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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Audio, Hardware, Multimedia, Music

Sonos adds a portable music player with room filling sound

Sonos, best known for wireless music systems that link to your iTunes library and internet services like Pandora, Rhapsody and Napster, is offering a one piece, 5 speaker system that can be placed in any room. It's called the Zone Player S5 and it's US $399 direct from Sonos or dealers around the country.

Sonos shipped me a review system to try for 30 days, and I thought the sound was great. I already had a mutli-room Sonos system so adding the new portable player was just a matter of plugging it into AC power and pressing two buttons on the S5.

If you don't already have a Sonos system, you have to plug your unit into a router to connect to your music library and the internet. If that doesn't work in your home layout, you can buy what Sonos calls a Zone Bridge (US $99) that plugs into your router and lets the S5 make a wireless connection. Once that basic pairing is made, you can add as many other Sonos music systems as you like, all connecting over a wireless mesh network.

The system sounds quite good, given the limits of the small desktop-friendly size (8.5 x 14.4 x 4.8 inches). There are 5 speakers, two tweeters, two 3" mid-range drivers, and one 3.5" woofer all driven by individual amplifiers. The woofer is a ducted port design and the rear port serves double duty as a carrying handle.

Continue readingSonos adds a portable music player with room filling sound

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, Music

Sonos offers new portable music system controlled by iPhone or iPod touch

Sonos has announced a portable wireless music system that uses an iPhone or iPod touch for a controller. The Zone Player S5 is a one piece, 5 speaker music player that can access your iTunes library or any internet radio station, as well as Napster, Rhapsody, Pandora, last.fm or Sirius if you have the required subscriptions.

The physical unit has only volume controls and a mute button. Like other Sonos products, the S5 needs a wired router connection or a Zone Bridge unit, which is a U.S. $99.00 box that plugs into your router and then allows the S5 to be wireless anywhere in the house. You can add additional S5 units that only need AC power to work.

The S5 looks a bit like the Bose audio systems that dock with the iPhone. The difference with the Sonos unit is you keep the iPhone with you, and the S5 gets your music from iTunes.

The S5 will be available later this month for $399.00. If you already have a Sonos system in your home or office, or are just getting started with multi-room music, this system is worth checking out.

Of course Apple also provides solutions to stream iTunes with the Airport Express Air Tunes hardware/software. Apple also offers Remote, [iTunes link] a free app to control Airport Express or an Apple TV from your iPhone and iPod touch. Logitech also offers the Squeezebox family of wireless music products, and there are other good solutions as well.

Choice. It's a good thing.

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