Are Sonos the best speakers?

[mcaloon]

Hey, me and the girlfriend are buying our first house and are looking some speakers for them. We haven't got any sort of prior music system just an old docking station, that's well past it's best. But we would like a decent set of speakers for the house; we're pretty tight on funds with moving house and so probably only have £300 or so.

I've been looking at the Sonos Play 3; as it seems to get a good write up for its audio quality; but I guess a good chunk of that money you pay must go towards the Sonos wireless multiroom technology. Which I don't really know when I will use (providing I buy another Sonos), I just guess I don't know why I would play music in more than one room? Do people actually play music in more than one room except for when they have friends around?

All of our music is on either the laptop/external hard drive or android phones. I quite like the ability of being able to play music wirelessly, and hence why I've been looking at the Sonos set up. And from what I have read Bluetooth sound quality isn't great. Although saying that I'm not adverse to plugging into a set of speakers, but the added benefit of not having to plug in is a bonus.

From what I've read the Sonos is meant to be kept on all the time; so does that rule it out for being able to move from room to room? Basically, we are after some good sounding speakers, which we can move into different rooms; which are preferbly wireless. Are there better quality speakers than Sonos for £300 which fit the criteria. Cheers.

 

[bigboss]

You can certainly get better speakers for the money. Sonos is amongst the best out there for multi room music, and could be an investment towards a future multi room set up.

I move my Sonos from room to room. It doesn't have to be left on all the time.

 

[gowiththeflow]

You don't need to keep the Sonos switched on all of the time and the smaller Play 1, 3 & 5 all-in-one zone players can all be moved quite easily from room to room.

If you do that frequently, you'll probably find it easier to add another zone player, as funds allow.

Something to bear in mind is that one Sonos zone player device (any will do) always has to be connected by ethernet cable to your router.

If you only have one device (e.g. a Play 3), then that will be the device that has to be wired to the router, so it can't be moved.

Thankfully the usual sales offer includes a free Sonos Bridge, that can perform the role of that permanent wired connection, freeing up the other zones to be used wirelessly. It doesn't have to a Bridge though; any component will do the job.

The Play 3, like the cheaper Play 1, is only mono. You can pair two of them together in the settings to work wirelessly as a stereo pair.

The Play 5 is stereo, but with the speakers being close together, it doesn't make a huge difference, although sound quality is noticeably better. These can also be paired as a stereo pair with another Play 5, with each one becoming mono in this config.

All the pairing and un-pairing, like everything else is done via the controller interface

Sound quality for this type of device, or compared with a docking system, is very very good. Good bass with no horrible Boom and good clean mid and upper range.

The Sonos system really comes into its own when using a Sonos Connect to link into a more expensive and decent HiFi setup, giving a very respectable level of performance. You'd have to pay significantly more to get a quality step-up in multi-room streaming.

IMHO Excellent value for money and child's play to set up and operate. There's really nothing "technical" involved at all.

 

[eggontoast]

From what you have said Sonos is not really for you, £300 can buy you a much better sounding single speaker than the PLAY:3. I have one in my kitchen and while it's OK for making a bit of noise while cooking the dinner I wouldn't recommend it as a major listening source. Also don't be put off by bluetooth speakers, if your phone is an Android device there is a possibility that it is APTX, this will give you very good quality audio.

 

[Andy Clough]

Sonos is good if you want to build a wireless multiroom system in the future, but there are lots of other Bluetooth options within your budget. Take a look at our Best Bluetooth speakers to buy 2013 article for other possibilities.

 

[The_Lhc]

The Play 3, like the cheaper Play 1, is only mono.

It's probably splitting hairs but the Play:3, in horizontal mode, is semi-stereo, it has left and right midrange drivers, although only one tweeter, so it does attempt to play in stereo, although admittedly you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference. It's only truly mono when mounted vertically (the DSP actually changes the output).

 

[davedotco]

Given the budget there is a very simple option that knocks everything mentioned above into a cocked hat. Will actually sound pretty good in fact.

Get youself a cheap usb dac, such as the Behringer UCA 202 and a pair of active speakers such as the Presonus Eris 5, a wired connection admittedly but a terrific sound sound compared to anything mentioned previously.

Cost is modest too, the speakers are just £238 and the dac £25, leaves you a few pounds to investgate a APTX dongle for your phones.

Depends on your priorities, but the above will actually sound comparable to a real hifi system though the basic system is wired.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

No, they won't sound comparable, but they might sound OK.

 

[davedotco]

No, they won't sound comparable, but they might sound OK.

To the OP, excuse Al, he is kind of like my stalker......

At this price level options are limited, it kind of depends where your priorities lie. If the whole wireless thing is important to you, look out for an Arcam rCube, there are still a few about at around £249, though you will need to pay extra for wireless dongles, called rWand by Arcam.

Probably the best one box solution for the money though the sound quality will not be close to the active speakers I recommended earlier. If you have a music or pro audio shop nearby give them (or a similar priced equivilent) a go, don't let Al put you off, he's an Australian.

 

[staggerlee]

Get the sonos. For the money and the conveniance it does everything in one box with minimal fuss. It offers great flexibility (and spotify) and you don't have to mess around with additing speakers, DACs etc

 

[matthewpiano]

If you can squeeze to £399 I'd suggest looking at the Q Acoustics BT3 speakers.

 

[davedotco]

If you can squeeze to £399 I'd suggest looking at the Q Acoustics BT3 speakers.

Not at all a bad call, all the right functionality in a very neat package.

You might do better soundwise with separates or active speakers but as a complete package they suit tho OP's needs rather well.