I need some input for a planned audio setup. I attached below a rough sketch of our open concept living area. (Kitchen has a bit of a wall, but no doors and an “open window” to the dining area).
I have today two alexa speakers that I would like to replace with something “nicer” to listen to.
My wife has requested a better music experience after listening to a sonos one and five at a friend’s place
Naturally I would go with some floor standing speakers. But since we have an open concept and no TV that could be framed by the speakers, I am leaning more towards sonos five + maybe a sub.
What are your setups? Main use case is listening to Spotify.
We have also fallen for Sonos/IKEA, therefore is our home today including…
Kitchen: Play:1
Guest Room: Play:1
Bathroom: Play:1 <— Loved even by our guests!
Master Bed Room: IKEA Symfonisk Bookshelf
Living Room: TV Playbar and Sub
Living Room: Play:5
Patio: IKEA Symfonisk Bookshelf
All of these, apart from the TV & patio, are used with a mix of TuneIn and Spotify more or less from the second we wake up until we press the “Good Night-button” by the bed… every day! So you don’t need to ask me what to get, I can only say… trust your wife!!
Haha, my wallet was afraid of the answer you gave How do you control the speakers, any voice assistant? Sometimes I have issues with Alexa because only my account is linked and therefore, I can’t listen to my music if I am away, and my wife is listening at home. How does this work with sonos?
Curious for other opinions
Really depends on the available budget what I would recommend.
At the cheap end of the spectrum is a pair of google minis in each room. You’d be amazed just how good they actually sound when paired, not to mention how much volume and bass the little things put out. This route also gives voice control in every room, allows easy grouping of speakers across rooms, but comes with the tradeoff of dealing with the various pitfalls of google tech.
At the high end of the spectrum I would be using a 5.2.4 speaker setup in the primary viewing room and bedrooms to allow for full 360 degree immersion when watching tv and movies. For the rest of the house I would do 2-4 in ceiling speakers all tied back into a ethernet controllable receiver that also allows per channel output control.
We have both our accounts linked… and I’m the only one using Spotify in the car, problem solved! We are not using any voice assistants at all, only one google mini for voice announcements.
The only things we are doing, is done with the assistance of NR. Like muting a few of them when turning on the TV, or play/stop the for the group depending if we’re home or not. These are also included in our morning routines, i.e. alarm clock, and just not to get any heart attacks the volume level is always set to 5 during the late night for all of them.
Thanks for the response. I use a few different versions of Alexa and the sound is okay. Only hearing something better (to our ears) made us think of investing some money to get an upgrade. We mostly use alexa to say stuff like:
Play xyz in the livingroom
Play kids music
Do you have an in-ceiling setup? I saw different kind of reviews and the sound quality seems to also depend on the structure above. We have an attic above this, so there is no seal from the open space.
Advantage of Sonos is for me is, that I don’t need to drill holes, run wires through the attic/walls. Main disadvantage could be software updates and therefore a replacement of the whole system in a couple of years.
More or less the same I’d say… actually a bit surprised that they sounds as good as they do, especially for that price point. I added the wall mounts as well for practically nothing!
Sonos will last much longer than that. My 1st Sonos unit is at least 10-15 years, and it still works. Yes it does NOT support the S2 platform, but it still works 100%. I recently purchased another ZP100 off ebay, for $200, and it also connected right up. It powers a set of outdoor Def Tech AW6500 speakers great!
Sonos is a great company. One cool thing about Sonos is they’ll give you a 30% coupon if you own any old S2 “unsupported” device towards the upgrade of a new one, AND you can keep using the old one! How many companies support their products that well? Just shows they stand by the product as best they can.
Sonos does not make a wireless in ceiling or outdoor speaker. The ones the do sell are not wireless. You need to use a Sonos Amp and “traditional” 8 ohm speakers. The ones they resell are not wireless. For in ceiling/outdoor you cannot get away without wiring (unless we are talking portable, get a “Move” for that).
FYI No permanent speaker is “wire free” since they all need power (except the portable battery ones, but they are not “permanent”)
I would agree these sound pretty good. Good enough for a bedroom (we have them in almost every bedroom), and to help in the “whole house” audio environment. Not nearly as full as a Play:5.
If you can invest in Sonos you will be happy with it. You can also continue building out the system over time. As mentioned I’ve had mine for a long time (multiple houses) and I’m still adding-on!
Sooo, I have now a Sonos 5 and 2 Ikea Sonos bookshelf speaker I am pretty happy with it. Also reduced my Alexas to a single one that is setup to play on the default group of my sonos speakers. It works!
Still trying to integrate it into Node-Red (play/pause/volume).
Bonus: even if I don’t start the music from Alexa I can still stop it and adjust the volume while it plays
You are able to save audio files to CORE that I think doesn’t require opening firewall rules as well. Just a fleeting thought. There’s a post somewhere around here about it created by @RRodman .
So you don’t need to ask me what to get, I can only say… trust your wife!! 
