BLUETOOTH’S LOSS IS WIFI’S GAIN
After my relatively recent purchase of a Brennan B2, which for the uninitiated can be viewed as somewhere to store all of your CDs on hard-drive without the loss of quality normally associated with compressed files such as mp3, WMA or AAC, I made some attempts to equip it with remote speakers. It connected fine with my Yamaha A/V amplifier via an optical link but I wanted more. I wanted a wireless link to a remote speaker or speakers.
It came with a Bluetooth ‘dongle’ (why do I smile EVERY time I write that word?) so buying a Bluetooth remote speaker seemed the logical path to take. However, the Brennan B2 was still at this point under development and I had trouble pairing a Bluetooth speaker that I’d bought to go with it.
To give Brennan their due, they worked hard to meet everyone’s needs, but my particular speaker was proving especially resistant to working for more than two minutes without crashing the Brennan box.
In the end, I kind of gave up on the idea of having a wireless speaker in, let’s say the dining room. It didn’t help that being a three-storey house, the dining room was about the limit of where Bluetooth would reach anyway. Since it was designed as a short-range wireless medium, like from phone to car dashboard, or iPod to cordless earphones, it’s hardly surprising that you can just about wander one room away in my house where even the internal walls are solid.
Thanks to my BT Hub 6, supposedly one of the most powerful proprietary routers going, the wi-fi around here is something else reaching the top floor with more or less a full signal.
I then started looking for speakers that could use this means of transmission instead, and the name Sonos kept coming to the top of the pile.
It also helped that thanks to the evolutionary nature of the Brennan B2, it’s software had been updated to allow it to work as a ‘NAS’ – (network attached storage device). This meant that as well as all the mp3 music files on my C:\drive, my PC file explorer could also ‘see’ all the FLAC (free lossless audio compression) files on my Brennan B2, which is where you want to be if you want to start playing really high quality stuff onto a set of, let’s face it, pricey speakers.
At around £180 (now reduced to around £149) each, these didn’t come cheap, especially if you want to create ‘stereo’ since you’ll be needing two of the little blighters.
I started off with just one to prove the concept, keeping all the packaging in case it needed to re-appear on eBay as “New (other)”.
Well, I’m glad to report that its position in my house is assured, and within a day I was ordering the second one.
GETTING IT GOING
Set-up went remarkably smoothly, after downloading the Sonos client software to my PC – you can also download Android and iPhone apps to control it, but I choose to take the desk-top path first, preferring to ‘add-in’ the Android app onto two phones later.
Following the on-screen prompts, which ironically involved using the ethernet port at the back of the speaker (funny, I thought it was wi-fi!) with a connection to the router using the cable supplied, it was an easy job to create the wi-fi link enabling the speaker to work without its Ethernet ‘umbilical’. The process was quite slow as it spotted the fact that the speaker’s software needed an upgrade – what a surprise.
Having got the speaker running, you then turn your attention to setting up the client.
In my case, I wanted to add two music library sources, i.e. the respective paths to my networked Brennan and to my PC’s Music directory.
Browsing for these was via the usual ‘Windows’ method of a dialogue box.
Other sources are a bit more ‘pictorial’ with icons. For example, you can bring in internet services like Apple Music, Spotify or Deezer.
I’m still of the old school who prefers his music on a CD that he actually owns - hell, it took long enough to persuade myself that music on a Brennan would sound as good as the actual CD collection! It’ll come as no surprise that none of these extra services were of any great interest to me, with one exception - TuneIn the internet radio site, an app I already use quite often especially while away from home. Thus, my speakers can now play from a list of pre-sets representing my favourite radio stations as well as all of my music files.
What makes this all so much more logical is the adding in of smart-phone apps to do the same thing from anywhere within reach of your wi-fi.
I was initially a bit worried that setting up via a PC first would somehow block my use of ‘apps’ too, but I needn’t have been concerned. Yes, the phone apps do offer you access to any music files actually on your phone (of which there are precisely none!) but more importantly they can also ‘see’ all the files linked to your desk-top PC’s network. Thus, they become what is effectively the remote control for your system once running. All you need is for your PC and speaker(s) to be running, which around here is for most of the day anyway. Another plus for those who play the music from their phones to these speakers is that, unlike a Bluetooth link, your music won’t be interrupted by incoming ringing tones, as the link is via the home wi-fi.
From these ‘remote controls’ you can select the specific location of your speaker, should you be minted enough to have them throughout the house and the tonal balance and volume of the speakers – I found that the default ‘Loudness On’ was a little clumsy and boomy for me so turned it off.
More importantly, you can use them to select what you want played. This can take the form of a play list simply by clicking on more than one album, or you can build-up a specific ‘Sonos playlist’ for later use.
