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Sonos question - Input from anyone with Sonos?
Hi all, I'm sorry if this should be in another part of the forum, but with the Sonos coupon expiring tomorrow, I was hoping to get some thoughts/feedback from any of you who have Sonos in your homes. I had never heard of Sonos before getting the 10C email, so this is all very new to me, and even though I've been researching it online, it's still a little confusing.
Currently I have a decent record collection, a starter Audio Technica-60 turntable (which I was considering upgrading to their 120 model), a Denon receiver, and 2 really great PSB book shelf speakers on either side of the TV (which play both the tv sound and the turntable). The receiver will handle up to 5 channels, so I've always wanted to expand to surround.
I'm now at a cross roads trying to decide whether to: a) expand my system with traditional speakers, b) consider a Sonos/Traditional hybrid setup using their Connect or ConnectAmp [I don't know how this would really work], or c) go full Sonos. While I love my records, I only sit down to listen to them once or twice a week, and since I have a Tidal Hifi subscription (thanks to my TMR vault subscription), I'm highly considering taking the Sonos plunge.
My plan is to buy a Playbase, a couple of Play 1s, and then one of either: a Play 5 a Connect, or a Connect:Amp.
Generally my questions are (please feel free to expand if I haven't asked the right questions):
1. For vinyl lovers, how do you find the sound with Sonos? Do you get the true Analog sound, or is it converted? (I'm not an audiophile, but I would like to get the vinyl warm sound out of my records)
2. How do you have your turntable hooked up to Sonos: Play 5, connect, or connect:Amp?
3. What is my best bet for hooking up my turntable? If I hook it up directly to the 5, will it play through all the other Sonos speakers (when I add more for the Kitchen, etc...I want to make sure that the turntable plays through those speakers).
4. If I go this route, is there any point of keeping my receiver and bookshelf speakers?
5. Hybrid - Would there be any point in considering a Connect or a Connect Amp so that I can use my turntable with my existing speakers/receiver and then add sonos speakers to other areas of the house? Like could I have my turntable running into my receiver, the bookshelf speakers on either side of my TV, the Play 1's behind the couch for surround sound, and then a Play 5 for the Kitchen?
Thanks for your thoughts and input in advance,
Matt
Currently I have a decent record collection, a starter Audio Technica-60 turntable (which I was considering upgrading to their 120 model), a Denon receiver, and 2 really great PSB book shelf speakers on either side of the TV (which play both the tv sound and the turntable). The receiver will handle up to 5 channels, so I've always wanted to expand to surround.
I'm now at a cross roads trying to decide whether to: a) expand my system with traditional speakers, b) consider a Sonos/Traditional hybrid setup using their Connect or ConnectAmp [I don't know how this would really work], or c) go full Sonos. While I love my records, I only sit down to listen to them once or twice a week, and since I have a Tidal Hifi subscription (thanks to my TMR vault subscription), I'm highly considering taking the Sonos plunge.
My plan is to buy a Playbase, a couple of Play 1s, and then one of either: a Play 5 a Connect, or a Connect:Amp.
Generally my questions are (please feel free to expand if I haven't asked the right questions):
1. For vinyl lovers, how do you find the sound with Sonos? Do you get the true Analog sound, or is it converted? (I'm not an audiophile, but I would like to get the vinyl warm sound out of my records)
2. How do you have your turntable hooked up to Sonos: Play 5, connect, or connect:Amp?
3. What is my best bet for hooking up my turntable? If I hook it up directly to the 5, will it play through all the other Sonos speakers (when I add more for the Kitchen, etc...I want to make sure that the turntable plays through those speakers).
4. If I go this route, is there any point of keeping my receiver and bookshelf speakers?
5. Hybrid - Would there be any point in considering a Connect or a Connect Amp so that I can use my turntable with my existing speakers/receiver and then add sonos speakers to other areas of the house? Like could I have my turntable running into my receiver, the bookshelf speakers on either side of my TV, the Play 1's behind the couch for surround sound, and then a Play 5 for the Kitchen?
