Sonos BU130 Digital Music System Bundle

Please know that Amazon had an amazing deal on Sonos in which it offered the BU130 bundle for $999 but also threw in a charging cradle (model CC100) and a pair of Polk Audio R150 Two-Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers at no additional cost. I bought 2 of those bundles because it was a great deal, but only bought two because we hadn't used Sonos yet. Now, I wish I had bought more. We love Sonos.

It was easy to setup the software to find my iTunes collection, which is stored on an external drive connected to a Mac mini. It found all the MP3s and lossless encoded songs. However, Sonos is not able to play the purchased iTunes songs with DRM protection. (Apple now sells some songs without DRM and some with DRM). From what I've read, nothing other than iTunes can play those songs. Some people have found work arounds, but 99% of my music was ripped into a lossless or MP3 format directly from CD, so that limitation is minor to me. People with large collections of DRM protected songs might see this as a deal breaker though.

The physical setup was very easy, too. To get things started, I connected the ZP80 from the bundle (1) to my home theater stereo and (2) to my router / computer. That allowed the software setup described above. Already, that unit could play my iTunes collection and the Internet radios via the Sonos remote control. Then, I plugged the ZP100 into a power outlet in a different room and connected some speakers to it. After telling the software package to add the ZP100 and giving it a name I had to press and hold some flashing lights for a few seconds. It took less than one minute to add the second zone. Then, I could listen to my music collection in that room, too.

I've since purchased a few extra ZP100's and have seven zones in the home. We can play the same song in all seven zones (perfectly synchronized between rooms) or we can send different songs to different rooms.

The remote control is very easy and intuitive. It operates A LOT like an iPod, but with a bigger screen and some extra buttons that come in handy. Although, after playing with some friends' iPhones, we look forward to a day when the Sonos controller is just a touch screen... Still, it's very easy to use and very powerful allowing the user to send whatever music to whatever location at the same or varying volume levels. Linking / unlinking two or more zones is easy.

Sound quality is audiophile grade and perform very well through our Dynaudio speakers.

The free music trials are an unexpected benefit. Rhapsody was great and give instant access to 2,000,000 on demand songs for less than the cost of one CD per month. Napster was much less impressive.

A few other feature are nice, too. (1) Each zone can also transmit an extra audio source to all the other zones. For example, I'll connect a turntable to one of them, then share the LP sounds throughout the entire house. (2) The ZP100's and ZP80 can be either hardwired with ethernet cable or they connect wirelessly, automatically as described above. I noticed that the ZP100 actually works as a router allowing it to share a single internet connection with several other devices you might have in that room. (3) These devices are reasonably small and can be hidden. (4) Album art is displayed on the controller, and the controller has "power scroll" is a nice way to move quickly through large music collections. Just zip down to artists starting with "X", then scroll to Xavier Rudd. (5) ZP100 has an separate subwoofer connection and automatically detects is a subwoofer cable is connected. That's an easy way to make small, less expensive speakers sound better, like the free R150's Amazon gave me.

I am amazed. This product works exactly like it says it will, and setup was a breeze, even for someone who is techno-challenged! The sound quality through the optical cable to good speakers is excellent, even for lower bit music, like the Napster website. I did have to change the channel to fix some interference from my phones, but that took all of 10 seconds to fix. Excellent product, well worth the pricetag.

Got my Sonos bundle a week ago. Installation, as many reviewews have already pointed out, couldn't be simpler. I have had toasters taken longer to "install". I am also using a Sonos bridge as I didn't wanted to waste a zone player in my home-office where my wi-fi router sits. Same ease of configuration there. Let's move on to actually using the product....

Well, this is where I have a few complaints. It seems to me that the system is preferrentially optimized for folks getting their music piped directly off internet using services like Rhapsody and Napster. You say, what's wrong with that. Nothing, if that's how you get your music. Actually Rhapsody's integration with Sonos is done in such a nice way that it could be fairly addictive.

But my situation is a bit different. I like to listen to Bollywood and Indian classical music, most of which is not (yet) available on Rhapsody or Pandora. My primary music source is CDs, which I rip in pristine lossless WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, and carry them on my Zune. This is where Sonos fails to deliver for me. It doesn't support either lossless WMAs format or Zune playlists. The alternative presented to me was to rip my music (if I can even find my CDs) in either MP3 or lossy WMA formats. The workaround for the Zune playlist issue is to recreate them in Windows Media Player. Needless to say, these limitations marred an otherwise pleasant experience with the system for me.

I am still giving it a 4 stars for all the other great stuff the system offers.

Sonos has fulfilled a critical need with these products. I am a huge music fan and even more of a fan of entertaining family and friends. How much more fun can you have at a party than when you hand a (pretty much with Sirius and Pandora!) limitless jukebox to a friend and say, "you pick next song". SWEET.

Strengths: One hour and it was all set up.
Excellent customer support.
Great wireless range (we have trouble with wireless phones but the sonos signal went 50' through old plaster walls and ceilings, no problem).
Excellent audio quality.
Pulls album art on its own.
Intuitive remote. Learn on the fly.
Lots of internet radio stations and has Sirius radio capability.

Weaknesses: Very pricey.
Must use controller wheel, no touch recognition on screen.
Slightly outdated with no video capability.
Needs its own wireless network with at least one unit wired to your computer. Need a $99 Zone bridge if you don't want to leave a full unit attached to the computer.
Won't play protected itunes songs (most of the ones bought on itunes are protected).
Can only handle 50k songs so if you have a huge hard drive of music you cant use it all at once.
No up and down channel controls for Sirius radio. must go to menu w/ track wheel to change channel. Also must add $2.99/month to upgrade internet radio account if you already have a Sirius account.
Music management is not very robust.

Overall its awesome, but at a price. For $999 for the combo set it should not have many of the issues i cited. If Price does not matter to you then it is five star.