Podcast #422: Sonos S5 Review

We're big fans of being able to listen to your music in any and every room in your house. In the past that meant connecting your multi zone receiver to speakers placed throughout your house. Sonos makes the entire process a snap. Each Sonos S5 ZonePlayer is a 5 speaker system with an all digital design that produces high quality audio.

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Today's Show:

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Sonos S5 (MSRP $399)

Setup

Setup is quite simple. But be sure to follow directions carefully. When connecting the first ZonePlayer it needs to be connected directly to your router so it can find the library on your computer. If you have the optional Sonos Zone Bridge ($99) you can connect that to the router in place of the S5. Once connected to the network, the ZoneBridge will activate the SonosNet wireless network which allows you to place your S5s in any room and have wireless access to your music.

The final setup step is to connect to iTunes. For this you must install an application on your computer that scans your library and makes DRM free music available to each zone player.  But there's more to the S5 than just iTunes. Sonos supports Internet Radio, last.fm, Napster, Rhapsody, Sirius, and Pandora. 

Performance

Control of the SONOS is done by a dedicated remote control or through an application that installs on your iPod Touch or your iPhone. The dedicated Sonos Controller goes for $349 and feels great in the hand. But we found that Sonos did a great job with the implementation of their iPod/iPhone software so if money is an issues and you already have an iPod Touch the free remote control app may be the way to go.

Audio quality of the S5 is good and the unit has a decent sounding bass for an all in one enclosure. While the S5 is not going to win any audiophiles over we found listening to our mp3 and AAC library completely enjoyable.

Watch the video for further discussion and a demonstration of the SONOS S5 user interface 

 

Conclusion

The Sonos S5 is the simplest way to create a muti-zone music system in your home. Sonos provides easy access to music systems as well as terrestrial radio stations making it the most complete music system we have worked with.  Each S5 has an MSRP of $399. The controller goes for $349 but if you own an iPod Touch use the money on an additional zone. Finally, the Zone Bridge goes for $100. 

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Comments

[Long Beach Home Theater]

Nice review. I love the simplicity of Sonos. It's a nice addition to a Home Theater System. Adding of the Iphone app is very cool but makes you think who would want the expensive controller when you can use your Iphone and ITouch. You can also make yourself what I call poor mans Sonos using Apple products. It's a fun little project.