The IT Nerd

I recently got the chance to try a SONOS PLAY:3 in my condo recently and got more than what I bargained for. In the process of testing the PLAY:3, I got the chance to test the following:

• The BRIDGE which interfaces SONOS products into your home network so that you can place SONOS speakers anywhere you want and interact with them wirelessly.
• The new SONOS app which controls your SONOS environment.
• Google Play Music and its integration with SONOS products.

Now setting up the PLAY:3 was incredibly easy.

• Plug the BRIDGE into my home network and provide it with AC power.
• Plug in the AC power of the PLAY:3.
• Download the SONOS Controller app for iOS onto my iPhone.
• Follow the directions on the app to set everything up which involved pressing buttons on the BRIDGE and PLAY:3
• Declare victory and have a beer while enjoying the fruits of my labours.

In under 5 minutes, I had everything setup. The bottom line is that anyone can set this up and do so quickly.

Now, when it comes to the sound quality, it is impressive. It’s not a single speaker. The PLAY:3 has three Class-D digital amplifiers and three drivers–one tweeter and two 3-inch midrange drivers, as well as one passive, rear-firing bass radiator. All of this conspires to give you superior room filling sound. The bass is relatively full and well-defined and the speaker is capable of playing music quite loudly without distortion at high volumes. One nice touch is that the PLAY:3 can be laid down horizontally or positioned vertically. An internal sensor detects which position the speaker is in and will switch from stereo mode (horizontal) to mono (vertical). That’s handy if you want pair two PLAY:3’s to give you true stereo separation.

The PLAY:3 itself has only three buttons: volume up, volume down, and mute. To control the PLAY:3 you need to use the SONOS App which comes in Mac, PC, iOS and Android flavours. The new version has a brand new user interface that makes it much easier to use. One thing that I really like is the fact that you can set an alarm and wake up to your favourite music from either the streaming service of your choice or from your music library. You can also build independent playlists within the app, store favorites and search easily for radio stations all over the world. The most significant new feature is universal search. For example, type in the name of an artist and you’ll find relevant tracks in your music library as well as across any streaming services you subscribe to. You might get pointed to Pandora, Spotify or something else. If you’re used to the layout of the old app, you will find the new layout takes some getting used to. But once you do, it is an easier and prettier app to use.

Now SONOS adds new music services all the time. But one of those additions is huge. Google Play Music is now available to SONOS users….. As long as you have an Android device. iOS users are sort of left out of the cold for the moment. More on that in a second. Now assuming that you do have an Android device, there are two options to stream music from the service:

• Choose Google Play Music from the services menu on your Sonos app and log in with your Google Account.
• Play directly to the SONOS system from within the Google Play Music App on your Android device by selecting the cast icon. If you think this sounds like ChromeCasting, you’d be right. When I tried it, it was very easy to do and the Google Play Music App is the first non-SONOS app that I am aware of that directly interacts with SONOS hardware.

Either way, you get access to thousands of tracks in a quick and easy manner. iOS users only get the option of using the SONOS app. Streaming currently doesn’t seem to work from the Google Play Music app. But the good news is that iOS users get the complete Google Play Music experience. So it’s not a total loss.

Negatives? Other than the lack of iOS streaming support for the Google Play Music app, I really don’t have any. The SONOS PLAY:3 goes for $329. You’ll also need the BRIDGE which is $59. My advice would be to try it out at your local store and I suspect you’ll be taking one home.

I recently got the chance to try a SONOS PLAY:1 in my condo recently after having a first look at it at a recent SONOS event. I came away very impressed.

Now setting it up was incredibly trivial. The PLAY:1 comes with a device called the BRIDGE which integrates the PLAY:1 wirelessly with your network. Using the BRIDGE, here’s what I had to do to get it working:

1. Plug the BRIDGE into my home network and provide it with AC power.
2. Plug in the AC power of the PLAY:1.
3. Download the Sonos Controller app for iOS onto my iPhone.
4. Follow the directions on the app to set everything up which involved pressing buttons on the BRIDGE and PLAY:1
5. Declare victory and have a beer while enjoying the fruits of my labors.

Total time to set up: 4:40. Yes, I timed myself. The bottom line is that anyone can set this up and do so quickly.

Now what do you get with a single speaker? Well, ignoring the fact that it’s a single speaker (more on that in a sec) you get pretty amazing audio. Regardless of what I tossed it it from talk radio to classical, the audio was well defined and the reproduction of highs and lows was perfect. One thing I should note, the bass was incredibly good. That surprised me as I wasn’t expecting that from such a small speaker. There’s no stereo separation, but you can get a second PLAY:1 to solve that problem. In fact, that’s the whole point as you can start off with the PLAY:1 and expand it with the components that fit your situation and needs.

