaker is connected directly to the router, it creates a dedicated network and helps connectivity alot.

3 - Check available apps - you con't just stream anything.  It has to be enabled in the Sonos app.

All in all, I love it. and am playing on expanding in the Spring.

ml1 said:

sportsnut said:

I started with a generation 1 play 5 and recently added two more Play 1 speakers.  I use the sonos bridge that is connected directly to the router in my home.  I love it.  Simple setup, very simple to add components.  My only complaint is that when playing music off of my phone the songs cut off and start playing the next tune before the end of each song.  Seems to be an issue for many.

Other than that - I love it.  I stream Pandora and Spotify all the time.  I have music on my computer, on an external drive and my phone as well.  With the exception of the above issue it has worked flawlessly.

I actually like that you can purchase two Play 1 speakers and set them up for stereo sound.

You will not be disappointed.

agree.

question -- do you notice the issue on your phone when you listen on earbuds?  because I get the songs cutting off thing on iTunes even when I'm not on Sonos.  I chalked it up to an iTunes bug, not a Sonos issue.

I have not noticed the issue on any device.  I routinely play my iphone at work and in my car through my bluetooth connections and haven't noticed.  I'll play my phone now at work and see if I have the issue.

Interesting.... 

I also have two play 1s..they do the job!

We love ours.  We started with the Sonos Connect, which we used to hook up our existing stereo system, which plays music into living room, basement, and kitchen on existing speakers.   I think this costs about $350. Not sure how this is different from the amp mentioned above. 

Both of our teens have since gotten Play 1 speakers as birthday presents so we have 3 "zones" that can be played together or separately.  We use it almost exclusively with Spotify.    We do sometimes struggle with the interface on the app--I seem unable to get it out of shuffle mode, etc., but overall we love it.  

I do think the website is a little confusing (or at least it was when we got ours a couple of years ago)--it's hard to figure out what you need.

I am soooo ticked off. I have Sonos Play 1, and we just upgraded our router to a newer one that uses the 802.11ac wifi. Sonos doesn't support it!

So, the only way I can get sonos to work is by connecting my old wifi extender downstairs (where I typically listen to sonos) and physically connecting a LAN cable from the extender to the Sonos. I liked to bring my Sonos onto the deck or the kitchen. This set up makes it much less portable. 

802.11ac has been around for a couple of years now...you'd think Sonos, which relies on wifi would support this. 

Can you enable the previous protocol on your router to run simultaneously?

I looked at Sonos, but couldn't really justify the cost. It's certainly a 'cool' system, but it's expensive. And it's expensive to boot.

For example, since I was buying a house my 'requirement' was I wanted a good 5.1 audio system for our living room. I ended up getting a Yamaha network enabled receiver (~$360) and an Energy set of 5.1 speakers. (~$299 after a price drop) so we're looking at a total of $659 for a pretty decent set up.

A Sonos 5.1 system costs $1747. WHAT?!

Sure the system I got wasn't wireless, and we had to pay some electrician a few hundred bucks to run some wires for the rear speakers, but we're talking a few hundred bucks.

Granted with Sonos you can buy even more speakers and put them all over the house and that's pretty cool, but is it and additional $1500-3000 worth of coolness? I'm not really convinced.

If we want to listen to something in a different room we have a Bose Bluetooth speaker which is alright - although it was also a tad more expensive than it 'should be', but we also travel with it so we get that additional utility.

The Yamaha receiver is probably at the end of the day more flexible than a Sonos too. It supports Apple Airplay and Spotify Connect built in. (You have to get an extra $50 option for Bluetooth, we haven't needed it. Since Airplay and Spotify Connect are network-based we can be anywhere within WiFi range and have it not cut out, Bluetooth is a much shorter range)  I can control the volume with my phone, so if I want to hear it else where in the house I can just turn it up. It does support two zones, so if I ran more wires (or used an aftermarket wireless speaker solution) I could have a second zone.

So, it's a tad less elegant than the Sonos perhaps, but it's far cheaper - even with the labor for wiring!

Just something to think about before investing in Sonos.

