We've just signed up for Amazon Music Unlimited, so it got me thinking about a decent speaker to use with it, instead of the little Echos we have currently.
The Echo Studio was my first thought, but reading reviews the Sonos One delivers a better audio performance. The only drawback I can see is that the Sonos has no external input, so it's streaming or nothing. However, I think I can overlook that, and it's on sale at the moment.
Does anyone have a Sonos One and what are your experiences?
Last edited by sean; 27th December 2019 at 14:16.
We have a pair of Sonos One in the kitchen and they are brilliant! We also have Sonos in some other rooms and use it all the time. As well as in the kitchen, we have a Sonos One in the bedroom too.
I think Sonos is a great bit of kit and haven't found the lack of connections on the actual unit an issue at all. Ours is connected ultimately to a hard drive which has all our music on it and that is supplemented by Apple Music, Amazon etc.
Hope that helps.
Have a bunch of Sonos ranging from the new and old5 play 1s to the play 3s and soundbar.
Great speakers but dislike the built in assistant. A separate echo dot away from the speaker works miles better when the music is playing.
There will be much better speakers available for the money. Much better. But the app is first class and I would buy again.
When I bought the price between play 1 and play 3 was marginal so i would consider that if its still the case.
Rather than a One, how about a 5 (or pair) from SC?
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...nos-Play-5%92s
Or, if you want your speaker to look slightly less, er, ‘speakery’, how about the Ikea versions:
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/news/symf...on-pubaafe6500
(The internals are identical to the Sonos One, btw).
I’ve got a sonos 1 with Alexa, love it. Either radio, or just stream from iPad. I did have amazon music but lost it when I cancelled Prime, still more than happy.
Have a one and couldn't do with out it
Banging bit of kit
With Alexa built in?Originally Posted by wileeeeeey
Will it stream over bluetooth from any device, or only Apple?
As mentioned earlier I don't value the built in Alexa/Google assistant while the music is playing so instead have Alexa Dots plugged in closer to where I am and away from the speaker.
I have 8 Sonos and 2 of them have built in assistants.
Not to add too uch more than has already been said, but I "downsized" from a Rotel based hifi set-up when we moved to a new house which didn't have an appropriate space to set it up in, to a pair of 1's set up in stereo and I have to say they are fab bits of kit. Plenty capable of filling a reasonable sized room with sound and with decent quality too.
I’ve got quite a few Sonos now, from ones to fives,the ones are the most useful, a great sound from such a small size.
Got to agree with all the above, I have a Sonos One in the kitchen. Great sound from it and easy to use. Spotify is my choice of music streaming and it connects no problem. Well worth getting one.
So you can say to the Dot: Alexa, play XXX on the (non-Alexa) Sonos? Is that how it works?
Pardon all my questions, I really appreciate all the responses! :)
No worries. Yeah, I say "Alexa, play LBC radio in bedroom" and it does. Or "Alexa, bedroom volume 3" etc.
Only annoying thing is you can't group speakers via voice command. You have to go into the app to sync the rooms/all speakers.
A little echo dot or Google home will do the same as the built in assistant but you can put that anywhere power supply dependant.
The two Sonos ones with built in assistant I have are in a holiday home so I don't use them often I can just remember having to really shout to get it to listen to me when it's playing music semi loud and my wife then shouting at me telling me to just use my phone and stop being so loud!
It's a very good speaker. I use a pair in the bedroom in stereo mode, but take one to the spare bedroom for guests if they stay over.
Sounds far larger than it's size.
I looked at the sonos one myself to upgrade the echo v1. but it seems the Alexa part of the speaker is not too good looking at Amazon reviews. so now looking at the studio
The IKEA SYMFONISK is a nearly identical copy of the Sonos One, with admittedly different styling, and minus the Alexa features, at half the price. It will still play your Amazon Music content just fine however, and all of the other Sonos bits. It also is Airplay 2 enabled, so it does have a sort of external input, and it can be voice controlled via your existing Echo products (or Google assistant if you like).
I think it’s similar rather than nearly identical, sound quality isn’t a patch on the One apparently.
We too have a couple of them and like everyone else find them superb the only down side we have is on the Sonos you can’t change the wake word is has to be Alexa unlike the echos where you can choose from a few options. Unless like us you have a small mischievous child called Alexis living in the house it should be a problem but in our house poor Sonos Alexa always thinks it’s her turn for the naughty step lol
Thanks, this is all very helpful.
I'm leaning towards the Sonos One SL (the one without Alexa) as we have a few Echos around the house that should be fine to control the Sonos with.
