Hello,
For a few months now I have felt that my Bose Soundlink Mini isn't quite up to the job any higher volumes or in bigger rooms.
I have spent ages googling Bose and Sonos speakers bit I am lost.
There are countless threads here that touch on what I need, but I wondered if I could get a consolidated, uptodate opinion.
I don't have huge rooms, and don't often play at huge volumes but the soundlink mini is a little thin on the occasion I do crank it up.
I have an eclectic musical taste, but think Metallica for when I want to play it LOUD.
I think, from my googling only, I am in the soundtouch 20 / sonos 3 sort of area for my need but would consider sound touch 30 / sonos 5 if the advantages are there at lower volumes also.
Currently not too bothered about networking or anything fancy - just wireless phone-to-speaker in the room I happen to be sat in (standard home rooms - nothing huge or cavernous!).
I have been to John Lewis for a play a couple of times but am too self conscious to test them fully, and a warehouse sized showroom isn't the same as what I'd hear at home anyway.
Thanks a million for any practical advice.
Last edited by ach5; 26th December 2016 at 18:37. Reason: Spellin
Not a lot to choose between them sound wise.
The Sonus needs to be linked to your router/internet, whereas the Bose will work with a bluetooth connection (the Sonus won't) I believe Bose now have a router/internet system also now?...Not sure...
Whatever, you won't be disappointed with either...just make sure you get one with enough welly.
I have the Bose at work and at home a Play 3 and Play 5 and the Sonos is the absolute winner in everyway, sound, ease of use, works perfect and wouldn't have anything else
RIAC
Sonos don't have Bluetooth?!
Ok, that's a surprise - I overlooked that (pretty important) spec as I just assumed it would have Bluetooth.
I don't always have my home wifi on... in fact I only have the router powered up when I want to actively use the internet, so that would be a nuisance just to use the Sonos.
How do you stream from your iPhone with the Sonos - does it need special apps? I want minimal faff!
On a slight side note, do you guys have a dedicated iPod for streaming?
I just stream off my iPhone but every time there's a text, or I use certain apps the music cuts out and it drives me mad!
Last edited by ach5; 26th December 2016 at 19:04. Reason: Spellin, agen
No experience with Bose (other than my QC25) but have a play 1 which I use with my iphone and Apple Music. It works brilliantly and the Sonos app is simple. I can do anything else pretty much on my phone with no interference to music.Originally Posted by ach5
It might be an issue that you don't always have wifi on...ours is on all the time as we use the internet all the time plus heating etc all run through wifi...can't imagine ever turning it off to be honest!
I wouldn't go with anything else now I've got the sonos.
I use Bluesound which is absolutely superb. However, for ease of connectivity with other products and value for money, I often wish I'd gone Sonos.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
This might be a little left field, but have you considered the Bang and Olufsen Beosound 2?
Admittedly it is a lot of money but it has all the features you want. I picked one up last week for our kitchen and it is fantastic. Really deep and punchy bass for its size. I just listen to Apple Music connected via Bluetooth. Build quality is second-to-none too.
Sorry to hijack your thread OP but coincidentally my old Bose soundDock died today so I need to find a replacement and am considering Sonos.
However, I've never used a wireless system before - my Bose was simply an iPod dock. I'd appreciate any advice guys.
I've put various models of Sonos speaker into each of the main rooms and linked a Deezer subscription. I added a Boost unit to extend the range as the WiFi proved a bit unreliable to the furthest rooms at first. The kids can stream their own choices from the hard disk music library or Deezer in their rooms whilst my wife and I listen to what we want to in the rest of the apartment. When they are all out I bung it in party mode and crank the volume up. I do have a Bluetooth adaptor into the Play:5 but hardly ever need it. The app is quite intuitive, I rarely have to consult the children on how to use it.
Sorry to hijack your thread OP but coincidentally my old Bose soundDock died today so I need to find a replacement and am considering Sonos.
However, I've never used a wireless system before - my Bose was simply an iPod dock. I'd appreciate any advice guys.
