In this episode of Pro Acoustics Tech Talk, Nathan and Coltin are breaking down everything you need to know about wireless Sonos speakers for home and commercial audio applications. We discuss how to connect your smartphone and stream music from apps like Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, etc.
Nathan: Everybody, welcome to another edition of Pro Acoustics Tech Talk. I'm Nathan.
Coltin: And I'm Coltin.
Nathan: And we are back again from our Salado, Texas warehouse to talk to you guys about a leader in wireless audio, Sonos.
Coltin: All right Nathan. So we have a lot of Sonos stuff in front of me here. As always, I want you to break down what we have in front of us. I have a big black thing right in front of me. You have a smaller one right here. And then we have a, it looks to be some sort of device that does something. And then this right here, this is a replica of this. And then breakdown everything that we need to know about some else.
Nathan: Okay. Yeah, will do. So, depending on when you're watching this guys, it's always important to note that sometimes models change, parts get updated, things like that. So, what you have in front of us here is the Sonos One in black and white, obviously. Sonos Boost, which we'll get to in a little bit. And the Sonos Sub. There also is a Play Five, which is a bigger speaker as well, as well as some other options here. And also, a really cool new battery-powered portable Sonos.
Coltin: Cool.
Nathan: What makes Sonos unique though is that they were kind of one of the pioneers and one of the most important brands in wireless audio transmission. So basically, if you guys think back to what we've talked about with Bluetooth in the past, you always have a certain limitation of how far you can stream with Bluetooth, typically 25, 50 feet. Some manufacturers say a hundred, some, a little bit more than that, but at the end of the day, you're always going to have a restriction of how far you can go. So Sonos kind of improves upon that. Rather than just Bluetooth streaming from my personal device to the speaker, it actually piggybacks off of the Wi-Fi. So, the audio or the data is streamed wirelessly through your Wi-Fi to the speaker, and the speakers then plug into the wall or into an electrical outlet with your power cable or battery in the case of the portable speaker. And then from there it converts that data into its own internal amplifier into electrical signal. And then from there, pumps out audio. Sounds great. All the individual speakers. Play Ones are fantastic or Ones are fantastic. I do have Play Ones at home, so forgive me if I cross my wires on that at all.
Coltin: No wires actually – on any of these.
Nathan: So, it's very, very simple. Basically, when you get a new Sonos device, you go onto your computer, your personal device, your tablet, your whatever, you download the app or go to their website, create an account. You follow some simple instructions, basically push and hold this button, that kind of thing. And then you enter, create an account for yourself and then you register your device. Give it a name, tell it where it is. You know, I've got a one for my back porch for my patio speakers. I've got one for the kitchen, one for the bedroom and you name it individually and they all pop up in the Sonos app, on your personal device. From there you go through and register your favorite music sources that you're going to be using or you know, if you have streaming accounts like Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Beats Music, iHeart, all the heavy hitters, they're all supported there.
Nathan: Sonos is adding more and more of these types of products daily that you can use to stream. And then from there, from your personal device, you basically search whatever song you want to hear inside of that platform from within the Sonos app. And then play your song. You know, Coltin can jam his Lady Gaga or whatever he wants to listen to. And then you get to select which individual speaker it's playing from. So, yes, you could have, you know, whatever music you want to hear in the kitchen on this speaker, this speaker playing, you know, Sesame Street or Moana or something like that for one of our little girls. Yeah. And then also have the subwoofer paired with any of these individual speakers also. There's also a soundbar so you can use it for reinforcing a television, you know. And then also like in my case, if I got Wheel of Fortune on in the living room, but my wife's cooking dinner or I'm cooking dinner, we can reinforce that through the speaker as well. All of that depends on, once again, Wi-Fi, it's important to have strong, robust Wi-Fi, whether you're doing it in home as was originally designed or if you're using it in a commercial application. Yes. So, you know, you can do a wireless system inside of a restaurant or retail space, anything like that with a handful of these speakers and add the sub as well. But you're going to need robust Wi-Fi.
Coltin: Robust Wi-Fi. That's the key there.
Nathan: If you don't have robust Wi-Fi, they do have their Boost, which rather than just simply piggybacking off of your existing Wi-Fi, it actually kind of creates its own network to where it can reach beyond.
Coltin: Far and beyond.
Nathan: Beyond the scope of your Wi-Fi. So very useful in that regard, especially if we're talking about a big space. The question also has come up, you might notice there is an RJ 45 port on the back. So basically if you're in a situation where you have it near your router or you already have a wall plate in place that already has a cat five or cat six runs, you can actually hardwire it as well. So that's very, very simple because if you're going to put a speaker right next to your router, just plug it in. And then Sonos in the app has a number of helpful troubleshooting steps that you can follow that walk you through, Hey, this speaker's not working. Is it, is it flashing orange? Is it flashing yellow? And they can walk you through how to make it all work.
Nathan: Yeah. So, those are the Sonos speakers. There also is something called the Sonos Port. Also, there used to be something called a Sonos Connect. Those are, and then there's also an amp that used to be a connect amp. Now there's an amp now. Basically, that allows you to connect the Sonos technology either to other speakers using the Sonos amp or to actually connect the port to any other mixer amplifier you might have. So, as we've shown you guys before in the past, sometimes we're doing gymnasium sound systems, sometimes we're doing distributed audio restaurant sound systems. It might have 20 or 30 speakers in it. Yeah. That's going to be tough to sync up with a Sonos system. But say you want to use Sonos instead of using Bluetooth. Yeah. So now we can add the port, which has RCA outputs on the back, come out of those RCA outputs, just like an input into your 70-volt mixer amp or other mixer and then be able to stream wirelessly and enjoy all the benefits of the Sonos systems in a commercial application.
Nathan: So, definitely reach out if we can help you guys with any Sonos packages, price points, kind of, you know, as with everything do very. You know, you've got our entry-level speakers $150 to $199ish and then on up to the bigger boys that are going to have a little bit higher price point. But great quality, black and white in a lot of models. And if we can help with anything, certainly reach out to us. You can reach us on our 800 number – (888) 256-4112. Check out the URL on the website - www.proacousticsusa.com. Once again, I am Nathan.
Coltin: And I'm Coltin.
Nathan: And if we can help guys, let us know.
