Sonos or traditional 5.1 surround sound?

PROJECT K

Hi all, just looking for recomendations on a home cinema style set up for this living room - Im a complete sound novice but i want to install a decent set up for action movies/xbox primarily but also for streaming music (living room and kitchen/dining area). I have been looking at the Sonos system and the simplicity/modular approach really appeals to me - but the total cost is a bit scary! Any thoughts on this approach or am i better with a more traditional 5.1 channel system? As you might see from the image, i am a little restricted as to where to put the speakers (corner window, sliding door etc) and was thinking of using ceiling mounted speakers? - any advice greatly appreciated!

akaSol

Sonos offer a very complainant 5.1 system ; however I do have issues with it.
Its spacial awareness is rather lacking - the rears are very weak and for a minimum spend of €1748 ( Bar , Sub , 2 Play 1's )its a bit overpriced compared to a regular AV set-up - Its plus side is total lack of interconnecting wires and streaming ability.
If your TV is going over beside "Detail 3 " a regular AV amp will suit - Three speakers around the TV and two(5.1) / four(7.1) in the ceiling will be fine. One thing you cant do with an AV set-up is put the fronts in the ceiling ; the sound becomes distorted.

>Sol

Keggy

Have you checked out the new 5.1 wireless system from Panasonic ?

It's called an all 70T and can have two wireless rear speakers and is substantially less than the price of the Sonos. It also comes with wireless sub and has blue tooth etc and is part of their all connected audio system which is similar to Sonos.

It's also proper 5.1 DTS with HDMI switching and seems like a really good product.

I would always suggest proper 5.1 with wired rears but if you are looking at wireless system, then this may well tick the boxes.

Hope that helps


Keggy

Bluefoam

I've put in an LG Music Flow wireless system... Its much more cost effective than the Sonos and more flexible because it supports casting, bluetooth, wifi and nfc... Because it uses Google Cast, it can be used with any app/service that has the function built in, and not just through the Sonos app...

Also, the LG sound bar comes with the bass sub, but costs less than a Sonos. If you buy soon they are also offering a free speaker when you buy a soundbar...

http://www.lg.com/uk/musicflow/av/MusicFlow_overview

PROJECT K

Keggy wrote: »

Have you checked out the new 5.1 wireless system from Panasonic ?

It's called an all 70T and can have two wireless rear speakers and is substantially less than the price of the Sonos. It also comes with wireless sub and has blue tooth etc and is part of their all connected audio system which is similar to Sonos.

It's also proper 5.1 DTS with HDMI switching and seems like a really good product.

I would always suggest proper 5.1 with wired rears but if you are looking at wireless system, then this may well tick the boxes.

Hope that helps


Keggy

Thx keggy, are ceiling speakers ok for the rear or am i better trying to locate these closer to ear level? For this particular room i dont necessarily require wireless as i can build these in, it was more for kitchen dining area where i wanted a bit more flexibility for ocating the speaker (this is where the sonos appealed) Will check out the panasonic system, sounds good...

akaSol

You have zero chance of using the Panasonic(could only find a bar with T70) with ceiling speakers. Wireless speakers are proprietary and will not work on any other system.

Pure AV is sadly more versatile with speaker types and functionality; more hdmi ,higher fidelity etc Also you can add Sonos to an AV amp with the Sonos "Connect"

>Sol