{"id":1433,"date":"2010-09-16T13:59:42","date_gmt":"2010-09-16T06:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.thewellconnectedhome.com\/blog\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2010-12-15T16:09:54","modified_gmt":"2010-12-15T09:09:54","slug":"sonos-review-wireless-whole-house-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/sonos-review-wireless-whole-house-music\/","title":{"rendered":"SONOS Review- Wireless Whole House Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lori Cunningham<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Chris Lewis of <\/em>DadofDivas,<\/em> Alexander\u00a0Liss, and Jackie Harper for winning a copy of <\/em>System Mechanic<\/em><\/a>, the software that helps you tame your computer and keep it running at it\u2019s best.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t be nice to hear music while you cook, do the laundry, play games with the kids in the family room, or while in your bedroom reading a book?\u00a0 \"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/images\/view_photog.php?photogid=851\"<\/a>How about outside on the patio or in the garage?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is your music collection on your computer, but you only get to hear it\u00a0in the room where your computer is?\u00a0 Whole house audio is all the rage but it can be quite costly to open walls to add wiring and speakers to every room.<\/p>\n

SONOS products give you the flexibility to add music throughout the house without having to add wires and in-ceiling speakers.\u00a0 Sonos \u201cliberates\u2026music from your computer so you can enjoy it.\u201d 1<\/p>\n

SONOS products consist of\u00a0\u00a0ZonePlayers, a ZoneBridge (needed to make system wireless), and a remote control \u2013 either the Controller CR200, software on your Mac or PC, and\/or a SONOS app on your iPhone.<\/p>\n

My SONOS Experience\"\"<\/h2>\n

With much anticipation I opened the boxes of the\u00a0SONOS ZonePlayer S5, ZoneBridge 100,\u00a0and Controller CR200.\u00a0 I was eager\u00a0 because I\u00a0had read so much about SONOS and how easy it is to play music from your computer around the house.<\/p>\n

Set-up was a breeze, I was most impressed.\u00a0 It took less than 5 minutes to connect the ZonePlayer to my router, plug it in, load the software, and have\u00a0the SONOS software\u00a0recognize the ZonePlayer.\u00a0\u00a0 Next I pointed the SONOS software to the\u00a0\u201dMy Music\u201d shared folders on my two\u00a0computers.\u00a0 As music was being \u201cdirected\u201d to the SONOS software, I was already able to listen to music.\u00a0 Pointers to all of my music from both computers were being processed \u2013 including all genres, artists, albums, and playlists!\u00a0 Wow!<\/p>\n

I decided to set up SONOS in my office, so hooking it up to my router and utilizing the software was extremely easy, since my router is located in the office.\u00a0 The music coming from my computer never sounded so good booming from SONOS\u2019 five dedicated amps inside the\u00a0ZonePlayer S5.\u00a0 After a while, I moved the ZonePlayer from the office to my family room.\u00a0 That way I could listen to my music from the kitchen while I cook.\u00a0 For the first month, all I did was listen to music streaming from my computer.\u00a0 This was great initially, but then I started getting bored of my music, as I often listened to the same genre.<\/p>\n

The real fun and variety came once I logged into Pandora and Last.fm using the SONOS CR200 Controller.\u00a0 Now I could hear my favorite Lady Antebellum, Black Eyed Peas, and local radio stations.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 I love listening to Pandora; before it was only on my computer.\u00a0 Now I can hear Pandora anywhere!<\/p>\n

I can even carry the SONOS player to different rooms in the house and easily set it up to hear my music.\u00a0 I can take it outside, in the garage, upstairs, you name \"\"it.\u00a0 I love the idea of taking it to the backyard to listen to music during a BBQ.<\/p>\n

Setup Configuration<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t hook up the SONOS ZonePlayer S5\u00a0in the same room as your router, you\u2019ll need a ZoneBridge 100 which requires an electrical plug and an Ethernet connection to connect to your network.\u00a0 If you place your ZonePlayers in rooms that can be connected to your router via Ethernet or CAT5 connect, you will not need a ZoneBridge 100.\u00a0 As most homes are not Ethernet enabled throughout the house, it is most likely that you\u2019ll need to buy a ZoneBridge to enable your ZonePlayers to work.\u00a0 All ZonePlayers and ZoneBridges need to plug into an outlet.<\/p>\n

Other Zone Players:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0ZonePlayer 120 includes an amplifier and\u00a0can be connected to existing speakers in a room.<\/p>\n

Use the ZonePlayer 90 (without amplification) to connect to your receiver, TV, powered speakers, and more\"\".<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to buy the Controller CR200 if you don\u2019t mind controlling your SONOS\u00a0from your computer or from\u00a0the SONOS app on your iPhone.\u00a0 However, using the Controller CR200 is ideal since it\u2019s only function is to control your music.\u00a0 With your iPhone, you\u2019d have to open the app to control your music when you want to use it.<\/p>\n

Sources of music you can choose from:<\/strong><\/p>\n