Good way of saving a few quid, also, look out for reduced NOS Play One’s, Amazon we’re doing them for 120 quid not so long ago, basically a One SL in older clothes.
I blame the parents .
Well, one of em .
Me too mate, my wife’s genes are strong in that one the other 2 are far more shy and reserved like my good self ;)
According to YouTube reviews (who have taken both apart), the internals are identical.
In my life I’ve so far managed to not Listen too much to unsubstantiated youtubers, I’m not going to start now.
Well done you.
Just rest assured that the Ikea speaker is the same as a Sonos 1.
I’ll happily rest assured it isn’t. Unless someone can prove it is......
You’re probably the best person to prove this. You know a thing or 2 about sounds
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Very kind of you to say. And true......
NM, this has already been covered.
Here's a breakdown video detailing the internals, its not far from identical.
https://youtu.be/ZB413S8KDmo
Can they be on the same network (recognised by Sonos)?
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Yep...
Similar internals are only half the picture with a speaker, the externals matter just as much.
I can't imagine for one minute it's the same speaker... you get what you pay for. You can make a speaker using the same drivers and amplifier but the cabinet goes towards sound quality too in it's construction... bracing, rigidity, quality of materials and so on.
Last edited by Rod; 15th December 2019 at 12:06.
It doesn't have Bluetooth at all. The only Sonos that does is the Move and that reverts to WiFi (or Sonosnet) when it can. Sonos has been around ages and builds its own network (or can use the WiFi router) they are not really designed for BT.
No, but I'm not a fan of a built in voice assistant on any speaker. Always buy one separate.Any modern smartphone. Works for me on iPad and multiple Android phones. Works on people's iPhones when they come over.
FYI Bluetooth is only really for portable battery powered speakers as the sound quality isn't great. I have a UE Boom for Bluetooth.
Just to add although we have Sonos throughout the house in our en-suite I have a ue megablast which has Alexa built in can be taken in the shower etc which is where it spends most of the time. If I remember correctly it was around £80 in a Black Friday or similar deal on Amazon a year or 2 ago, the sound is decent connects via wifi or Bluetooth and the battery lasts a good 10 hours. Might be another option for you along with the charging base it’s our garden/camping/outdoor speaker also because it’s just grab and go.
I keep a couple of UE booms for travelling, and they’re good. Last summer I got a megablast cheap from amazon, and it’s really good, good enough I haven’t bought the portable Sonos. The megablast is perfect for out in the garden.
https://youtu.be/ZB413S8KDmo
Looking back it was only last summer I bought ours lol feels like we’ve had it ages the booms have always been my travel speakers not quite Bose but more robust with 3 young children etc.
We'll this review says it doesn't equal the sound of a Play 1. Plastic cabinet too?
https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...s-on-the-cheap
I’ve just bought one of those table lamp ones for my daughter. Interesting that they’re better sounding than the bookshelf version according to that article.
Update: I now have two Sonos One SLs paired up, and I'm very happy with the result. A little Echo Dot nearby is the main control, along with the Sonos app on my phone. They were very easy to set up and sound great. I've got Amazon Music streaming, and have uploaded some of my vinyl needle drops to my Google Music Play library, so I can't listen to those through the Sonos too.
Thanks for all the advice!
Don't forget to enable a skill or two on the Alexa. TuneIn radio is very good on the Sonos via Alexa.
I presume you can turn music playback off on the dot, and just use it as a controller?Update: I now have two Sonos One SLs paired up, and I'm very happy with the result. A little Echo Dot nearby is the main control, along with the Sonos app on my phone. They were very easy to set up and sound great. I've got Amazon Music streaming, and have uploaded some of my vinyl needle drops to my Google Music Play library, so I can't listen to those through the Sonos too.
Thanks for all the advice!
Yes, thanks. I have TuneIn, Amazon Music and Google Music Play all set up.
Yes, you can choose which is the default speaker (the dot or the Sonos pair), and it plays through that alone. I actually have the Dot as the default speaker in the room, because quite often I'll listen to talk-based radio and the Dot is sufficient for that. I'll say something like "Alexa, play the Kinks on the Kitchen Sonos" to listen through the Sonos Ones. Once it's started playing through them, then saying "Alexa, turn it up" or "Alexa, stop" automatically controls the Sonos, which is quite clever!
You do realise though now you’ve fallen down the Sonos rabbit hole you’ll start needing Sonos all over the house in places you never thought you’d need music lol
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