Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Small Hi-Fi Required For Kitchen

Have to agree with Ian here.........the Sonos Play 5 or Play 3 is a great choice here

a) Will see your iTunes Library and play them..........very good UI and App on iPhones / Android.........allowing easy access to Artist / Album / Track etc.

b) Pre Programmed access to Thousands of Radio Stations around the world......obviously including the BBC Stations

c) Easy Access to many of the Music Subscription Services

d) Airplay replay possible using the Apple Express

e) Power Cable is the only cabling required.......no Speaker, Coax or Network cables required

f) Genuine 5 Minute setup time

g) Very decent Sound Performance........especially from the Play 5.....which isn't a million miles away from an F80's performance

h) Wireless Sonos Sub also now available to enhance LF if required

i) Play 5's or Play 3's can be set up as Stereo pairs........with no Speaker Cabling being required........power is all that's required

Do you need the sonos bridge or do they just connect to the normal wifi?
How do you access an itunes library (which is where the music will be).

The sonos site isn't very clear on this.

They are looking like very good options though.

Steve.

Sonos is totally wireless except for one device that must be connected to home network (although I am sure that someone will explain that there are unsupported ways around this).

Each Sonos unit has wired and wireless connections so either one (or more) Sonos players needs to be hard wired into home network or you need to use the Sonos bridge. I recently bought a Sonos bridge unit (to get Ethernet to my bedroom TV) and it was relatively inexpensive. At the time they were also supplied free with the Sonos units and this offer may still be on.

Once connected to home network, Sonos then has access to Internet radio and network storage such as NAS boxes or iTunes.

As Ian says, the easiest way to set up most systems is along the following lines

a) connect a Sonos Bridge �50 (sometimes free with Sonos "bundles") to your Router..........this then begins the creation of the SonosNet Mesh network around the house

b) your Play 3 or 5 in the kitchen would connect Wirelessly to that Sonos Bridge........no other cabling required

c) using the free Desktop App or free Phone App........you can point the Sonos Player at your iTunes or other Music Library.......it will then Index the Library by the usual Album / Artist / Track method........as well as dividing into Genres etc based on the embedded ID3 Tags in the Music Tracks.........iTunes does not even need to be open for this process or when Sonos is actually playing the Tracks........Sonos will re-index the Library every 24 hours (or less) and incorporate any additions / changes you've made using iTunes.........it's really Index once and forget

d) your Phone Sonos app connects to your house wifi network.......sees the Sonos players and Music Library.......and offers an easy way to Browse and Filter your way thru Artists and Albums etc. ..........the UI is very akin to the native iPod app........with some nice additional features IMHO

e) your Sonos app on the phone will also allow you to select from the myriad of Radio Stations.........or from the Music Subscription services

I read your post, but I think you need an M80 or a second hand F80 for this application. MIne is going into the kitchen when I upgrade it, and I can't wait.