Tom_Reingold said:

Can you enable the previous protocol on your router to run simultaneously?

I don't think I want to..otherwise it would be like having our old router wouldn't it?

The other thing Sonos doesn't do is allow you to plug something else in as an auxiliary device or use Bluetooth to connect it. So, if you're like my husband and you like to listen to Bloomberg podcasts, you can't stream them through Sonos services and you can't just plug in your phone to stream it and then switch over to a Sonos service right after on the phone. I like the sonos for streaming music, (and we just got the smallest one),  but for other rooms will look for something that can handle multiple situations.

Sonos App supports streaming of podcasts on the iDevice to a zone. Some of the speakers (not :1 or :3) have a line in capability to play from line input.

I've had Sonos since 2008. Zero issues with the hardware  

We have 2 Sonos 1 speakers. I have linked them to function as stereo speakers. We had a party for about 50 teenagers recently, the sound was more than adequate for the party. Currently thinking of expanding the number of speakers throughout the house and home office. Now what to do with my old Infinity and Polk stereo speakers

TigerLilly said:

Tom_Reingold said:

Can you enable the previous protocol on your router to run simultaneously?

I don't think I want to..otherwise it would be like having our old router wouldn't it?

Maybe. Some routers offer two wifi networks, a fast one and a slow one, and they operate on separate frequencies, and they go by different names.

You just need a sonos bridge at your router. It's $40

TigerLilly said:

I am soooo ticked off. I have Sonos Play 1, and we just upgraded our router to a newer one that uses the 802.11ac wifi. Sonos doesn't support it!

So, the only way I can get sonos to work is by connecting my old wifi extender downstairs (where I typically listen to sonos) and physically connecting a LAN cable from the extender to the Sonos. I liked to bring my Sonos onto the deck or the kitchen. This set up makes it much less portable. 

802.11ac has been around for a couple of years now...you'd think Sonos, which relies on wifi would support this. 

Lol. So what you're saying is, you can buy cheaper speakers that don't do what a sonos system does. Good to know. I don't think most people look to sonos for a surround sound system. Far more value in gradually building out a whole-house system, as slowly or quickly as your wallet allows.

qrysdonnell said:

I looked at Sonos, but couldn't really justify the cost. It's certainly a 'cool' system, but it's expensive. And it's expensive to boot.

For example, since I was buying a house my 'requirement' was I wanted a good 5.1 audio system for our living room. I ended up getting a Yamaha network enabled receiver (~$360) and an Energy set of 5.1 speakers. (~$299 after a price drop) so we're looking at a total of $659 for a pretty decent set up.

A Sonos 5.1 system costs $1747. WHAT?!

Sure the system I got wasn't wireless, and we had to pay some electrician a few hundred bucks to run some wires for the rear speakers, but we're talking a few hundred bucks.

Granted with Sonos you can buy even more speakers and put them all over the house and that's pretty cool, but is it and additional $1500-3000 worth of coolness? I'm not really convinced.

If we want to listen to something in a different room we have a Bose Bluetooth speaker which is alright - although it was also a tad more expensive than it 'should be', but we also travel with it so we get that additional utility.

The Yamaha receiver is probably at the end of the day more flexible than a Sonos too. It supports Apple Airplay and Spotify Connect built in. (You have to get an extra $50 option for Bluetooth, we haven't needed it. Since Airplay and Spotify Connect are network-based we can be anywhere within WiFi range and have it not cut out, Bluetooth is a much shorter range)  I can control the volume with my phone, so if I want to hear it else where in the house I can just turn it up. It does support two zones, so if I ran more wires (or used an aftermarket wireless speaker solution) I could have a second zone.

So, it's a tad less elegant than the Sonos perhaps, but it's far cheaper - even with the labor for wiring!

Just something to think about before investing in Sonos.

