Sonos Play:1 Wireless Smart Speakers Bundle

Excelente

I guess I SHOULD have given Sonos Play:1s only four stars because of the ridiculous price they charge!
That aside, I’m extremely pleased with these speaker’s sound quality, control software and overall functionality.

The Sonos products do what no other product does(AFAIK). They allow you to play music thru-out your living space wirelessly.
Further, you can select speakers(other Sonos products) to play different tracks simultaneously.
You can choose songs stored on a PC on the network, from another device like smartphone or tablet.
You can choose songs from your music library to form a cue.
You can adjust EQ.
You can adjust volume or mute, pause/continue, cue fwd/rev, etc
You can do all this from your PC, tablet or smart phone.
How do you top this?
SEVERAL people can perform all these functions SIMULTANEOUSLY. (which gets interesting when your child is home from college LOL)

If you ask me, it’s a miracle! “Ah but, setup must be difficult!”, you say.
Nope, setup was a snap. Once unpackaged and plugged in, I downloaded the software and configured the speakers in less than 30 minutes. REALLY! The software is simple and intuitive.

Cons:
Price
I wish they had a better equalizer program. The current one has a basic treble/bass slide bar.
I wish they had outdoor speakers. I wish they had wireless headphones.

Note:
Sonos products all require AC electric source i.e. plug them in. They’re wireless, not battery operated; a good thing IMHO.

My experience: (Play:1 content 2 paragraphs down)
MY highest PRIORITY was to be able to play music off my PC located in the 26’x26′ kitchen/LR/DR open floor plan, over a set of decent quality speakers. The thought of integrating the whole house seemed wonderful, albeit unattainable. We listen to a variety of music, but mostly rock, jazz and jazz fusion. Occasionally, we like to blast it. How loud? “loud enough to NOT hear myself sing” LOL. I wanted to “hit it out of the park”, so I wound up buying 2 Play:5s and Sonos Sub.
First, I set up the Play:5s to see if/how they would work. They immediately reminded me of Apple products with they’re ridiculous gratuitous packaging. I mean the boxes alone must cost $25! LOL
As I said, the setup was a snap. I downloaded the app from the Sonos site*. It loaded quickly and I was on my way. Setup** was a couple of screens similar to pairing blue tooth stuff. What did take a while, was importing my 10K track music library(*** and there’s a serious issue here. see below).

As for sound quality, I’d rate the Play:5 speakers as “very good”, to “excellent”. If one considers the size of the format, ease of setup and they are wireless, I’d say “excellent”! I paired the speakers as stereo and listened to flawless music stream for about an hour. The bass response was so good, I almost didn’t open the sub. I’m glad I did! While a huge expense for a seemingly frivolous component, the Sonos Sub is amazing! It definitely adds another dimension to the system.

Several days later, I bought the Sonos starter set (2 Play:1s). I put one in the 12’x18′ bedroom and one in the 24’x30′ garage. Admittedly, these speakers do not deliver the sound quality of the 5’s, but when you consider the size of the format and functionality, they absolutely rock!
Describing things like sound quality is tricky at best. Here’s what I’d say based on my listening experience; When you listen to the Play:1s, you will be amazed at the volume and clarity of music that emanates from this tiny package(about the size of a coffee can). I was blasting Led Zep in my garage via only 1 speaker and it was surprisingly loud, and with little or no distortion. On the other hand, if you expect “high fidelity”, I’d go for the Play:5. It’s the best Sonos has to offer. At this time, I would NOT recommend the Play:3s. I’ve listened to them and I think they’re not appreciably better then the P1.
I’m saving my $ for more Sonos products!

————NOTES———————————————-
*I downloaded the app from Sonos. There’s another app on the google app site which is rated rather low. I don’t know if they are the same.
**You need ethernet (hard wire) connection for the first Sonos product you install. Later, you can move remove the wire and move the speaker wherever you like.
***my ITunes PLAY LISTS did NOT import. The library is all there and the playlists titles are there, but the data within the playlists is erroneous and does not play. I’m on Sono’s site attempting to fix this. WARNING, there appears to be NO real FIX at this time.
UPDATE: I found an esoteric file “fix”. It will work short term. If you’re good with your PC file system, you can do it. Basically, you have to export each ITunes playlist, one at a time from ITunes software. If you’re like me and constantly tweaking and updating your music library, this is terrible. FLASH! I was contacted by Sonos support regarding this post. I’ll update.

Update1:Sonos customer service contacted me several times. While they are polite and attentive, there’s no fix for the ITunes playlist glitch.
Update2:Two months into Sonos, I’d highly recommend buying two of each (whichever your wallet/needs dictate) for each room and pairing them as stereo. The quality and fill is much better.
When purchasing additional products, I compared the P1 and P3. Frankly, when factoring in the cost, the P3s are not THAT much better than the P1s IMHO. For me, it’s between the P1 and P5s. Forget the P3.
Update3:During Christmas of 2015, Sonos offered a “starter set” consisting of two P1s for $350. Unfortunately, this offer has expired and the P1s are now only sold separately for $200 each.
1. If you search around(as I did), you may find them in stock somewhere. I found a set (02/19/16) at Best Buy. I know, BB sucks, but I did it and they’re fine.
2.If you’re really hot on the starter set thing, I’d suggest dropping a line to Sonos. Their CS is seems pretty open to feedback. Maybe if enough people show interest, they’ll make them available again.

Hands down the best speakers I’ve ever owned. At this price tag you’d expect a lot out of these tiny speakers, and trust me, you get a lot. You will be surprised when you first listen to them, I can almost guarantee it. The bass is astounding, and the music is so crisp and clear I find myself hearing new components to songs I’ve listened to thousands of times. You’ll also be amazed at just how loud these things get with no discernible distortion, and with two of them you can create a stereo pair for a truly unreal listening experience. They’re controlled with an app you download on your smart phone, and as long as both the speakers and your phone can connect to the same wi-fi connection you can play individual songs, queue up songs in a playlist, or listen to internet radio stations from a good variety of supported apps such as Pandora, Spotify, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio, and more. Each speaker can be set up to represent the different rooms you have them sitting in, and can even play two different souces of music at the same time in different rooms! An undersold feature is how portable they are as well. Unplugging them and plugging setting them up in a different room only takes the speaker about 20-30 seconds to reset and can then stream music again, and setting them up in the first place or in a new home is fast, simple, and easy. The software is constantly being updated (which at times can be a bit tiresome) and the app sometimes will desync and make you wait, but really these are tiny complaints for what you get.

Yes, this is a lot of money to pay for two small speakers, but I’ve never been happier with an electronics purchase in my life. I’ve had them for a few years now and they sound and perform exactly as when I bought them. If you’re looking for a home music streaming setup, look no further. These are the speakers to get.

Buen sonido