ERGONOMICS AND BUILD-QUALITY – I.E. DO THEY FEEL LIKE THEY’VE BEEN THROWN TOGETHER?
Each Sonos play 1 comes heavily wrapped to survive the trials and tribulations of an Amazon or Hermes ‘please throw gently’ delivery regime. Once out of the box, which appears to have been thoughtfully made of all recyclable contents, you are immediately confronted with the prospect that these are weighty little devils. For something that’s only 160 mm high and 120 mm square, its weight at 1.88 kg gives it a convincing ‘heft’.
Design is understated with a neat graphite metal grille all round (there is also a white version), a rubber-footed base with good grip and a lid with one solitary LED, a pause button and a volume up-down rocker.
The mains cable has been specifically moulded to fit neatly at 90 degrees underneath using a standard figure-of-eight ‘ghetto blaster’ female plug. The lead is a fairly generous 2 metres in length. If I had one or maybe two criticisms, it’s the lead that does it for me.
It’s not everyone who can afford to give up a mains socket for every speaker, especially, if like me you’re running two as a stereo pair. I’m lucky – my dining room was the previous owner’s office with 6 double mains sockets. Thus, I had no trouble dedicating two of them to my speakers, one at either end of the window sill. In fact, it may come as a surprise, after you’ve seen all the ‘sexy’ photos on the Sonos site of these speakers neatly slotting into book shelves and the like, that they even need mains leads at all. In my current situation, they’re not exactly hidden, trailing down the wall as they do, and since they’re fresh out of the box, they are as crinkly as hell which doesn’t help with getting these approved with ‘the management’ In the end, I bought the thinnest of that PVC mini-trunking, which conveniently was self-adhesive and painted it to tone in with the wall.
So there we have it – wireless speakers that aren’t cordless! Just about all I can find to moan about.
Having said that, the alternative would be to equip them with a rechargeable battery, which would lead to their inevitably being flat just when you fancied using them – I’m using the experience gained with my abortive attempts to get Bluetooth up and running here.
I do think that the Sonos site could at least show a neatly routed power cable behind their speakers instead of pretending that it doesn’t exist.
However, amongst hi-fi makers, they’re not alone!
THE ACID TEST
How does it sound? Well, this was always going to be subjective, as with any loudspeaker worth its salt, but I do wholeheartedly agree with a quote for the Sonos website – “Sounds Bigger Than It Looks”. To pick one of these up when it’s in full flow will make you aware of the large amounts of air being pumped in and out by bass notes. For something which only has a combined woofer and mid-range speaker this is remarkable and partly down to the newer stronger magnets they’re using these days in speaker cones. The tweeter is a separate unit and all the better for it. High notes are crisp without grating on the ear. There are two amplifiers, called Class-D Digital, whatever that means. Sonos are coy about the wattage output, but in the real world, they can be cranked up to far more than needed so as Rolls-Royce used to say when asked about power - “adequate”.
Incidentally, the amplifiers go into standby mode after a few minutes inaction. The Sonos website states that they use ‘negligible’ current when in this state, but that’s all relative to your own pocket and ‘green credentials’. At 3.8* watts each on standby, I work out that they would cost me around £16 for 66 units (aka kWatt/hours) of electricity per annum, just NOT to use them. I’ll be switching mine off – they only take about 30 seconds to reacquire the wi-fi when turned back on.
(* Quite profligate compared to some TVs these days that now use less than 1 watt on standby)
BUT ARE THEY HI-FI?
Do I think they sound as good as my Yamaha amplifier playing a CD through my Cambridge Audio speakers?
No, I don’t, but then they are smaller speakers playing PC files. OK, I’m playing lossless files which should equate to the sound of the original CD but anyone playing mp3 files or whatever Apple call their file compression has already ‘hobbled’ the sound quality to an admittedly tiny extent and has probably drummed themselves out of The Noble and Nit-Picking Order of Audiophiles anyway.
However, side-by-side comparison is not what’s on the table here. They’re in a different room with different acoustics anyway. I-phone users can use the Sonos Trueplay app to ‘tune’ the system to suit the room’s individual acoustics. Android users will have to wait for a workaround caused by the myriad different microphones used in countless brands of Android phone.
Personally, I think that my use of two of the smallest and least expensive (note I didn’t say ‘cheapest’) in the Sonos range makes the most sense if you want ‘proper stereo’ with separation between them. You can tell me till the cows come home how the Sonos Play 5 can radiate stereo from a single point and I’ll just glaze over especially when it costs £499!
