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Sonos or in-house wiring?

zagyzebra
11 years ago

Lately I've been hearing a lot about Sonos wireless stereo systems.

I'm facing a whole-house remodel (down to studs) this coming year, and am wondering if anyone has had experience with both the Sonos wireless system AND whole-house wiring for music and radio. What are the pros and cons of each?

While I'm unsure how much it would cost to wire an entire upstairs/downstairs home, I believe Sonos would cost around $1,500.

I swore to myself that if I ever did another home, I would definitely wire it for whole-house sound. I'm finally at that stage...and then Sonos comes along. Due to lack of experience with either, I am undecided. Anyone who does have experience, please weigh in on pros and cons of each.

Thank you for this excellent forum.

Comments (10)

  • alan_s_thefirst
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I still prefer wiring. More options, and hard to do after the fact.

  • Elmer J Fudd
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is a hard question to answer. Are you connecting decent components to decent speakers or are you planning to use built in speakers or their equivalent (which no audio enthusiast would be happy with)? Are you picky about how music sounds or are you happy with an ipod sitting in a $100 dock? How many speaker locations will you have, how long would the wire runs be?

    The more sound quality matters to you, and the longer the distances, the more likely that using wireless distribution like Sonos will be more suitable for you.

    If your house isn't too large and your only talking about a few locations, maybe you can design it yourself. Educate yourself about wire resistance and gauge requirements, multiple speaker impedance interactions and amplifier requirements and protection. You don't simply connect multiple speaker sets to an amp, you'll burn it out in no time. If that's a daunting task for you, hire a home audio/home theater installer and follow his advice.

    I use a system that is a former Sonos competitor called Squeezebox (it runs over my LAN) that is no longer available. I would never trade it for speaker runs. Never. In its absence, I personally would choose Sonos.

  • zagyzebra
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you for the feedback. I think I'll get an electrician up to the house and start picking his brain. Seems like I have more research to do. You have both given me different perspectives.

  • rkalish
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have the sonos system and love it. Very easy to use and flexible. My layout with the sonos uses hardwired speakers in the ceiling and yard homerun to an amplifier that is fed by the sonos. Each speaker set has an in wall volume control, so essentially I have 3 zones off of one sonos unit.
    I use my iphone or PC app for control of music. The sonos unit I purchased does not have built in amps.

    It was very cost efficient doing it this way, although I wired it myself. If you had to pay an electrician for each volume control and wire run, I think I would have used multiple sonos units directly wired to speakers.

  • zagyzebra
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The drywall in my house is coming down. From what I gather, "structured" wiring is the way to go these days. I need to call Sonos to see if structured wiring can actually interfere with their systems. I have read several tech responses in Sonos forums that blame technical problems with their product on structured wiring interferences.

  • maggie530
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    zagyzebra great post! In all of your opinions where is the best place to purchase bulk cable online or locally? Looking for CAT6, speaker wire, coax, etc. Going to be purchasing a lot.
    Any thoughts of what wire to run for video cameras, in wall remote controls, etc.? How about smoke/fire alarms if they are integrated into home system?

  • zagyzebra
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Maggie - No, I didn't find out the best place to purchase bulk cable. Sorry. I'm not at the point of physically doing yet, only researching. As for video cams, in wall remotes and smoke/fire, i'm hoping to find an electrician that can handle everything. If I obtain any more useful info, I will post back in this location.

  • Wubsoofer
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a number of the stand-alone Sonos speakers through my house. I did consider having in-ceiling speakers put in with a Connect:Amp, but the convenience of being able to just box the speakers back up and take them with me, should I decide to move is just too good to pass up. Also means I don't have to spend time cutting holes in the ceiling.

  • zagyzebra
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just had wired speaker mounts installed in all but one room -- the living room -- where the carved beam ceiling and plaster walls will be too beautiful (imo) to mar with built-in speakers. Here I am going with Sonos wireless.