The IT Nerd

Last night I had a look at the newest addition to the SONOS lineup. The PLAY:1 is a game changing speaker that allows you to play streaming audio (among other things) anywhere you want it. Here’s a look at it in white:

And Black:

It’s very classy looking. It’s also very well designed:

It not only has volume controls, but it has a play/pause button too. That way you can play and pause your audio without reaching for your smartphone or tablet. Smart.

At the back there’s an ethernet port and just above it there’s a mounting hole so that you can hang it on a wall.

Underneath is the connection for the power and it’s recessed so that you can put the PLAY:1 against a wall. Now there are a number of use cases for the PLAY:1:

You can put it in a bedroom and set it to stream your radio to it so that you have something to listen to in the first thing in the AM…..

You can put one in the bathroom to listen to tunes while you shower. One thing to note is that the PLAY:1 is humidity resistant so no worries about having it in your bathroom…..

You can put one in your kitchen to have some tunes while you prepare food….

Or you can use two of them for true stereo separation. Note the SONOS SUB on the floor underneath the TV. One thing to note, if you do use it with your TV, the PLAY:1 is completely wireless. So because it’s not connected to your TV, there’s a second of delay between the action on the TV and the audio. Don’t worry, they’re working on that.

So, how does it sound? In the demo, they started out with playing music using the SONOS Controller App on an iPad on one PLAY:1. I was impressed by that as there was excellent bass and the audio was crisp and clear. I was surprised that a single speaker could perform that well. Next up was two PLAY:1 speakers which provided stereo separation. In this configuration, it was even more impressive and I could really feel the bass and the audio was even more crisp and clear. Finally the SUB entered the picture and there was almost too much bass. But it shows you how expandable the system is. You could combine a pair of PLAY:1 speakers with a PLAYBAR and a SUB for example and get a surround sound system at a decent price point.

So, what’s a PLAY:1 going to cost you? How about $219 Canadian? That’s a price point that’s hard to beat given the quality of sound you get. Plus until the end of the year you can get a BRIDGE tossed in for free (normally $59). That means that the PLAY:1 can be your base to build a SONOS system at a very low price point.

If you were thinking of getting a SONOS system because of the great audio quality but were scared off because of the price, that reason has been taken off the table. Check it out starting on October 29th at your local retailer and at sonos.com. But I recommend going to your local retailer and getting a demo. If you hear it, you’ll be putting your money down for a PLAY:1. I’ve requested one to review so watch for that to hit these pages soon.

This entry was posted on October 18, 2013 at 8:33 am and is filed under Products with tags Sonos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.