Profpointy
Legendary Member
Tenuously related, but we had a theory that the brewing companies sponsored really crap TV, particularly at around 9pm. They didn't even need to run an advert as we were duly forced to go the pub
Anyone own a Sonos Playbar?.
- Thread starter keithmac
- Start date
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Tenuously related, but we had a theory that the brewing companies sponsored really crap TV, particularly at around 9pm. They didn't even need to run an advert as we were duly forced to go the pub
JtB
Prepare a way for the Lord
- Location
- North Hampshire
I don't have a Playbar but I have a couple of Play:5 speakers and they are excellent. Without them I'd have given up on the Turbo trainer long ago.
yes we have a plug socket behind the sofa, just no space to fit a play 3 or 5 shame really ;-)
OP
OP
keithmac
Guru
Just had a read up and it says you need a grouped pair to do rear surround?, shame as one speaker playing both rear channels would have worked a treat behind our sofa..
Update 7.4 is out and playing havoc with Dolby 5.1 streams it appears so I'll have to try and stop mine updating when I plug it in..
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
That's what i did, although i am considering getting a small sound bar, but i doubt it would sound better than my hi-fi speakers. Only advantage really is the sound will come more 'from' the direction of the screen, but swinging the balance over to the speaker nearest the screen more or less sorts that out... so maybe i won't bother.
OP
OP
keithmac
Guru
Set it up tonight after work and had a play!. The whole kit is very well made.
Watched a film in 5.1 which sounded great but after that I had a look into the internet radio side of things, 1000's of channels with faultless streaming!.
Just listening to Absolute Radio 90's now!.
Next step is a NAS drive and upload boxes full of CD's.
The controller App is excellent, can have it on any Android or IOS device.
Over the moon, money well spent
.
Watched a film in 5.1 which sounded great but after that I had a look into the internet radio side of things, 1000's of channels with faultless streaming!.
Just listening to Absolute Radio 90's now!.
Next step is a NAS drive and upload boxes full of CD's.
The controller App is excellent, can have it on any Android or IOS device.
Over the moon, money well spent
.
Set it up tonight after work and had a play!. The whole kit is very well made.
Watched a film in 5.1 which sounded great but after that I had a look into the internet radio side of things, 1000's of channels with faultless streaming!.
Just listening to Absolute Radio 90's now!.
Next step is a NAS drive and upload boxes full of CD's.
The controller App is excellent, can have it on any Android or IOS device.
Over the moon, money well spent
I did that 5 years ago, when i bought my initial Sonos Play 5. sat for hours on end ripping my whole CD collection, which is considerable, then copying them over to a NAS drive but once it's done it's great, rarely if ever drops out and has been used solidly since.
as for the radio stations they are great, as you get lots of stations which play only specific styles of music so you can avoid the more commercial ones, just go for what you fancy
I'm in the midst of ripping 2 boxes full of CD's to FLAC now, off to Maplins for a WD 4tb NAS drive in the morning
I wold recommend a Synology or Lacie as i have one of each and they are both great NAS drives.
the Lacie has a front end you can log into which is decent and allows you to mess about with it, but the Synology is a proper all in NAS, allows you to install Apps and run it like a mini PC, well worth the extra money.
the WD i bought lasted about an hour and was awful for me personally.
BurningLegs
Veteran
I've been using Sonos for about five years - we've got a mixture of their products around the house, but not a Playbar. I love using the product (for Spotify, line-in (TV), and Radio streaming)
If I am totally honest, I would advise people to hold off on buying Sonos products right now. As a business they are have significant challenges. They recruited a new CEO in January and the founder left the business. Software development has been practically nill in the last 12 months, and they are laying off staff.
They did a great job of anticipating and riding the music streaming wave, but they're lagging behind in mobility and "smart homes". They have failed to see where the market was heading and now have to play catch up. They don't have any portable/mobile products, and they don't have any smart home integration - they keep promising Alexa integration but it's still not available. Should have been there at launch in my opinion.
I believe they are vulnerable to the "big boys" in the industry. They haven't integrated with other eco-systems which may be their downfall. Google, Amazon, and Apple are all working in this space now. Amazon and Google have both released home speakers, and while they're not yet a direct competitor to Sonos, they are heading in that direction.
Apple are about to release their HomePod product, and they are going to be the first to take direct aim at Sonos with this product. The problem that Sonos have is that to survive they need to integrate, but why will Amazon/Google/Apple want them to integrate? Those companies will probably continue to develop their own speaker technology and lock Sonos out in order to try and corner the market.
I am a happy Sonos customer, but I am worried about their future - they should have been more willing to integrate with third parties a few years ago. Now they have their new CEO it seems that they are willing, but I fear that the market may have left them behind.
Time will tell, I suppose, but I'm holding off with any further purchases for now and may sell in a year or two depending on how things unfold.
If I am totally honest, I would advise people to hold off on buying Sonos products right now. As a business they are have significant challenges. They recruited a new CEO in January and the founder left the business. Software development has been practically nill in the last 12 months, and they are laying off staff.
They did a great job of anticipating and riding the music streaming wave, but they're lagging behind in mobility and "smart homes". They have failed to see where the market was heading and now have to play catch up. They don't have any portable/mobile products, and they don't have any smart home integration - they keep promising Alexa integration but it's still not available. Should have been there at launch in my opinion.
I believe they are vulnerable to the "big boys" in the industry. They haven't integrated with other eco-systems which may be their downfall. Google, Amazon, and Apple are all working in this space now. Amazon and Google have both released home speakers, and while they're not yet a direct competitor to Sonos, they are heading in that direction.
Apple are about to release their HomePod product, and they are going to be the first to take direct aim at Sonos with this product. The problem that Sonos have is that to survive they need to integrate, but why will Amazon/Google/Apple want them to integrate? Those companies will probably continue to develop their own speaker technology and lock Sonos out in order to try and corner the market.
I am a happy Sonos customer, but I am worried about their future - they should have been more willing to integrate with third parties a few years ago. Now they have their new CEO it seems that they are willing, but I fear that the market may have left them behind.
Time will tell, I suppose, but I'm holding off with any further purchases for now and may sell in a year or two depending on how things unfold.
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