I'm a Sonos fan too, have several of their amps driving speakers around their house, plus some Play5 and Play3 and a Sonos sub too. A Play3 in the garage keeps me company while detailing, and I've also got a SoundCast OutCast wireless speaker for outdoor duties fed from a Sonos Connect as well. As you might guess I like Multiroom music a lot, especially one that can play both different things in different rooms or do seamless room grouping too! :thumb:
In terms of ease of use, flexibility and reliability Sonos is hard to beat. In terms of cost it is somewhere in the middle ground, neither being cheap nor expensive compared to the other systems it competes with.
Their new Play1 is a great entry-level primo duct at £169 and sounds good for the price. It is not Hifi compared to a decent integrated stereo amp and speakers, but is far better than most ipod/Bluetooth dock/speaker setups.
The Playbar also offers an interesting option for people who are not into full separates surround sound, offering a 3.0,/5.0/3.1/5.1 option that also fits into the Sonos Family seamlessly for music playback too. Sonos were clear from the outset that it was deliberately simplified to reduce the complexity of installation, which is in keeping with their original ethos. This means you need to be aware of the limitations of a single optical input, and that at present it only supports Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (no DTS support yet). However done right it does sound good although it can be pricey for the full 5.1 setup compared to budget home-cinema-in-a-box systems (which is an unfair comparison but is often used as an example). But that would be like comparing a cheap wax to a mid-range offering in the detailing world :thumb:
So like all things in life, you can do it cheaper, but if you want a well designed product with excellent post/after-sales support then Sonos should be on your demo list