Thanks for your thoughts and input in advance,
Matt
1992-07-21 Vancouver
1993-9-4 Vancouver
1996-9-16 Seattle
1998-7-19 Vancouver, 7-21 Seattle, Memorial Stadium
2000-11-6 Seattle
2001-10-22 Seattle
2002 -12-09 Seattle
2009-8-17 Manchester, 9-25 Vancouver
2011-6-16 Seattle (EV), 9-3/4 PJ20, 9-25 Vancouver
2012-6-27 Amsterdam (#2!)
2013-11-29 Portland, 12-4 Vancouver, 12-6 Seattle
2014-AUS - 1-26 Sydney, 1-31 Adelaide, 2-11/12 EV Sydney State Theatre, 2-13 EV Opera House
2014 - USA - Memphis, Detroit, MOLINE, St. Paul, MILWAUKEE, Denver, 25/26 Bridge School
2016 - Lexington, Philly x 2, MSG x 2, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto x 2, Pemberton, Fenway x 2, Wrigley x 2
2018 - Seattle x 2, Missoula, Fenway x 2
1993-9-4 Vancouver
1996-9-16 Seattle
1998-7-19 Vancouver, 7-21 Seattle, Memorial Stadium
2000-11-6 Seattle
2001-10-22 Seattle
2002 -12-09 Seattle
2009-8-17 Manchester, 9-25 Vancouver
2011-6-16 Seattle (EV), 9-3/4 PJ20, 9-25 Vancouver
2012-6-27 Amsterdam (#2!)
2013-11-29 Portland, 12-4 Vancouver, 12-6 Seattle
2014-AUS - 1-26 Sydney, 1-31 Adelaide, 2-11/12 EV Sydney State Theatre, 2-13 EV Opera House
2014 - USA - Memphis, Detroit, MOLINE, St. Paul, MILWAUKEE, Denver, 25/26 Bridge School
2016 - Lexington, Philly x 2, MSG x 2, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto x 2, Pemberton, Fenway x 2, Wrigley x 2
2018 - Seattle x 2, Missoula, Fenway x 2
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Comments
i have 3 Sonos speakers in the house, and while I love them, I do keep them separate from the turntable setup. That being said, if you’re set on Sonos for the turntable, the connect or connect amp is the way to go. It will allow you to keep the speakers you have now and utilize it as a Sonos ‘station’
Generally my questions are (please feel free to expand if I haven't asked the right questions):
1. For vinyl lovers, how do you find the sound with Sonos? Do you get the true Analog sound, or is it converted? (I'm not an audiophile, but I would like to get the vinyl warm sound out of my records)
I never used vinyl with my Sonos system. Re: warm sound of vinyl .... CD sound is fine for me.
2. How do you have your turntable hooked up to Sonos: Play 5, connect, or connect:Amp?
N/A
3. What is my best bet for hooking up my turntable? If I hook it up directly to the 5, will it play through all the other Sonos speakers (when I add more for the Kitchen, etc...I want to make sure that the turntable plays through those speakers).
N/A
4. If I go this route, is there any point of keeping my receiver and bookshelf speakers?
N/A
5. Hybrid - Would there be any point in considering a Connect or a Connect Amp so that I can use my turntable with my existing speakers/receiver and then add sonos speakers to other areas of the house? Like could I have my turntable running into my receiver, the bookshelf speakers on either side of my TV, the Play 1's behind the couch for surround sound, and then a Play 5 for the Kitchen?
A neighbour of mine, scored both the Connect and the Connect Amp off a resale site here in Canada for $500. He loves them. I've only used their speakers. Pairing the Play 1's does produce an improved sound in my opinion. I really love the 2nd generation Play 5 - it's terrific.
