Sonos Play 1 and Sonos Subwoofer. Great sound. Great fun. Great Value.

Sonos Play 1

As much as I love high end audio equipment, I have to admit it's something that only a small minority of folks have a similar passion for. Very few people bother to sit down just to listen to music these days. Maybe because they've already heard "Stairway to Freebird" or "Dark Side of the White Album" so many times they can't stand to hear them again. The sad thing is that there's quite a bit of good new music being made but it does require a little effort to find it. A lot of it is from your favorite artists, and a lot of it is from new artists that are right in your wheelhouse of music. Don't expect to hear it on your local radio stations. That is where you are more likely to hear The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Traffic and weather. (Yes, that's a pun.) But there is another way.

The Sonos Play 1 and Sonos Subwoofer:   For those of you who are not yet familiar, Sonos is a hardware system for playing music directly from the internet via Rhapsody, Pandora, Spotify and lots more. It will also play music from your iTunes library, FM radio, your iPhone, iPad, and on and on. You can go directly to the Sonos website to read more about it's capabilities.

Today I'll be commenting on two specific Sonos components. The Sonos Play 1 speaker and the Sonos Subwoofer. Both are self contained powered speakers that require little more than plugging them into the wall. When first installing a Sonos system you will need to connect a Sonos Bridge or a Sonos Boost to your router and download the free app to your phone or tablet. The bridge sells for $49.00 the more powerful Boost for $99.00. It's a snap to do and won't take more than a few minutes.

Once it's configured as a system, a left and right speaker along with the sub, you're pretty much done. It's just a matter of positioning the speakers where they sound best in your room. If you are one of the few remaining audio enthusiasts who sit down and listen to music and care about things such as sound staging and imaging, you will be rewarded by placing the Play 1's in audiophile approved positions. If you've never heard of sound staging or imaging, pretend you didn't read that last line and move on. Put the Play 1's where they look good. Hopefully along the same wall. Put the Subwoofer in the corner of the room and hold on tight.

Sonos Subwoofer

The Play 1's and Subwoofer when combined as a system will provide you with music that goes from the deepest bass that most people will ever need in their home, up through the highest highs anyone old enough to know Paul was a Beatle can possibly hear. It has excellent tonal balance, as well as good detail in the midrange and treble. It plays darn loud too, and if placed properly according to audiophile guidelines, images quite well! Want to have some fun? Put on "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" by Bela Fleck. The bass will rattle anything that's not nailed down. Want to really have some fun? Try "Get Low" by Lil Jon. Make the kids leave the room first and be sure Tipper Gore is nowhere in the area. This guy is the poster boy for the "Explicit Lyrics" label.

The really cool thing about Sonos is the enormous quantity of music that it puts at your fingertips. Once you've connected the system you can subscribe to Spotify, Rhapsody or any of the available subscription services, and start listening to your favorite music for about $10.00 per month. You can also store the music in a library. You'll have access to free Pandora and a lot of other free services. Check out the Sonos website for more details.

So that's just one way I like to get great sound for little money.  It's a really fun way to get back into music again. That's a good thing.


Audiodude