8 thoughts on “Home Audio?”

1. Mike Mundy February 2, 2015 at 12:49 am

   Probably no response ’cause blogging is dead.
   1. cleek Post authorFebruary 2, 2015 at 12:39 pm

      that’s what i’ve heard.

      it’ll come back, like vinyl. and disco. and when it does, i’ll be right here.
2. Mark February 7, 2015 at 6:15 pm

   I have Sonos. What you sacrifice in sound quality you more than make up for in ease of use and freedom from cord-tangling mess.

   The initial outlay is a bit of a doozy. I recommend going this route:

   Apple TV
   Sonos Playbar
   … And then either Play 1s or Play 3s, or both, which is what I have.

   The playbar alone sounds terrible. The Play1s alone only a little better. Playbar paired with Play1s that do most of the work, meaning the surround control is shifted to favor them, is almost decent sound.

   Play3s are not a huge improvement in sound for the cost, but together they are really great.

   Here’s what I love about Sonos- I have competition for my Fios connection throughout the building; there are times when my connection drags. The Sonos Bridge allows me to never have issues with the wifi. Never experienced a dropped sound or a lag. You may not need such a thing.

   But the Apple TV to Playbar connection, via toslink cable, means I can use Apple AirPlay when I want, but also, with the Apple TV hooked into my projector via HDMI, I can turn on my projector and watch a YouTube video from my iPad projected onto the wall with full sound in about 20 seconds. Pretty much anything I am texted – “check out this cool video!” I can throw it up onto the wall and be done with it. Like did you see D’Angelo on SNL? Yes, I can say, loaded up and playing in about the time it would take me to google it.

   The Sonos has tons of drawbacks, but you find workarounds for most of them. I have a Google play music account and can search via the Sonos app, and hear the new whatever pretty quickly.

   Again, sound quality is not great. The newer the music, or the more poorly produced it was back in the day, the better it sounds. Early Stones sound great. Early Beatles sound terrrrrible. It’s a little unpredictable at first.

   I don’t have the Sonos Subwoofer or whatever it is. I’m sure that will improve things. It is too expensive for me right now.

   Hope that helps. Can answer questions. Have had it for about 8 months.
   1. cleek Post authorFebruary 7, 2015 at 9:38 pm

      excellent. that’s the stuff.

      so… here’s some of what i haven’t been able to figure out.

      i was thinking about doing the TV with a playbar and two Play1s and a sub. ethernet into the Playbar. so all that would be a “zone” ? i’d be able to play music through that with the Sonos app?

      and i want to put some speakers on the back porch. i already have some good outdoor speakers, so i guess i’d need a CONNECT:AMP for that? and then that would be its own zone?

      and then i want to have music in the kitchen. so i could get a Play3 or a Play 5 in there, and that would be its own zone, too?

      or do i need CONNECTs and BRIDGEs and … ?

      and for quality… what are you using for your source? streaming?

      i guess i need to get an HDMI switch so i can get surround sound from cable & BR-DVD into the Playbar (because most TVs won’t pass 5.1 out, they only pass stereo).
      1. Mark February 8, 2015 at 1:27 am

         The Sonos App creates these zones that generally correspond to rooms.

         Here’s what I have:

         Playbar “paired with” two Play1s are the “Living Room”
         Playbar is connected to the Apple TV via toslink cable.
         Projector is connected to the Apple TV via HDMI

         Two Play3s, one in the “Office” and one in the “Bedroom.” They are unpaired, and fine on their own, but I sometimes bring the Office one upstairs and use them in tandem. I just click on both rooms when I am using them in tandem. They essentially produce the same sound, but would adjust if I paired them. I have done that before; pairing them only takes about 60 seconds.

         The Sonos App has a TV setting that I use for any audio other than music. HBO Go, Showtime, Netflix, Hulu, all through the Apple TV. I can also turn on the projector and tview a video from my iPad; it will come up on the wall and the Sonos App, as long as its open, will notice and switch to TV audio. My Apple Remote App turns the Apple TV on in case it’s gone to sleep. More about the Apple Remote App later.

