I figured I would write out my first post here which could hopefully help someone who has been on the fence about the product for a while as I was. I was constantly debating whether or not this was a better option then using Airplay. This may be a little long, but I wanted to go through everything.
I have been a full Mac and iOS supporter for years. I bought an Airport Express the first day it came out and was streaming from iTunes while it was still called "Air Tunes". I thought it was great and got even better once the Remote app came out and I was able control iTunes from my iPhone and iPad. Overall it was a good experience, the occasional dropouts were annoying and would occasionally drive me insane. This did not happen often, but when it did it would annoy me like crazy.
Anyway, last year my wife and I bought a newly built house which was significantly larger than the previous one. I originally wanted to go with Sonos when moving in but decided Airplay would still be the better solution because of the all Mac/iOS stuff. I purchased a Denon receiver with two zones and Airplay built in, controlled through Denon's own app. It worked good as did the Bose Airplay speaker. However I just kept going back to debating about Sonos and how it could make things "easier and simpler". I think Airplay is great but the following became annoying, if you want to stream iTunes to multiple speakers, go to the remote app and make sure the laptop is open, but if you want to use Pandora, Spotify or SiriusXM, go to the app on your phone, launch it and then go to the Airplay icon and pick the single speaker/receiver. By no means am I saying the above is difficult, it just becomes annoying, especially when just wanting to hear some quick music while eating breakfast.
So I debated on Sonos and read everything on the Internet about the comparisons and this and that. I finally decided to order a Play:3 and a Connect:Amp to test things out. Figured I would return it to Amazon if I didn't like it or there were any issues at all...even one. I created a distinct share for Sonos on my Synology NAS. I replicated my iTunes Library to the NAS using ChronoSync, awesome app. Replication runs daily and takes under a minute to move music.
Got the devices wired up and then started the setup which was ridiculously easy and straight forward. Added the NAS drive as a source then my Internet services, Pandora, SiriusXM and Spotify. The setup was so intuitive and smart, I have not seen another product setup like this in a very long time.
Once I started using the software I was amazed how it worked. It was the perfect solution, being able to just play music quickly wherever I wanted and all from one interface was amazing. The grouping and what not was effortless.
After testing it all for a week, I promptly ordered an additional Connect:Amp and Play:3 along with a Connect. I figured it was time to go all in.
Now I buy countless tech products throughout the year just to play with something new. I must say the Sonos system is one of the coolest and most functional products I have purchased in a long time. It makes music listening a delight and the whole process of thinking about your music and selecting it just fade away into the background. It truly is an amazing product.
While I still think Airplay is good, it is not even in the same league with Sonos, Airplay is a wireless speaker, Sonos is a System. After using Sonos, I do not believe they are even comparable, which is something I read numerous times before but refused to believe.
So there you have it, I think it is an amazing product and hopefully the above can help anyone who is on the fence about whether there is an advantage to the Sonos system.
If I can answer anyone's questions or help them out please let me know, I would be more than willing.
Also thanks to everyone's comments and the information throughout these forums.
Thanks Again,
-Dennis
I have been a full Mac and iOS supporter for years. I bought an Airport Express the first day it came out and was streaming from iTunes while it was still called "Air Tunes". I thought it was great and got even better once the Remote app came out and I was able control iTunes from my iPhone and iPad. Overall it was a good experience, the occasional dropouts were annoying and would occasionally drive me insane. This did not happen often, but when it did it would annoy me like crazy.
Anyway, last year my wife and I bought a newly built house which was significantly larger than the previous one. I originally wanted to go with Sonos when moving in but decided Airplay would still be the better solution because of the all Mac/iOS stuff. I purchased a Denon receiver with two zones and Airplay built in, controlled through Denon's own app. It worked good as did the Bose Airplay speaker. However I just kept going back to debating about Sonos and how it could make things "easier and simpler". I think Airplay is great but the following became annoying, if you want to stream iTunes to multiple speakers, go to the remote app and make sure the laptop is open, but if you want to use Pandora, Spotify or SiriusXM, go to the app on your phone, launch it and then go to the Airplay icon and pick the single speaker/receiver. By no means am I saying the above is difficult, it just becomes annoying, especially when just wanting to hear some quick music while eating breakfast.
So I debated on Sonos and read everything on the Internet about the comparisons and this and that. I finally decided to order a Play:3 and a Connect:Amp to test things out. Figured I would return it to Amazon if I didn't like it or there were any issues at all...even one. I created a distinct share for Sonos on my Synology NAS. I replicated my iTunes Library to the NAS using ChronoSync, awesome app. Replication runs daily and takes under a minute to move music.
Got the devices wired up and then started the setup which was ridiculously easy and straight forward. Added the NAS drive as a source then my Internet services, Pandora, SiriusXM and Spotify. The setup was so intuitive and smart, I have not seen another product setup like this in a very long time.
Once I started using the software I was amazed how it worked. It was the perfect solution, being able to just play music quickly wherever I wanted and all from one interface was amazing. The grouping and what not was effortless.
After testing it all for a week, I promptly ordered an additional Connect:Amp and Play:3 along with a Connect. I figured it was time to go all in.
Now I buy countless tech products throughout the year just to play with something new. I must say the Sonos system is one of the coolest and most functional products I have purchased in a long time. It makes music listening a delight and the whole process of thinking about your music and selecting it just fade away into the background. It truly is an amazing product.
While I still think Airplay is good, it is not even in the same league with Sonos, Airplay is a wireless speaker, Sonos is a System. After using Sonos, I do not believe they are even comparable, which is something I read numerous times before but refused to believe.
So there you have it, I think it is an amazing product and hopefully the above can help anyone who is on the fence about whether there is an advantage to the Sonos system.
If I can answer anyone's questions or help them out please let me know, I would be more than willing.
Also thanks to everyone's comments and the information throughout these forums.
Thanks Again,
-Dennis