I ended up ordering a Playbase using the promo code yesterday. I saved about $134 with the PJ promo. For comparison's sake, Sonos's December 2016 Holiday promotion was $50 off the Playbar (similar to the aforementioned Playbase)
I primarily use Sonos with my paid Google Music subscription. Six family mebers split $15.99 a month. I can upload PJ bootlegs to the Google Music service, so I can listen to these albums whenever I am where there's WIFI. I'm really pleased with my Sonos products so far... they're not cheap, but their convenience and build/sound quality are great.
I hope it all works out so you're pleased, Matt
be well,
Brian
TT setup aside, Sonos is amazeballs if you have several devices across the house.
1. It sounds very good not great. But I believe that has more to do with my tale being older and having a 11 year old cartridge (at this point). I have 2 other tables, so when I play records, I play off of those. I set up my AT to a Connect AMP so that I can hear records outside. The neat thing with Sonos is though, I can play that table in the other rooms where I have Sonos speakers. It will be a digital signal, but its nice to be able to play records all over the house.
2&3. Its a Connect Amp for those outdoor speakers. I need the AMP to power the outdoor speakers because I don't have a receiver for that particular table. I don't think you can hook a table up to the play 5 though. I'm pretty sure when I researched (and I've had sonos for 3 years now), that a table will only play through a connect.
4. Depends what you want to do. If all its running is streaming and a table, yeah, go for the Connect Amp. If you want to run TV and stuff through, then keep the receiver and get the regular Connect.
5. Yep. Its a pretty versatile system. What you have going in 1 zone, can be synced to any other zone. Each zone is a Sonos product.
Hope that helps. If you have more Qs I'm happy to answer them. Like I said, I've had it for 3 years and I love it so much. I ordered a playbase with the discount code so that I can hook up our main TV to the system and then sync it with that other Connect Amp for surround in our family room.
After your input, I seem have way more options than I was originally thinking about. Setting this out took me a long time and gave me a bit of a headache, so if you make it all the way through, and have any thoughts as to which option you would personally choose, I'd be very grateful:
1) Minimal music - get 2 Play 1's for the kitchen and bedroom to see if I like Sonos - aprox cost. $320
Pros: get's me in the door
Cons: No Vinyl, minimal, bad use of 20% off savings.
2) Minimal music #2 - get 1 Play 1 (bedroom) and 1 Play 5 (kitchen) - $560
Pros: same as #1 but much better sound in Kitchen
Cons: same as #1
3) Connect Vinyl - get a Connect, and a couple of 1's for the Kitchen and bedroom - - Aprox cost $600
Pros: this way I can play vinyl and through existing bookshelves, but also in vinyl and tidal in multiple rooms
Cons: Spending $350 just to connect turntable to Sonos system seems wasteful when a Play 5 can do the same for $150 more (before discount)
4) Play 5 Vinyl - Get a Play 5 to connect my turntable (instead of a connect) and a Play 1 for the Kitchen - - aprox cost $560
Pros: this way I'm seemingly getting more bang for my back as for a little more $ I can get a Play 5 instead of a Connect [and hook the record player straight up to the Play 5]
Pros - Like option #2 but get a speaker instead of a connect
Cons - I would be playing Vinyl though a single Play 5 speaker which arguably might be worse or not much of an improvement on my 2 existing PSB speakers - tv sound would continue through the PSB speakers.
5) Full On Play 5 Vinyl (with some tv improvement) - Get 2 Play 5's (one directly connected to record player on right side of TV, and one on the left side of the TV), 2 Play 1's for bedroom and Kitchen - Aprox cost $1120
Pros improves Tv and Vinyl, puts vinyl and tidal throughout house.
Cons - no real need for my existing speakers and receiver (maybe sell them?). Kind of like my existing setup.
