Anyone have Sonos?

[SiobhanT3]

Hi
Have never posted here before, so hello. We are refurbing our house and our Cedia installer has recommended a Sonos system. I like the interface, saw it at Grand Designs. But husband is convinced that having handheld little units lying around in each room (each of which need to be charged...) will end up driving us nuts (a bit like having loads of cordless phones, which invariably are in another room when you use them). He would prefer something with hardwired panel in the wall, like Opus which weve used whilst on holiday.

Any thoughts really welcome.

Regards
Siobhan

[lazymatt]

First off, welcome and hello

The thing with the Sonos, is that you can easily take it with you when you move. The same can't be said for other hard wired systems.

As for how many controllers you need, I have one, sitting in a cradle and that's fine for me. However, a second one downstairs might be nice.

Make sure you get the cradles, as frankly its a pain having to undo the little rubber plug over the charging socket on the remote every time you want to charge the thing. And whilst it's sat in he cradle, it's always on.

The cradles are wall mountable.

The other thing about Sonos, is that it's always being upgraded via firmware changes to include nice little features, and it's easy to self install, and therefore much, much cheaper than a hard wired system as there's no labour costs.

Basically your installer won't be getting as much from you for the Sonos, so you'd have to ask why he'd recommend it, and I guess it's because he genuinely thinks its a better solution for you.

[davee]

Its an excellent system and well priced. The hand held is a good size and as lazymatt says, keep it in the cradle when your not using it and it stays charged and you know where to find it. You can also add to it without any disruption.

[SiobhanT3]

Thanks guys - that's really helpful. We are going to hardwire it, just because its going to be used over a large area and we are advised it gives 100% performance then. I am pleased though that the installer who quoted us for Living Control too (much more expensive) says that this is the way to go, because we have all our songs etc already on iTunes etc etc. And as you say, we can take the kit with us if we go.

I have seen the cradles - they can be wallmounted as you say - so this could be the solution!

Cheers
Siobhan

[lazymatt]

Enjoy it!

[hooklift]

I don't think Sonos has been out long enough for the batteries to wear out yet, but I wonder if the Sonos battery develops 'memory' like a mobile phone battery. I have 2 remotes, one of which sits in a cradle for the downstairs zones and another which seems to walk between bedrooms and is charged as and when required by the loose charger. I'll make a post when the first battery fails. The unit appears to be sealed ipod style, so will we all have to buy new remotes when the batteries fail?

[davey]

Hi there
I have had the sonos kit for about 2 years, which i must add is fab and have only had one controller die which was replaced foc, but would also like to know how you can change the batteries if needed.

[SimonO]

The batteries are 'factory' replaceable...

Although the cradle has wall mount lugs, they are an after thought and almost useless - it's difficult to hide the power cable without modification and the controller isn't a secure enough fit to be mounted anywhere other than on a flat surface IMO...

The number one advantage of Sonos over other solutions is the handheld controller - wall mounted control pads look good, however you'll soon tire of having to get up and/or having to turn on a monitor to change tracks

[glenlevisohn]

Are there any Sonos owners on here that have the Sonos own brand speakers ?
I am looking to get a Sonos system this year (2 ZP100's, 2 sets of speakers, 1 controller) and was wondering if the own brand speakers were any good.

The rooms they are to go in are reasonably small (12ft x 14ft approx). Would the Sonos speakers be adequate for moderate volume listening do you think ?

Any advice greatly appreciated

[lazymatt]

They're o.k, but the problem is they're now up against some really tough budget competition. For the money, I'd go with Tannoy F1 customs (£100) or MS 902i's (£150).

Both give far more insight IMHO.

[glenlevisohn]

Thanks for the reply Matt.
I shall take a look at the speakers you mentioned

[lazymatt]

Don't forget the Q Acoustics 1010's at £100 either.

If you can stretch the budget, the ZP100 will happily get on with even more expensive speakers....say the MA BR2's. But they are much bigger.

[glenlevisohn]

Thanks for the reply again, matt.
I shall take a look at the 1010s as well, although I do like the look of the 902i's you mentioned earlier.
I shall take a look at the MA BR2's as well but they sound like they may be too large for my other half to accept if you get my drift

Once again, thanks for the info, much appreciated.