         My Bridge’s only function is to create a dedicated network for the Sonos. I have “peak” hours at my building, where from 9-11 every night the internet slows to a crawl. With the Bridge, the audio is never interrupted. As a homeowner, you probably don’t need anything like that. So my ethernet cable goes into the Bridge, but you would bypass that by just running the ethernet into the Playbar. Everything would then “use” the Playbar, so to speak; the Playbar would become the Bridge. This was not always the case, but last summer’s software update allows any Sonos speaker with an ethernet cable into it to “act like” the Bridge.

         Any non-Sonos speakers could be run via the Sonos Connect:Amp. I have two speakers that sit on the floor unused because I don’t have the AMP. I will probably just give the speakers away. I see how its valuable to have the outdoor speakers up and running. Yes, “Outdoor” would be a room, controlled through the App. If you just bought a Play5, it would be cheaper than the AMP but it would function in the same way. I feel like the AMP is for people who already have sets of speakers they want to use, and just make them wireless. If you did get the Amp, the Sonos App would still control everything.

         Play5s cannot be paired with the Playbar, so that’s why I don’t have one of those. I do think it has slightly improved sound over the other two, but I bought the two Play3s and they are definitely awesome. The Play1s can be impressive, for the price.

         I generally play everything on my phone or iPad. My Laptop and hard drive house 200GB of music. If I want to tap into that archive, the Sonos App can’t do it. Dead end. Anything that’s on a computer will not be “accessible” to the Sonos App. That’s why I have the Apple TV. Here’s my workaround: I use the Apple Airplay and the Apple Remote App. I turn on the Apple Airplay, use the remote to navigate my hard drive’s entire library. This is much easier to accomplish on an iPad. I am then using my wifi; Apple Airplay does not go through the Bridge. I have had dropouts and delays when I do this at certain times. However, I find that opening the Sonos App and going into Google Play Music can be faster than scanning through my library.

         I much prefer Google Play Music to Spotify. I think Spotify and Sonos do not function well together, and it’s the reason a lot of people don’t go with Sonos.

         The Bose system I looked into was comparably priced and far superior in sound. However, I think it came to 15 individual cords and cables. For me, that was just absurd. I live in basically a giant room. All of the wires would have to travel across the walls. No other wireless speaker system could match what the Sonos Bridge was doing, even if the sound was slightly better. I would be dealing with dropouts in the audio. When I visit friends in New York who have non-Sonos wireless systems, the second they receive a phone call their stereo is affected.

         I would only recommend the Sonos:
         1. if you don’t mind the occasional record sounding like shit (it’s entirely random – some things do sound incredible)
         2. if you have an iPad or Iphone 6 Plus
         3. if you have an Apple TV
         4. if you have the Playbar and at least a pair of Play1s or 3s.

         There’s nothing better than queuing an album on your way in the door and have it playing when you walk in. It’s life-changing. Sonos App supports multiple users, in case you’ve heard otherwise.

         I’ve left out a ton of other things it can do that are absolutely amazing, but a lot of those are the result of having the Apple TV. It trouble shoots a bunch of the Sonos App’s limitations.
         1. cleek Post authorFebruary 8, 2015 at 8:47 pm

            thanks for the info. i think i’m gonna do it. what i want most of all is to simplify the A/V stuff in the next house. the current stuff only works because the Logitech universal remote can coordinate everything. but it’s temperamental and prone to forgetting what we’ve told it to do. so the less it has to do, the better.

            If you just bought a Play5, it would be cheaper than the AMP but it would function in the same way.

            i’d be a little leery of putting a nicely-portable speaker like that outside. and, are they weather-proof?

            If I want to tap into that archive, the Sonos App can’t do it.

            hmm. that’s because it’s on the laptop, and not on a stand-alone file server, right?

            we keep all our music on a 4TB NAS, and i’m in the process of removing the iTunes DRM stuff from as much of it as I can. so, from what i understand, Sonos should be able to use that.
            1. Mark February 9, 2015 at 2:42 am

               They are not waterproof.

               There are always workarounds for remotely stored music. A Sonos software update is coming soon, which may resolve some of the above issues.

               Apologies if you hate it. For me it’s not perfect, but it solves a ton of problems and creates only a few.
               1. cleek Post authorFebruary 9, 2015 at 2:57 pm

                  if i hate it, you might be able to pick up some slightly used Sonos gear for cheap :)

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