Sonos

[BigRedRage]

Anyone else have Sonos products?

I finally got the balls to dip my feet in it due to Costco's return policy and got a few shadow SL speakers set in stereo mode. Within days I bought another set for my office. The sound quality is so good compared to anything I've had, no wires needed, seamless and clean software, you can just hit play and music goes to whatever speakers you tell it to, or, all of them. The whole ecosystem is sooooooo nice.

Now, I've ordered the sub and a soundbar to go with these speakers as the surround speakers in my living room. I imagine same scenario and no way I'd return them. The plan is to watch the stranger things finales on it this weekend.

 

[puckhead]

Lots of people love these. I've never heard them, but they seem to be high quality according to other reviews I've seen. There is definitely something to be said for ease of use too.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

They, like Bose are all marketing and IMO not worth the price.. Sure it is better than TV speakers, but you can't beat true wired speakers.

 

[puckhead]

They, like Bose are all marketing and IMO not worth the price.. Sure it is better than TV speakers, but you can't beat true wired speakers.

I'm old school, so if it ain't 12 gauge speaker cable, it ain't coming in this house.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I'm old school, so if it ain't 12 gauge speaker cable, it ain't coming in this house.

My surrounds are 14ga. I'm cheap.

 

[puckhead]

My surrounds are 14ga. I'm cheap.

I'll let it slide this one time since it's surrounds.

 

[puckhead]

12 gauge is likely overkill, but I got a spool years ago and the thick stuff lasts. Banana clips make any changes a breeze and keeps the oxidization to a minimum.

 

[BigRedRage]

I'm no audio snob and I hate running wires all over my living room but I am sure impressed with the sound on these and the ease of use.

Compared to other soundbars ive had, this blows them out.

Compared to other boomboxes and portable audio, this blows them out.

Having whole home audio without doing drywall work = priceless.

I think these sound better than bose and the technology is far superior. I would not put SONOS with Bose personally. the tech alone is a huge leap forward compared to the competition.

 

[Devilmaycare]

I'm a mix of 12 and 14. It fully depended on how long the run was. Banana clips are great too. I'm building a new entertainment center that's going to hold my screen and a ust projector. I built server racks into each side to hold the amps so one thing I've been thinking of with banana clips is to put in a patch panel with banana passthroughs. It'll be a little safer if on of the wires is ever yanked or something falls on the clips.

I haven't touched Sonos but I do have 1 HEOS speaker. It's basically Denon's version of Sonos. Sound quality is ok but nothing to write home about. I have it for music in the kitchen but hardly use it.

 

[BigRedRage]

Got the sub. sounds great. too much bass really when it comes to music, had to turn it down a lot. They need to release the sub Mini.

Soundbar comes today. By the end of the night, should have full 5.1 surround setup going. pretty stoked and I'm sure that massive sub matters for surround more than music. Cant wait to have my son come into rocket league and do donuts around me to test the surround sound.

Then I just need my daughter to get back from her vacation so she can use her apple device to do the true play tuning. You can tune it on your own but apparently the top method is using apple trueplay tuning and the phone/device microphone listens at the primary seating position and then you walk around the room with it and the system tunes the entire room.

 

[BigRedRage]

I'm a mix of 12 and 14. It fully depended on how long the run was. Banana clips are great too. I'm building a new entertainment center that's going to hold my screen and a ust projector. I built server racks into each side to hold the amps so one thing I've been thinking of with banana clips is to put in a patch panel with banana passthroughs. It'll be a little safer if on of the wires is ever yanked or something falls on the clips.

I haven't touched Sonos but I do have 1 HEOS speaker. It's basically Denon's version of Sonos. Sound quality is ok but nothing to write home about. I have it for music in the kitchen but hardly use it.

I've never tried that one and maybe to a pure audiophile, SONOS wouldnt be something to write home about but to me it sounds pretty damn good.

the biggest thing for me is I no longer need to turn things on, pair, etc. I just pull out my phone, hit play, choose what rooms I want to play in and it turns on. it's so nice.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Got the sub. sounds great. too much bass really when it comes to music, had to turn it down a lot. They need to release the sub Mini.

Soundbar comes today. By the end of the night, should have full 5.1 surround setup going. pretty stoked and I'm sure that massive sub matters for surround more than music. Cant wait to have my son come into rocket league and do donuts around me to test the surround sound.

Then I just need my daughter to get back from her vacation so she can use her apple device to do the true play tuning. You can tune it on your own but apparently the top method is using apple trueplay tuning and the phone/device microphone listens at the primary seating position and then you walk around the room with it and the system tunes the entire room.

How old are you?

Use your receiver's calibration to calibrate the sound to all channels.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Got the sub. sounds great. too much bass really when it comes to music, had to turn it down a lot. They need to release the sub Mini.

Soundbar comes today. By the end of the night, should have full 5.1 surround setup going. pretty stoked and I'm sure that massive sub matters for surround more than music. Cant wait to have my son come into rocket league and do donuts around me to test the surround sound.

Then I just need my daughter to get back from her vacation so she can use her apple device to do the true play tuning. You can tune it on your own but apparently the top method is using apple trueplay tuning and the phone/device microphone listens at the primary seating position and then you walk around the room with it and the system tunes the entire room.

Never too much bass! Sounds like you need to run whatever Sonos's equivalent to Audyssey or YPAO is so that the levels on everything are properly matched.

And you don't want a sub mini. The size doesn't dictate the volume but what frequencies it can produce. Generally bigger is lower. I got my 24" so that it can really dig in the ULF range.

 

[BigRedRage]

How old are you?

Use your receiver's calibration to calibrate the sound to all channels.