You put the Sonos app on your phone or tablet, my music is stored on a WDMycloud hard drive, no music on my phone. The app works great allowing you to create instant playlists plus I think there are about 120,000 radio stations on the app you just type in what music you like - 80's, 90's etc and it picks out the stations that suit you
I started with a three which is fine and fills a room no problem but then I got a five and that's a large step up in sound quality.I've also got 2 ones upstairs that sound fantastic when you pair them
I looked at all the alternatives but I'm glad I chose Sonos purely because the app is so great
Thanks, very helpful.
Sorry if these are stupid questions but do I just need to buy the Sonos speaker or do I also need a boost/bridge?
Also, I'm assuming that I'd be able to access the iTunes library on my windows 10 laptop?
As I am a technophobe this all sounds like wizardry to me at the moment!
Yup, you need a bridge to plug into your router.I'm a complete techno buffoon but had it all up and running in about 10 minutes.I've never used itunes with Sonos so can't help there but before I bought the seperate hard drive it was running through an old Windows laptop no problem
You just need the speaker. I use the iTunes on my phone along with Apple Music via the Sonos app so not sure about the laptop question.Thanks, very helpful.
Sorry if these are stupid questions but do I just need to buy the Sonos speaker or do I also need a boost/bridge?
Also, I'm assuming that I'd be able to access the iTunes library on my windows 10 laptop?
As I am a technophobe this all sounds like wizardry to me at the moment!
I use a bose solo 15 seriesII linked to my main tv it dose the job very well, tv and movies sound great as well as the tv's digital radio + Bluetooth for the iPhones no messy wires looks neat as well, fills our lounge with sound nicely.
Consider pushing boat out budget wise and look at Naim Muso. Sound and ease of use amazing. I use with Spotify connect
You don't need the bridge anymore. You can set the Sonos up to connect directly to the WiFi network. The Bridge can help if WiFi is poor where your Sonos is.
Never knew that, cheers
Out of interest - why do you turn off your router?
Not sure that is a great idea. Exchanges look for stable connections that are not dropping.
They train to a stable connection rate over a number of days and then it should not be up and down all the time.
If you go Sonos, consider a subscription service like Deezer or Spotify.
I pay about £10 a month for Spotify...it's excellent.
It's like having access to every record collection on the planet.
It's really changed the way I listen to music...and I've discovered so many new artists as a result.
Highly recommended.
If you have adsl turning off your router will impact your link speed and hence download and upload speeds.
Unless you mean turning off wifi for some reason?
As a stand alone system I can't fault the B&W Zeppelin.
http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/Wire...t-details.html
Sonos every time for me. I was a dealer for both makes.... Bose had a brighter more aggressive sound, Sonos a little more neutral and listenable. Depends what you like.
Because I don't like leaving electrical equipment on when I'm out of the house, or not using it e.g. Overnight. I mostly worry about it over-heating etc, but also I try to save electricity wherever I can. Never had an issue with internet speed after switching it on...
Just recently bought a sonos system for the house, spent ages looking around and just got more confused so went to richer sounds. Explained what I wanted to do and they recomended sonos, a 5 for the lounge and kitchen diner and a 3 for the bedroom was what they recommended for the room size, I was convinced a 3 and two 1s. Went with his recommendation and have to say the sound is good and doesn't need to be cranked up to fill the room, took me awhile to figure out the app but it's pretty easy to use and I still can't get my head round playing 3 different tracks from the same device at the same time from different speakers, not that I need to do that really, all in I am pleased with it, the only downside to me is not being able to hook up a CD player, need to copy everything to my iTunes account, but that's another day.
As someone else suggested if it's a standalone unit for just one room B&W zeppelin is superb however ours is now linked to a Sonos system which is throughout the house they breed like rabbits. If you think at any point you'd like music in other rooms too then buy a Sonos it really has changed the way we listen to music along with a Spotify account, we now have too many to count throughout the house the sound whilst probably not audiophile quality is very good imo and it's a joy to use.
