Sonos Connect:Amp

Pros: + Super easy to setup
+ Easy to use and is very functional
+ Sleep and alarm clock features
+ Touchscreen controller is great
+ SONOS wireless network works very well
+ Access to music is easy

Cons: - I wish the contoller batteries lasted longer when out of the cradle

Summary: When we built our house, we installed speakers throughout (~45 speakers counting indoors and outdoors), but (long story short) we never setup a sound system. So, we've had these speakers in the ceiling with nothing coming through them. I've wanted to setup whole house audio for a long time, but wasn't sure what to use. I'm the type that researches and researches before I buy, and I've been researching this for a couple years, but I couldn't get comfortable with a solution. I've looked at SONOS a couple times, but just wasn't sure. I finally pulled the trigger and bought SONOS. To give you some background on my house, it's a 2-story with about 5,000 SF of conditioned space. I have a central closet with all my phone, TV, network/Internet and other communications wiring. I've heard so many concerns about setting up SONOS with a central closet such as mine, but it's really worked out great. I initially thought about trying to minimize the number of SONOS ZP120 units (to save money) by utilizing other amplifiers and volume controllers and I'm so glad I didn't do that. It was a little more expensive to have SONOS everything, because it resulted in more SONOS zones (i.e., more SONOS ZP120s), but I have no regrets. It's really just amazing how easy this is to use, how much music you have access to, and how well everything works together.

We setup 12 zones. 11 of the zones are ZP120 and one zone is an S5. The 11 ZP120s are in the central closet. The S5 is in the study and I also put a ZP90 wireless bridge upstairs near an outside wall to extend the wireless signal (to the upstairs and the outdoors). I have 5 CR200 controllers (we keep one in the kitchen area, the bedroom, the study, and each of my kids has one that they keep in their bedrooms (both kids are under 10 yrs old and they have no trouble using SONOS)). Each of their bedrooms is a separate zone so they can control their own music.

SONOS changed our lives. My wife thought I was crazy installing SONOS, but she's told me on several occasions that she really likes SONOS and loves having music in the house. My kids are also enjoying it. The TV now spends more time 'off' and the SONOS replaces it with music. How many times do you have the TV on in your house for 'background noise'? Yep, that's what we used to do. We now listen to music in the morning, afternoon, during dinner, etc. It's great. We primarily use SONOS to stream Pandora (Pandora Basic comes built into SONOS). I was introduced to Pandora through SONOS and it's just great. Everyone in the family has separate Pandora 'lists' so we can each listen to our own music.

The reason I like SONOS so much: (1) the time from arrival to setup is very short (it's super easy to setup), (2) it's easy to use and is very functional (my young kids use it), the linking and separating of zones is simple and you can transfer your music from one zone to another (by going into Zone Group for the zone that's currently playing the music you want to transfer, selecting the zone your going to (e.g., Kitchen) and de-selecting the zone you're in (e.g., Study)), (3) the sleep and alarm clock features (you can fall asleep to music and wake to music or a SONOS chime) (4) the touchscreen controller is great, (5) the SONOS wireless network works very well, and it's easy to extend the network with a ZP90 wireless bridge if you need additional coverage, (6) the access to music is easy (Pandora, music stored on your hard drive, local radio, etc.), (7) SONOS' ability to modify the administrative settings on your PC or firewall on the fly to make everything work (it prompts you for permission before doing this), (8) it's easy to add additional SONOS components and you can rename them to what you want (e.g., I renamed the standard SONOS 'Bedroom' to include my kids names), (9) the 'crossfade' option so you can have the next song start just before the prior song finishes to create continuous music (not sure if this only works in Pandora, but you can disable this feature if you don't like it).

I simply can't say enough about this product. It has surpassed my expectations. We've gone from a house with 45 speakers doing nothing, to a house brimming with music and a family (including young kids) enjoying music.

If there are two things I wish were different they are: I wish it were less expensive ( but I honestly I wish everything were less expensive - SONOS is a good value for what you get and if you will buy this ZP120 I suggest you have to check for best deal before you decide at: sites.google.com/site/musicplayerdeals/sonos-zoneplayer-120 ), and I wish the contoller batteries lasted longer when out of the cradle (but I'm guessing it takes a lot of battery power to drive the color touchscreen on the controller). These are very minor nits. I love it!