sonos

You get what you pay for in multiroom audio

The kind folks at Eos Wireless sent me one of their wireless multiroom audio systems to test out a couple weeks ago, and after setting it up tonight, all I can say is that it made me long for the power and solidity of the Sonos system that I got to try out last December.

CNET's Jeff Bakalar already hit all the high and low points in last month's review, and my experience was much the same. I started by plugging my iPhone into the base station. Some of the promotional material for the system says the Eos … Read more

Sonos updates iPhone controller app, launches limited-time bundle deals

A bit of news from the Sonos camp: the company has delivered a minor update to its iPhone controller app, and offered a short-term bundling deal for new customers.

The company launched its iPhone controller app--which lets any iPhone or iPod Touch control the company's multiroom digital music system--in October of 2008. Many Sonos owners liked the app more than the system's own CR100 remote (which is included in the two-room, $1,000 system, or available separately for $400). Today's minor upgrade adds multilingual support (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish, in addition to English), alarm and sleep functions, and PC-free setup (instruct your Sonos to access network music folders without the need to install software on a computer).

The upgrade also enables the playback of DRM-encoded WMA files from the likes of the Zune Marketplace. Sonos is also trumpeting the fact that Apple's decision to drop DRM from its iTunes Store means that newly purchased iTunes music will stream perfectly on the Sonos system (though DRM iTunes music you've purchased in the past will need a de-DRM'd version--which requires an upgrade fee through Apple.)

Separately, Sonos is also running a short-term bundling deal for its hardware. Those who don't want to go for the $1,000 two-room bundle (one ZP90 base station, one ZP120 amplified base station, and one CR100 controller) can instead get $150 to $200 off when purchasing either the ZP90 or the ZP120 plus the CR100. The deal runs through May 31, 2009.

We've long prodded Sonos to lower its prices, but $600 to $700 for a one-room system is still too rich for our blood. If you've already got an iPhone or iPod Touch, a better choice would be to pick up a single ZP90 for $350, and just grab the free Sonos controller app--you'll just need a stereo or a pair of powered speakers to hear your music. (That's assuming you don't already have an Apple TV or an AirPort Express--in which case you can cobble together your own Apple-ized multiroom audio system as well, albeit without access to the wider range of non-iTunes music services available on the Sonos.)

Check out Sonos' demo video of the iPhone controller app below (we've tested it, and can vouch that the video is a good representation of the software and hardware.)… Read more

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Review: Sonos iPhone Controller Better Than System's Own

Sonos makes the best multi-room music system that I have ever encountered. Although expensive, the system can be started with only a few components then expanded later. It lets you wirelessly stream music into any "zone" in your house--independently, or together using a centralized full color controller. However, if you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can download a free application to turn either of these devices into a Sonos Controller.

Sonos Hardware

Sonos sent me a Sonos Bundle 150 (BU150 $999 retail) which included two Sonos ZonePlayers: a Zone Player 120 (ZP120 retail $499) with … Read more

Where Cisco could beat Sonos

Last week, I expressed some doubt that Cisco Systems would be able to come up with a multiroom audio system that's usable by mere mortals. After all, home networking is still a pain to set up and debug, and Linksys isn't exactly a beloved consumer name.

Reading John Falcone's preview of the Linksys Wireless Home Audio System calmed my fears a little bit. Not only has Cisco hired some industrial and user interface designers, it has gotten a few things right that Sonos missed.

First, the Linksys system is completely wireless, while Sonos requires you to have … Read more

Linksys offers full wireless alternative to Sonos

After hinting at a "digital stereo" product in The New York Times last week, Cisco unveiled the details of its Wireless Home Audio System today, which will be released under the networking giant's "Linksys by Cisco" consumer networking brand. At first glance, the system--which is actually a suite of six products that will be available separately or in a variety of preconfigured bundles--bears a remarkable resemblance to the Sonos Multi-Room Music System. Like the Sonos, the Linksys product has a large-screen remote and offers networked base stations designed to live in several rooms of the house where they can play digital music from networked PCs or online audio sources (Internet radio via RadioTime, Rhapsody subscription service in the U.S., and the AudioLounge premium service in Europe). The Linksys device can also use a "zone" system, so different rooms can access different audio sources, or be linked together for synchronized playback of a single audio stream in multiple rooms simultaneously. … Read more

Would you buy a Cisco home audio system?

Networking is a dark art, and putting the word "home" in front of it makes it no simpler. Debugging a home network is not for the faint of heart--the intelligence of the on-screen wizards peters out after the first few obvious fixes, and soon you're checking help forums, running ipconfig commands, and tweaking DHCP settings.

So today's news from The New York Times--that networking giant Cisco Systems is getting into the consumer electronics business--filled me with dread.

The idea of piping audio files from your computer to your home stereo or other audio devices is valid: … Read more

Rhapsody helps find likable Christmas songs

Apart from the song "Sleigh Ride," which I've been known to whistle on cloudy days in June, I hate traditional holiday music. Part of it comes from when I worked on the floor in a bookstore for a year, and was subjected to three months of traditional holiday tunes on endless loop, eight hours a day, five days a week.

But tomorrow, we're hosting a holiday party, and you can't have a party without holiday music. The only Christmas song in my collection is John Lennon and Yoko Ono's antiwar "Happy Xmas (War … Read more

New bundles would make Sonos unstoppable

I've been a fan of the Sonos Multi-Room Music System ever since I saw it in action at a neighbor's house a couple summers ago. There's no other solution that gives you such easy access to so much music in so many places in your house, whether that music is stored on your computer or delivered via partnerships with Internet music providers like Last.fm (owned by CBS, which also owns CNET), Pandora, or Rhapsody.

Recently, Sonos sent me a system to test out with their new free iPhone controller (more about that later), and I came … Read more