I'm stuck on the same decisions, not sure whether to get a PLAY:5 and a PLAY:3 or a PLAY:3 and a PLAY:1?
or maybe just one PLAY:5 would be enough?!
Has anyone else tried these different set-up's?
Last edited by Rocket Man; 27th December 2016 at 11:24.
It shouldn't matter much then, you'll be turning the speaker on when you want to use it so just turn on the router at the same time.
Personally, the big win for me was the Sonus software user interface app things, and their tech support.
10/10
Sonos for me, I've got one of each so here's my take
Play 1 - Sound great in a bedroom or office or paired with another play 1 and a sub.
Play 3 - Not much benefit over play 1 - wouldn't buy one again
Play 5 - Super sound the new model in particular sounds amazing ( I've got old)
Playbar - Great addition to the TV but music isn't its strongest feature
Sub - For me this is the best of the lot and in my opinion whilst expensive it is a must to boost your system, use to have this with the playbar but now it's paired with the play 5 and it simply rocks the room. It's in my kitchen /Lounge which is a reasonable size and fills it with immense depth even on low volumes.... it can be a subltle as it is aggressive. You can pair it to anything but it's not the most portable ....it weighs a ton.
Also for stability I would advise the bridge.
Thanks for all the replies!
So, is the Sonos 1 significantly louder / deeper / better sounding than my little Bose Soundlink Mini? Or will it be largely comparable?
I can't figure out just how much difference there will be.
It seems Sonos is the way to go, by the way, from all your replies so far!
IMHO the bridge is not needed if you can hard wire one or more devices to your home network, the wireless mesh that the sonos device will them create between themselves is quite stable.
As for sound quality op, why not just order from Amazon and try, it's risk free then.
This is the sort of thing that slightly concerns me - no part of this sentence makes any sense to me! What on earth is a bridge? Does that come with the speaker or do I need to buy it separately?? And you need to hard wire them into my home wifi?? does that mean at least one speaker has to be cabled to my router??
- - - Updated - - -
Don't like to mess sellers around, even big ones like Amazon - if I sent it back they wouldn't be able to sell it as new, which doesn't seem fair just so I can test it. If I decide to buy, it'll be for keeps.
The play 1 is better than the soundlink imo but not massively if it's a large room a play 5 or 3 alternitvely 2 play 1s paired up, if I was starting from scratch my main room would be a 5 kitchen/bedrooms etc would be 1s and like spogehead I doubt I'd bother with any 3s I'd rather buy another 5, the 3 though has been perfect for my garage.
For your perpose I would not expect you need to use the bridge, which is a separate component.
I would expect you to simple add the speaker to the wireless network at home.
Larger installs of multiple sonos devices on congested wifi networks benefits from the use of a bridge or the hardwiring of one device to the router.
No bother, I buy enough through Amazon that I don't worry about the odd return, to be fair they build this in their pricing model.
Last edited by Captain Morgan; 27th December 2016 at 18:09.
I treated myself to a Bose Soundlink III a couple of months ago. The sound quality is excellent. But.
I wanted it to plug into the wall on the other side of the room so I could use Bluetooth to play my tunes from my armchair. It does, for a while. Then if you haven't used it for a while it turns itself off and you have to go and link it up again. Pain in the neck when you've just plumped yourself down with a coffee, etc. And you need to let the battery flatten every month to maintain its strength (Bose's own guy popped on Amazon to say that when I complained about it).
Wish I'd not bought it since I already had an Evoke that does the job just as well I just hadn't set it up properly then.
Can I add that people who play music outside should be fined and probably birched? The outside is for the outside and I really, really don't want to hear your odd, eccentric and possibly hateful musical tastes imposed on me.
+1000 re: my SoundLink Mini - so annoying!
OK, so Sonos it is.