I'm saying you can get a lot of what Sonos does for a lot less, and it would sound better. And for a lot of people a regular receiver actually does more than Sonos as with Airplay (or Bluetooth if I wanted it) I can play anything in my phone on it.  The only major difference is the ability to have more than two zones. So it's worth knowing that THAT feature alone is really what you're paying for. I'm a techie, so I'd love the idea of a a Sonos, but I can't quite justify the cost. (I did somehow buy a second PlayStation 4 yesterday, so I'm not immune to questionable tech spending, if you love you Sonos then keep on rockin'!)

martini said:

Lol. So what you're saying is, you can buy cheaper speakers that don't do what a sonos system does. Good to know. I don't think most people look to sonos for a surround sound system. Far more value in gradually building out a whole-house system, as slowly or quickly as your wallet allows.

martini said:

You just need a sonos bridge at your router. It's $40

TigerLilly said:

I am soooo ticked off. I have Sonos Play 1, and we just upgraded our router to a newer one that uses the 802.11ac wifi. Sonos doesn't support it!

So, the only way I can get sonos to work is by connecting my old wifi extender downstairs (where I typically listen to sonos) and physically connecting a LAN cable from the extender to the Sonos. I liked to bring my Sonos onto the deck or the kitchen. This set up makes it much less portable. 

802.11ac has been around for a couple of years now...you'd think Sonos, which relies on wifi would support this. 

I actually tried that because a neighbor lent me one to try....It didn't work. :-(

Distance from the Sonos Bridge could be a factor. 

801.11ac is only 5ghz, so you should be able to have a simultaneous 2.4ghz N network on the router and let Sonos use that network. 

I will say, with our chicken-wire/plaster walls wifi tends to degrade quickly. Don't ask me how I know but metal garage doors effectively stop the wifi signals too.

Sir_Dave said:

Distance from the Sonos Bridge could be a factor. 

801.11ac is only 5ghz, so you should be able to have a simultaneous 2.4ghz N network on the router and let Sonos use that network. 

I will say, with our chicken-wire/plaster walls wifi tends to degrade quickly. Don't ask me how I know but metal garage doors effectively stop the wifi signals too. ">

We had it on 2.4 ghz N before. We don't have that now...

TigerLilly said:

Sir_Dave said:

Distance from the Sonos Bridge could be a factor. 

801.11ac is only 5ghz, so you should be able to have a simultaneous 2.4ghz N network on the router and let Sonos use that network. 

I will say, with our chicken-wire/plaster walls wifi tends to degrade quickly. Don't ask me how I know but metal garage doors effectively stop the wifi signals too. ">

It's both 2.4 and 5, I think. We had it on 2.4 ghz N before. We don't have that now...

Actually...the bridge may have worked, but we don't have an available port for it on the router.

@TigerLilly, what AC router do you have? All of the AC routers I've researched supported both 5Ghz-AC and 2.4Ghz-N. They are separate wifi networks in one box. The older Sonos components were B/G only but anything in the past 4 years should be able to function on a 2.4-N network.

@Sir_Dave - I have the Linksys AC 1900 (WRT1900ACS). It does have 2.4 as well as 5, but I didn't think that the 2.4 used N. I thought they were both AC, but maybe not sure?

I'm still pretty confident that AC is only 5Ghz.

Page 22 of your router's User Manual (I know, I'm male AND I read the manual): 

If you have network adapters that support only legacy wireless network standards
such as 802.11b, you should consider upgrading them with Wireless-N (802.11n) net-
work adapters. Wireless-B (802.11b) devices can slow your entire wireless network.
For the best performance, all of your wireless devices should support Wireless-N.
You can then select Wireless-N Only as your Network Mode below.

Page 23 tells you how to setup a separate N network. You can even go B/G if you want on the 2.4 band. The 5Ghz band is fast and still relatively free of interference but it also has severe distance issues.

Good luck. I have a 8-zone Sonos setup and I love it.

For all of you Sonos fence-sitters I'd like to note one huge (IMO) limitation of streaming with Sonos. 

The different services do not filter explicit lyrics with Sonos. It doesn't matter what you set in your profile or the services's app, it doesn't translate over to Sonos streaming. Hopefully Apple Music does support this, when they support Sonos, since they have historically been conservative on this issue.

It's getting to be an issue since we have a 5 year-old actually listening to the lyrics.

@Sir_Dave - Thank goodness SOMEONE reads the manual. I'll check it out. Thank you!