Which Sonos speaker(s) do I want?

I have

Living Room: Beam soundbar and 2 Symfonisk speakers
My man cave: Play 3
Main bedroom: Play 1

All sound great & work seamlessly. I'm toying with adding the mini-sub in the living room for better bass at low volumes as I have to crank it a bit to get the bass up but it's not a huge issue

I've got a Beam under the telly + two Play 3s in our big 'family' kitchen/diner/sitter - it's more than enough and really good for telly in particular.
Beam+two One (or Ikea Symfonisks which are a bit cheaper) would be great in your living room. Roams are really good too - the small one just OK, nowhere near the volume of the other Sonos stuff - more of a convenience, small office, hotel room thing really. I'd get the big one (edit: the Move) if you want a do it all to take around the house and it would be great for a big shed session too. (I have a small Roam, brother has a Move).
Not the audiophiles choice, but I find Sonos the epitome of 'just works' convenience that sounds good too. About my only criticism is that anyone on the network can fiddle/replace music ... which does make it convenient but children...

I wouldn't get Sonos Ones if you are intending to move speakers around. Of the portable options, the Roam is more of a mini bluetooth speaker equivalent - I'm not sure that's what you are are after. So that leaves the Move - but they are a lot pricier than the Ones. So it might be better going with Ones in all the rooms you want music in, or at least starting in the most used rooms and adding more speakers over time. I wouldn't count on needing a sub, but of course you can add that later.

For the TV, my advice is that Arc is not a large enough improvement over the Beam unless your really want to push the boat out, and that Ones as surrounds are a much better upgrade that adding a sub.

Might be worth you looking at the other current thread

One's are really good for the size - a pair of those would be a great start.
We have a couple of Play:1's in the kitchen/snug and a beam/2 x Play:1's in the living room they're great.

There's a play:3 in our bedroom and that's the one I'm least convinced of.

(I'm very pissed off with the Sonos app at the moment.  I have a Connect:Amp in my home office and I changed it to a wired connection the other day - the app then decided that all the speakers in the living room and bedroom are wired also - which they're not - and can no longer see them!)

If you already have a reasonable amp/speakers set up then add a sonos connect (or maybe port now?) for the main room where you want good sound and then 1's everywhere else. + you can keep your vinyl/cds/etc in use.

Not sure about moving them around though - there's a different speaker for moving around.

Overall, it's ok. Not perfect. Expect drop-outs, connection issues, random not-working stuff. Don't ditch the vinyl. 

We just have a One in several rooms. Works seamlessly with Spotify.

If you're upgrading your system, upgrade your source at the same time.

Get Tidal hifi - sounds much better than Spotify (for the doubters - yes even for my 58 year old ears)

In the ussual suggest something completely different I might suggest Audio Pro A10's for this size of multi room speaker at good sale prices
https://uk.audiopro.com/products/a10
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/audio-pro-a10
In bigger speakers the C5 is cheap on Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Pro-Wireless-Bluetooth-Multi-room/dp/B07F1ZQTH6/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=DlAXb&content-id=amzn1.sym.6aea875e-359f-49f3-864f-cff62d586b6a%3Aamzn1.symc.ca948091-a64d-450e-86d7-c161ca33337b&pf_rd_p=6aea875e-359f-49f3-864f-cff62d586b6a&pf_rd_r=XAHFJNQDJ9DV41CD713P&pd_rd_wg=Gm0H7&pd_rd_r=81ccf4d8-4896-49a8-b4c0-d63880f3f3a1&pd_rd_i=B07F1ZQTH6
I think they sound better than Sono's but they do not have the soundbar and surround sound angle covered as well

C3 is portable

https://uk.audiopro.com/products/addon-c3-multi-room-speaker?_pos=1&_fid=fa6eca0a3&_ss=c

I’ve never been a fan of the sound that comes out of a Sonos, not very natural but depends what you like I guess 

Expect drop-outs, connection issues, random not-working stuff.

I used to have this with my Airplay speakers, but it all went away when I upgraded my WiFi to a decent mesh system. My Sonos kit (9 devices) arrived after my WiFi upgrade and I can't remember anything ever dropping out for a moment in over two years.

Beam Gen 2 for the soundbar/ TV room (especially as they're on sale right now).
Ones/ Play 1s beyond that, at least to start. They're good individually; they're really good when you have 2 or more in a room for proper stereo, and arguably are as good as a Five.
And personally I have a Connect (Gen 2) to plug into my standalone hifi, so I can add that in to the Sonos loop. "Gen 2" means it'll play nice with the latest version of the Sonos software.

The IKEA offering are also worth a look.

I have a mix of Soundbars, Play 1s and also the IKEA bookshelf speakers. I got the IKEA ones at something like £86 each and think they are great.  Same functionality, good performance and work perfectly with the eco system.

I've got a pair in the kitchen and they could make good surrounds if you have they fit in your space.

I have the roam and the move 2, as well as other sonos kit. The move 2 is ideal for what you want. Like a normal speaker, but it's portable so you can move it anywhere. when it's on the base you wouldn't know it's not a normal sonos speaker

Have several ones, two decommissioned threes and an amp. The ones in a stereo pair keep disappearing. The solo one in the bedroom is great. The amp is fabulous and plays through some very nice wall speakers. The older ones are unstable with the new app and the threes in a pair were rather haphazard and I replaced with the amp. I do think the amp is very good. Enormous power for size and tucked away. It’s always recognised on the system. I stream Tidal mainly. 