I am happy to spend any amount of money so long as it's good value and quality, so I could get the Sonos 5 BUT the rooms I want to use it in are fairly small, and so I just worry that the Sonos 5 is hugely over-powered and since most of the time it'll be on fairly quiet, how does it perform at quieter volumes? As such, perhaps the Sonos 1 is better (i.e. at lower volumes perhaps identical to the Songs 5??), but on the occasion that I want to crank it up will I regret not getting the 5...
Also, these aren't portable / battery powered - I carry my SoundLink Mini from room to room as I need it, so I suppose I'd need to buy 2 or 3 Sonos units, which is where the cost suddenly spirals, especially at £350 per Sonos 5 unit...
I'm beginning to think I am getting sucked into a world I don't fully understand, with budget creep where perhaps a Chinese brand bluetooth speaker costing £50 on Amazon would, to my ears, do the job perfectly...
Thanks for all the replies though!
Buy a play 1 and try it out in the room you mainly use, if it isn't enough (I doubt it) you can always relegate it to the kitchen etc or one of the other rooms you occasionally listen in. Trust me you will end up buying a few over time anyway and the play 1 is superb for places like kitchen bedroom etc.
What dimensions is the room you have in ind for it? I'll see if we have a similar sized room here and tell you what it's like in that room
If you do decide to go Sonos get the 5 - it works great at lower volumes and will give you the kick you need for gatherings etc - to my ears the new version sounds top notch.
Forgot to mention I've also got the sound link Mini which does a great job for taking on holiday, desk at work etc so you can use both, no need for the bose to be redundant, although the BT drop outs and relinking are a pain.
Just seen you're only in Manchester if you want a loan of a play 1 to try out we can sort it or if you want to come here and listen to a 1,3 and 5 in various rooms you're more than welcome.
Richer sounds are having a pretty good sale. I've picked up some nice office speakers (Q acoustics 3020) for under £150. Bromley branch had a pair for £129 ex demo. Work well with the Sonos amp.
The Bose, B&W and B&O Bluetooth speakers all sound better than Sonos' own speakers IMO.
Thanks again for all the replies, especially the offer of a personal home demonstration! Really appreciated!
I am still slightly put off by the fact you need the Sonos app, and that they don't have Bluetooth which seems ubiquitous... apparently you can't play YouTube video audio through the Sonos speakers!! I do this quite a lot with my Soundlink. Sonos therefore seem quite restricted... having said that, they seem super popular and are doing well so they must be ok in reality...
Anyway, thanks again!
Bluetooth is a weakness compared to wifi on most levels.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Sonos is very good at what it does...but it seems you're looking for something different so I'd probably stick with Bose.
Another Sonus vote.
Ease and sound are winners, check out the reviews.
I'm beginning to think the same...
It seems to me (maybe incorrectly?) that Sonos is for pure music streaming...
Once you start to want more flexibility, it seems to fall short (e.g. YouTube or app audio)
As I mentioned, I have a Bluetooth adapter connected to the Line In of a Play:5 which works fine but sees very little use. There are several available, I went for the Logitech one at around £30. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-98.../dp/B00IJYG4FY
Deezer prices seem to be adjusted for local markets, my Premium+ subscription is a bargain at COP 10990 per month which is around £3 and seems to give access to the full library and all the radio channels.
Yep - you can fudge it but it's intended for the most easy music streaming. If that's one your main method of listening to music, I'd avoid sonos. Having said that, as a Sonos owner, I'd say for a lot of people they are over-priced and you'd be better off with a decent bluetooth speaker given what you have said so far with your usage.
The only other option I have experience of if you're using an iPhone is airplay for YouTube vids etc on the B&W Zeppelin, the sound is better than the Sonos play 5 also lovely at lower volumes ours is connected to a Sonos connect to make it part of the system. In all honesty though personally I'd buy a Sonos and a bluetooth adaptor if that important to you.
Just had a read of this
http://www.imore.com/sonos-play5-vs-bose-soundtouch-30
Maybe the soundtouch range is exactly what you're after basically a bigger soundlink with Sonos like wifi capabilities, I've never used one so can't comment personally.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