The real star of the show was the SONOS Controller app for my iPhone. Using it, I was able to listen to audio from a variety of sources. Such as music from my iPhone, or using TuneIn Radio to listen to CBC Radio One as well as NewsTalk 1010. Not to mention the BBC World Service. It’s dead easy to use and it also allows you to configure and control your SONOS system as you grow it. One thing I should note is that when I was testing the PLAY:1, I was able to set it to play the BBC World Service from my iPhone and simply press the play/pause button on the PLAY:1 and quit the Controller app. Then I was able to hit the play/pause button on the PLAY:1 and the BBC World Service would start playing. So you can set the PLAY:1 to play your favourite station and forget about it. Nice!

Now the use cases are pretty extensive. I documented quite a few of them in my first look at the PLAY:1, so it’s pretty versatile. I cannot find anything negative to say about it, which is rare for my reviews. So you can safely assume it’s a quality product. What really makes it a must get is the price. It’s $219 Canadian and that includes the BRIDGE which is normally $59 by itself. This makes it the perfect platform to start a SONOS system at a low price point. Then expand as you see fit. My advice would be to try it out at your local store and I suspect you’ll be taking one home.

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 week, I got a chance to look, or more accurately hear the Sonos PLAYBAR in my condo. If you recall my In Depth look at the PLAYBAR, you’ll know that Sonos products are wireless and allow you to customize them to fit your needs so that you can get totally amazing sound. Now the PLAYBAR that Sonos provided came with one added accessory. The Sonos Bridge was included to allow me to connect the PLAYBAR to my network wirelessly (rather than run a long Ethernet cable into the back of the PLAYBAR). More on why that matters in a moment.

In terms of set up, it went something like this for me:

1. Plug the Bridge into my home network and provide it with AC power.
2. Plug in the AC power of the PLAYBAR.
3. Plug in an Toslink cable from the PLAYBAR to the back of my TV. The cable is included in the box by the way.
4. Download the Sonos Controller app for iOS onto my iPhone.
5. Follow the directions on the app to set everything up making sure I had the remote controls that I use with the TV handy.
6. Declare victory and have a beer while enjoying the fruits of my labors.

Total time: about 20 minutes. It wasn’t that hard for me.

Once it was set up, the difference between the built in speakers in my HDTV and the PLAYBAR were stark. The highs and lows were much better defined and I could pick up detail that I wasn’t used to hearing. For example, I could pick up the sounds of skates while watching game seven of the Leafs/Bruins first round playoff game in which the Leafs collapsed in an epic manner…. Not that I’m bitter.

I was also able to pick up the sounds associated with the graphics on Hockey Night In Canada which I never heard before (confirmed when I switched back to my HDTV’s speakers). But what really got my attention was watching Zero Dark Thirty via Rogers On Demand. Every aspect of the audio was enhanced from the speech of the actors to gunshots and other random sounds in the battle sequence at the end of the movie. It was very much like being in a theater, which is of course the whole point of course.

Now, back to the need to use the Bridge to hook the PLAYBAR up to my network. I can use the Sonos Controller app on my local network to do the following:

• Tweak the audio settings to suit my tastes. Including activate a night mode that cuts that volume so you can watch TV without disturbing your spouse.
• I can stream music from my iPhone to the PLAYBAR. I should note that the audio quality was impressive regardless of what I played from my iPhone.
• I can stream music from a rather long list of music streaming services.
• I can organize my Sonos products into groups. For example, if I have a system in my TV room and another in the den, I can set those up and control them independently.

I should note the app is available for Android as well. There are also versions for the PC and Mac too. One other thing about using the Bridge, as you expand the system there are no wires needed. Nice!

Now this is the part of the review where I nitpick things. I could say that while the lows were much better defined, it lacks the low-end punch of a subwoofer. I could also say that the PLAYBAR does not do the sort of stereo separation that a home theatre in a box does. The fact is that if all of that is important to you, Sonos can help you with that with their line of audio products such as the the Sub as well as other products that provide the items that I just mentioned. If you don’t need any of that, you will not be disappointed with what you get with the PLAYBAR.

Now all of this doesn’t come cheap. If you want a PLAYBAR, it’s going to set you back $750, plus $59 for the Bridge. But here’s the thing: If you want much better audio from your HDTV, plus give yourself a few extra tricks, and no wires as you expand beyond the PLAYBAR if that is your intention, you need to look at the PLAYBAR. This is ideal for a condo such as the one I live in. But I know that it would work equally as well in a larger space as well. Try it out at a dealer near you, I think you’ll be putting down your hard earned cash for one.