...ok, I'm sure that this has been done before, but...
Looking to replace my home cinema.
Was originally looking at the Sony HT-RT5 5.1 wireless surround sound system, which had some pretty good reviews, but then started looking at the Sonos play bar, which is about the same price. Obviously this isn't 5.1 but the sound seemed amazing when I was looking in John Lewis.
To get the full 5.1 with Sonos will cost me a lot more, but was interested to see if anyone has a Sonos soundbar and whether it is a worthy substitute for full 5.1? How good is the base? If you have one, is it good as a stand alone for watching films? From what I've seen, the sound it generates from the small speakers is amazing. Or do you think the wireless Sony is a good buy? Really want to avoid wires, if I can, Sonos offers this as well, but at quite big premium. So if I did go for Sonos, it would just be the bar for the foreseeable future.
Any experience or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks muchly
I have the Sonos soundbar on it's own in a 4mx4m room. The volume is awesome and way more than required, the sound is awesome to me when watching films and listening to music. At this point we must just add that I have never owned a surround sound system, I have had good music systems but never bothered with TV stuff.
I have also added 2 Play 1's to the house, one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom, sound is good but not awesome however, what you can do with them is awesome. I love sitting downstairs and waking the wife up with a bit of Faithless at 7am via the Sonos app!
My bro in law has the soiundbar plus 2 play 1's to create the cinema sound, it is good, but not good enough for me to move my Play 1's into the same room.
My verdict is that Sonos is ace for my needs and the soundbar is awesome. Want a Play 5 next and then a sub
I dumped a Yamaha amp and 5 speaker surround sound system for one.
Main reason was declutter the room. As the PlayBar also has two wired ports, which also work as a hub I connected the TV and Humax box to it. Neat.
This let me clear out an amp, 4 floorstanderes, centre channel and a network switch.
Soundwise it's more than we need and performs well compared to the old system but I occasionally miss the rear effects. As above, can be done with 2 Play 1's but not cheap!
Drawbacks
Doesn't handle DTS
Most TV's don't pass 5.1 through HDMI to optical so it has to process stereo and do pseduo surround from that. An HDMI/optical switch or TV that passes 5.1 would be better.
Expensive
Only really makes sense when you add more Sonos gear
Would love a sub but how much???!!!!
Love mine, brilliant bit of kit especially for music but be aware of the above.