There is no receiver

I'm 39

It will calibrate on its own, but, the trueplay with the sonos software is what truly calibrates the system.

 

[BigRedRage]

Never too much bass! Sounds like you need to run whatever Sonos's equivalent to Audyssey or YPAO is so that the levels on everything are properly matched.

And you don't want a sub mini. The size doesn't dictate the volume but what frequencies it can produce. Generally bigger is lower. I got my 24" so that it can really dig in the ULF range.

haha, I mean, once I turned the bass down and messed with the EQ, it was smooth sailing but prior to that, it was super super heavy bass. In scenarios with two small speakers in a bedroom or something, I bet the mini would be fine. But, this sub in the surround sound is going to be epic.

 

[puckhead]

Sub placement is also very important. Certain spots in your room could be exciting bass frequencies and that could make it a little overwhelming. One of my favorite tests for where the sub sounds best is this:

1. Place the sub at the main listening position (couch/EZBoy/whatever)
2. Start playing some music that has good bass. I recommend some good R&B
3. Now go to the spots on the floor where you might place the sub and kneel down so your ears are close to where it would be

Wherever the bass sounds best to you while kneeling down is a great location for the sub to live permanently!

Now, what does good bass sound like? It's pretty subjective, but I prefer to keep things reasonably flat across the spectrum and listen to things the way they were intended by the producers. As always, no rule is set in stone and in the end, beauty is in the ears of the beholder. I like to 'feel' a nice bit of pressure in the chest when the kick drum is hit, but the notes of the bass guitar are still articulate and not 'sloppy' or sound like one note. It's obviously not easy to describe in words, but hopefully that is helpful.

 

[BigRedRage]

Sub placement is also very important. Certain spots in your room could be exciting bass frequencies and that could make it a little overwhelming. One of my favorite tests for where the sub sounds best is this:

1. Place the sub at the main listening position (couch/EZBoy/whatever)
2. Start playing some music that has good bass. I recommend some good R&B
3. Now go to the spots on the floor where you might place the sub and kneel down so your ears are close to where it would be

Wherever the bass sounds best to you while kneeling down is a great location for the sub to live permanently!

Now, what does good bass sound like? It's pretty subjective, but I prefer to keep things reasonably flat across the spectrum and listen to things the way they were intended by the producers. As always, no rule is set in stone and in the end, beauty is in the ears of the beholder. I like to 'feel' a nice bit of pressure in the chest when the kick drum is hit, but the notes of the bass guitar are still articulate and not 'sloppy' or sound like one note. It's obviously not easy to describe in words, but hopefully that is helpful.

Super interesting thing to try that's for sure. I might have to play w it tomorrow

 

[BigRedRage]

Stranger things was pretty epic on 5.1

 

[Devilmaycare]

Stranger things was pretty epic on 5.1

You have the bug now.

Now it's time to add height speakers for Atmos.

 

[BigRedRage]

You have the bug now.

Now it's time to add height speakers for Atmos.

So, my rear speakers have a height function and my soundbar has height controls. Is that what we're talking or something else?

 

[BigRedRage]

5.1.2 is possible with my equipment but not 7.1

 

[Devilmaycare]

So, my rear speakers have a height function and my soundbar has height controls. Is that what we're talking or something else?

Sort of. There's two types of Atmos set-ups. Either in/on-ceiling or up-firing speakers.

It sounds like you have upfiring Atmos speakers in your rears. Those are ok but not great. What you have are speakers that are firing up so that the sound reflects off of the ceiling to make it sound like you have speakers above you. How good they sound really depends on your ceiling and how good your reflection angles are. They're a no go for me since I have a sloped ceiling. It's almost impossible to get good reflections here. They have the advantage though of being easier to install and can have a higher WAF score if that matters.

Either in-ceiling or on-ceiling speakers give a much better experience. You can then angle them to be at the correct position for the Atmos specs. Since there's actual speakers up there get better sounds but it takes a little bit more set-up.

You're on your way though. The vein is tapped. In a few months you'll be over here having me help you design and build subs, speakers, a HeZe, and setting you up with BEQ.

 

[BigRedRage]

Sort of. There's two types of Atmos set-ups. Either in/on-ceiling or up-firing speakers.

It sounds like you have upfiring Atmos speakers in your rears. Those are ok but not great. What you have are speakers that are firing up so that the sound reflects off of the ceiling to make it sound like you have speakers above you. How good they sound really depends on your ceiling and how good your reflection angles are. They're a no go for me since I have a sloped ceiling. It's almost impossible to get good reflections here. They have the advantage though of being easier to install and can have a higher WAF score if that matters.

Either in-ceiling or on-ceiling speakers give a much better experience. You can then angle them to be at the correct position for the Atmos specs. Since there's actual speakers up there get better sounds but it takes a little bit more set-up.

You're on your way though. The vein is tapped. In a few months you'll be over here having me help you design and build subs, speakers, a HeZe, and setting you up with BEQ.

Maybe. I mean, having wires along my room kept me out of ever setting up a 5.1. having this wireless setup was the reason I finally plunged in.

My height audio setting might be for the sound bar. I'm not sure. It's an overall setting for the system vs specific to the surround. In surround I only have tv level, music level and distance of speaker settings.

The speakers behind me are the Sonos SL speakers. They say the fives have far superior sound but these sound great and cost a lot less.

 

[BigRedRage]

This is my current setup

Sonos Arc with Sub + One SL Speakers Review

The Sonos Arc with Sub + One SL Speakers is a very good overall soundbar. It sounds well-balanced right out of the box and features a lot of customization tools ...

www.rtings.com

 

[BigRedRage]

Confirmed from that article, upfiring is done by the soundbar, not the satellites. They also thought the height performance was a 6/10