OTHER USES
Well, at this early stage, I can’t say I’m going to pepper them all over the house as getting some music through to the dining room was my goal, but you can buy some interesting add-ons and upgrades. For instance, there are also larger speakers at (much) larger prices, the aforementioned Sonos Play 5 for example weighing in at an eye-watering £499.
They also make sound bars for TVs which can then form the basis of a full 5.1 surround system including a pair of Play 1s at the back.
One thing is for sure – their use on patios and for other outdoor pursuits will be limited by your having to run mains leads out there which rather takes the icing off the cake.
In other respects, they are so versatile when run by your PC or phone app, that they can have different music in every room. The mind boggles given the younger generation’s penchant for drowning everyone else out.
I’ve even dug out a redundant smart-phone, and by loading it with only the Sonos app, it is now the remote control in the dining room – but then, that’s just me!
USEFUL ADD-ONS
I spoke earlier about the merits of ‘to leave on stand-by or to turn off at the mains?’ I have now automated this process using two Orvibo Smart Mains Sockets, which allow me to turn off the speakers remotely via a phone app. Their stand-by electrical drain is quoted as ‘less than 0.3 watts’ which is just about as close to nothing as these things can get. This also means that the entire process of switching the speakers on and off plus choosing music to be played can be done from a smart phone.
Also posted by me on the ciao.co.uk opinion site.
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This item  SONOS PLAY:1 Smart Wireless Speaker, Black | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | £129.00 | -4% £429.00 RRP: £449.00 | £179.00 | £449.00 | £129.99 | -21% £119.00 RRP: £149.95 |
| Delivery | Get it 12 – 26 Apr | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 10 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 10 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 24 | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 10 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold by | Eurosell Trading | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | BossDeal™ | Amazon |
| speaker size | 3.5 inches | 18.49 centimeters | 24.1 centimeters | 1 inches | — | 21.69 centimeters |
| power source | Battery Powered | Battery Powered | Battery Powered | Corded Electric | DC | Battery Powered |
| connectivity tech | Ethernet | Bluetooth, Auxiliary, USB | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | HDMI, Wi-Fi | With Cable/Wireless | Bluetooth |
| speaker type | 2-way - active | Bookshelf | Surround Sound | Soundbar | Tweeter | Outdoor |
| mounting type | Wall Mount | Tabletop | Tabletop | Wall Mount | Tabletop | No Mount |
| weight | 2.4 kilograms | 4.5 kilograms | 0.42 kilograms | 2 kilograms | 1.85 kilograms | 0.59 kilograms |
| control method | application | voice | voice | voice | application | application |
| model name | SONOS PLAY:1 Smart Wireless Speaker, Black | Sonos Era 300. Feel sound all around. With next-level audio, Era 300 doesn’t just surround you, it puts you inside your music. (Black) | Sonos Roam 2 | Sonos Beam (Gen 2) The compact smart soundbar for TV, music and more. (Black) | — | Bose SoundLink Flex Portable Bluetooth Speaker (2nd Gen) |
| surround channels | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — |
New to Sonos? This is a great place to start!
I've been looking for a suitable wireless speaker for a little while as normally we would Airplay an iPhone or iPad using Apple Music to the Apple TV so we could use the surround speakers. However the speakers are pretty old and bulky and we want to start really "slimming down" the kit we have.Anyway, first impressions were 'wow this is heavy!', followed by joy as these are really superb little speakers. Now they are pricey but appear to be exceptionally well built and have a fabulous sound with some pretty deep bass for such a small unit. Plus these are competitors for products like Bose, so actually the price is pretty keen in that category.The Sonos community and product support seem very good, as is the set up procedure using the Sonos app on an iPhone. I am now happily streaming from either my Amazon Music Library (NOT Amazon Prime Music, that is in beta and only currently available in the USA), or my (recently out of beta) Apple Music account. I also find the tunein option for accessing radio really useful and if like me you are fed up of "normal" radio stations then I recommend you check out the Steve Penk Music Channel.I intend to buy another when funds allow and ask Santa for the Playbar, although I have a feeling I already know what he's going to say...I've added a picture to show mine next to a pretty standard size coffee mug for context. One last top tip, if you want to shuffle a playlist then you will need to create a Sonos playlist in the app, add the tracks to it and then play a song. Once playing you can then click on the playlist icon and turn on 'random'. Well, that's what I had to do for Apple Music anyway. I've added pictures to illustrate.
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 August 2017
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2014
Top reviews from other countries
- Ralph C. MartinReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on 9 January 2020
The best system I know!
- Paul MoultonReviewed in Singapore on 16 December 2019
Excellent sound for such a compact device
- hosemariaReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on 5 July 2019
The best wireless speaker money can buy,
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on 4 September 2019
Awesome Sound