I have 2x ones in the living room and I've been pretty impressed by them. We have a symphonisk in the gym (now play room) and in the kitchen. I'm not quite as impressed with the symphonisk in the kitchen as I listen to podcasts while doing the dishes and it doesn't seem to handle speech as well as music. It is behind me though.

Thanks for all the replies, will do some further reading but sounds like Beam 2 and some 1s plus a Move 2 will tick all the boxes. I guess I see how the bass is before going for a sub too.

Are the Sonos speakers better now than they used to be? We have play 5 in the kitchen. Great when it’s working but when the power trips and we lose the internet briefly it is a right pain to set up again. It’s ok with one speaker setting it up again but would be a total pain with multiple speakers. I do have a little Sonos Roam which I run on Bluetooth and it’s much better at keeping connected. Do all the new speakers work on Bluetooth as well as wi fi? I think the issue with my old 5 speaker is once it picks up a new connection to the Wi-Fi it needs to be set up again.

Are the Sonos speakers better now than they used to be? We have play 5 in the kitchen. Great when it’s working but when the power trips and we lose the internet briefly it is a right pain to set up again.

I've never had to re-setup any of my Sonos kit after a power or network outage.

Are the Sonos speakers better now than they used to be? We have play 5 in the kitchen. Great when it’s working but when the power trips and we lose the internet briefly it is a right pain to set up again.

I think so. I mean, every so often the app still needs to be entirely shut down and restarted; but it used to happen about every other day that one of my speakers would get lost and have to be added back in to the system, whereas now it feels much less frequent.

I have two original Play Ones that haven't been used in a few years. I am trying to reconnect them to the Sonos app and it keeps failing despite resetting the speakers, hooking them up to an ethernet cable.  It's quite frustrating.

So, general consensus, replace a gen 1  Beam with a gen 2, or add a sub mini to the beam 1 setup.

room is roughly 6.5 x4.4m, so the mini may be a little too small?

Beam (gen1) and 2 Play 1’s average IMO.  Fine for tv surround but no depth for music. For me it needed a sub otherwise it’s all mid range. Much more complete sound now. The mini sub isn’t really at all mini, but for me an essential addition. 

Old Play 1 in the Kitchen, Beam in the sitting room and a Move that can go where I like. Dining room, garden, upstairs, whatever. Not had any issues with reliability, all seems to work really well. Now and again I'll pick a radio station and it won't play, but always assumed that wasn't a Sonos problem. Some surrounds would be nice for the TV, but our house is tiny so bit of a luxury.

BBC sounds app

I cast to Sonos with airplay from an iPhone. Is there an android equivalent?

Reliability is good. But it takes a few seconds for Spotify connect to the speakers each time I use them. Not exactly a problem but it would be nice if it was instant

Pair of 5's in the lounge: great stereo sound. One in home office. 3 and roam in the bedroom. Man cave/conservatory also has a one.
Works flawlessly.

This thread haunts my wallet...

But it takes a few seconds for Spotify connect to the speakers each time I use them. 

Have you tried going to Spotify through the Sonos app.... Can be quicker.

@theomen AFAIK there are two different generations, gen 1 and gen 2, and accordingly S1 and S2 iterations of the app. I just checked the iOS store and S1 is available and definitely different to the S2 version I have.. Try that if they're old.

ampthill
Full Member
BBC sounds app

I cast to Sonos with airplay from an iPhone. Is there an android equivalent?

Reliability is good. But it takes a few seconds for Spotify connect to the speakers each time I use them. Not exactly a problem but it would be nice if it was instant

There's a BBC Sounds service that can be added to the Sonos app, if you go to "Services & Voice" within the Sonos (S2) app. You have to log into your BBC Sounds account, but then it generally runs fairly well, although periodically it'll say it can't play as it's encoded incorrectly (or somesuch).

You can also browse Spotify through the Sonos app, if you add Spotify as a music service within the app. It's usually a bit quicker to connect to the Sonos

our house is all Sonos and has been for years - so much so that we got caught out by the old gear going non supported

currently we've got 4 Play1's in the kitchen diner (2 x stereo pairs) a play1 in the bedroom, a Roam for use in the garden, a connect in my study (a later one that supports the new app) an old connect in the garage that doesnt and a Port in the livingroom that has a digital connection into the home theatre receiver and an analog output connected to the hifi stereo amp. the Port also has  its line-in connected to the turntable so i can play vinyl in the living room and have it streaming to the rest of the house.

Previously had a Play3 - it was a slightly bigger sound than a play1 but still not as good as a pair of them. i think the sweet spot is their entry level stuff

the port is a bit spendy for what it is if im honest - if i wasnt so invested in Sonos i'd have a Wiim Pro in the livingroom and do without the ability to have the kitchen music matching the livingroom

This thread and other chats led me to pick up 2 x Ones and 2 x Symfonisk lamps over the Christmas period, dont know why I didnt do it sooner! Now need another One for the bathroom and maybe the sub for the TV...

Just added a mini sub to our beam and two play one's.

It's improved the depth of sound loads.

Question for the masses: how are the Ikea Symfonisk speakers? In terms of useability, are they basically completely interchangeable with a Sonos speaker, or do they have particular quirks etc?
And in terms of sound, how are they?

Question for the masses: how are the Ikea Symfonisk speakers

I find no noticeable difference between the Sonos and Symfonisk lamps soundwise, both work in the Sonos S2 app, show in the airplay section of my iPhone for playing audio.