6) Basic TV, Vinyl, and Tidal - Playbase, connect, 2 Play 1's for kitchen and bedroom- Aprox $1152
Pros: can use existing speakers, and play vinyl and tidal throughout house
7) Basic TV and Tidal #1 - Playbase, 2 Play 1s (for kitchen and bathroom) - aprox cost - $880
Pros Big upgrade to tv sound, and able to stream tidal in multiple rooms (Can still play Vinyl through receiver and PSB speakers)
Cons: No vinyl - can't play records throughout house, no surround. Same question from #5
8) Basic TV and Tidal #1 - Playbase, 1 Play 1, 1 play 5 (for kitchen and bathroom) - aprox cost - $1120
Pros upgrade to tv sound, and able to stream tidal in multiple rooms (Can still play Vinyl through receiver and PSB speakers), better kitchen sound
Cons: No vinyl - can't play records throughout house, no surround.
9) Full on TV and Tidal #1- Get a Playbase and 4 Play 1's (2 for surround in Living room, 1 for kitchen, 1 for bedroom) - aprox cost $1200 -
Pros Big upgrade to tv sound, surround, and able to stream tidal in multiple rooms (Can still play Vinyl through receiver and PSB speakers)
Cons: No vinyl can't play records throughout house.
10) Full on TV and Tidal #2 - Playbase, 2 Play 1's (for rear surround), 1 Play 5 for Kitchen - $1280
Pros: same as #8, but better kitchen speaker
Cons: no bedroom speaker.
11) The Works - Full TV, Vinyl, Tidal - 2 Play 5s, Playbase, 4 Play 1s (2 rear, 1 bedroom, 1 kitchen) - aprox cost $2000
Pros - big upgrade to TV and music, can play everything thoughout house
Cons - quite expensive
If you made it through, thank you thank you thank you!
I really have no clue what I'm going to do. At the moment I like #2 as it will get me in the door and expand my sound throughout the house and it's cheap. I also like #7 for those reasons but only if the TV sound can play out of the bookshelves and the Playbar at the same time using the Connect. However, both of those option do nothing for my turntable.
Agh...time is running out on the coupon and I'm feeling lost, but I'm also tremendously excited about seeing Let's Play 2 tonight at a local theatre!!! I hope many of you are as well!
1993-9-4 Vancouver
1996-9-16 Seattle
1998-7-19 Vancouver, 7-21 Seattle, Memorial Stadium
2000-11-6 Seattle
2001-10-22 Seattle
2002 -12-09 Seattle
2009-8-17 Manchester, 9-25 Vancouver
2011-6-16 Seattle (EV), 9-3/4 PJ20, 9-25 Vancouver
2012-6-27 Amsterdam (#2!)
2013-11-29 Portland, 12-4 Vancouver, 12-6 Seattle
2014-AUS - 1-26 Sydney, 1-31 Adelaide, 2-11/12 EV Sydney State Theatre, 2-13 EV Opera House
2014 - USA - Memphis, Detroit, MOLINE, St. Paul, MILWAUKEE, Denver, 25/26 Bridge School
2016 - Lexington, Philly x 2, MSG x 2, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto x 2, Pemberton, Fenway x 2, Wrigley x 2
2018 - Seattle x 2, Missoula, Fenway x 2
Sonos should be an additional misic solution not your main speakers. At least to me.
Enjoy your weekend.
1993-9-4 Vancouver
1996-9-16 Seattle
1998-7-19 Vancouver, 7-21 Seattle, Memorial Stadium
2000-11-6 Seattle
2001-10-22 Seattle
2002 -12-09 Seattle
2009-8-17 Manchester, 9-25 Vancouver
2011-6-16 Seattle (EV), 9-3/4 PJ20, 9-25 Vancouver
2012-6-27 Amsterdam (#2!)
2013-11-29 Portland, 12-4 Vancouver, 12-6 Seattle
2014-AUS - 1-26 Sydney, 1-31 Adelaide, 2-11/12 EV Sydney State Theatre, 2-13 EV Opera House
2014 - USA - Memphis, Detroit, MOLINE, St. Paul, MILWAUKEE, Denver, 25/26 Bridge School
2016 - Lexington, Philly x 2, MSG x 2, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto x 2, Pemberton, Fenway x 2, Wrigley x 2
2018 - Seattle x 2, Missoula, Fenway x 2
Play 5 has a line in so you could hook up your TT to one.
Skip the Connect IMO. It's really just a player that connects to an existing receiver.
Connect Amp, would be good IF you have great speakers already. Otherwise, skip it.
Stick with matching units for the bedroom and kitchen. You can pair matching units (ex. two Play 1s) for a L/R stereo experience. Even if they're in separate rooms 95% of the time you might move them for a party. Flexibility is a great feature of Sonos.
Soundbar or or the new Playbase plus a sub is plenty loud and filling. I've never felt like I wanted Play 1 surrounds, although I'm sure they're great but not essential IMO.
Dont overlook getting a sub.
Not considering any budget, a Playbar/base, a sub, and two Play 5 would be my choice. You'd have a lot of flexibility with those 4 items to do everything you want.
I needed a sound bar for the tv. Also wanted the connect amp for the turntable. I have an onkyo surround system... but sick of wires everywhere. I am going to hook up 2 of those speakers to the connect amp. Play vinyl off of that and i assume i can play it off both the connect amp speakers and playbar... and likewise.
Later i plan on expanding with the sub and a few 3s and 5s
got playbar, sub, 2 play 1's and an lg 55" OLED 4k TV
i will be hooking it all up today as we were painting this week.... my vinyl setup is through (2) large Polk speakers
im looking into the Sonos Connect doohickey..... does anyone know if I buy that.... can I stream my record spinning thru Sonos too or just stream from my iPad/iPod??
thank you
BTW when is the house warming party to watch Let's Play 2???
But in reading a couple of the replies above, it sounds like some of you are doing just that. For example, if I bought a Playbase and a connect (in addition to maybe some 1's or 5's), could use the Playbase with the PSBs on either side of the TV as fronts (and maybe a couple of 1's as rears) or move the PSBs to the bak and use them as rears?
Does anyone have this kind of setup right now? For those of you who have connects, is this possible?
Thanks all! Clock is ticking, I better settle on something soon.
1993-9-4 Vancouver
1996-9-16 Seattle
1998-7-19 Vancouver, 7-21 Seattle, Memorial Stadium
2000-11-6 Seattle
2001-10-22 Seattle
2002 -12-09 Seattle
2009-8-17 Manchester, 9-25 Vancouver
2011-6-16 Seattle (EV), 9-3/4 PJ20, 9-25 Vancouver
2012-6-27 Amsterdam (#2!)
2013-11-29 Portland, 12-4 Vancouver, 12-6 Seattle
2014-AUS - 1-26 Sydney, 1-31 Adelaide, 2-11/12 EV Sydney State Theatre, 2-13 EV Opera House
2014 - USA - Memphis, Detroit, MOLINE, St. Paul, MILWAUKEE, Denver, 25/26 Bridge School
2016 - Lexington, Philly x 2, MSG x 2, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto x 2, Pemberton, Fenway x 2, Wrigley x 2
2018 - Seattle x 2, Missoula, Fenway x 2
i have Onkyo receiver connected to ceiling and wall speakers in my basement, with connect and I can do anything I want... listen to music via Sonos app, watch TV or movies. Can link to my Sonos speakers throughout my house. All works fine.
Use a Connect if you want to add Sonos to your current receiver setup (I don't think its possible to reverse a TV broadcast to other sonos speakers through this Connect in the house- If I'm understanding your post correctly), keeping the speakers, receiver, etc. This is better if you have an already existing setup with lots of inputs.
Use a Connect Amp if you want to ditch the receiver, hooking your speakers up to the Connect Amp. Ideal if you want to just have speakers and a turntable and nothing else.
As soon as they announce an album/tour.....I shall host for all who want to come, all kinds of liquor/beer and lil oer d'oeuvres n such
I recently finished my basement and have been looking for a wireless option, specifically one that has the capability of surround sound and play a turntable. Sonos sounds perfect for this. I had heard of it, but this sale caused me to look into it.... and it is exactly what I wanted and more.
for shizzle