Setup suggestion so my firend doesn't end up buying Sonos

[lpopa93]

A good friend of mine is remodelling his outdoor terrace. It will become another living room for when friends come over for a drink or to watch a game. It's a very diffucult room, becasue the floor is ceramic tiling and the terrace will be enclosed by three sliding glass walls. He told me he wants to buy a Sonos setup, the Sonos immersive, as he told me he will spend around 2500 euro on it. I suggested there are better options. He was entertained by the "easy" wireless setup, and not having the need to run wires to the speakers, but it isn't much difference, as he still needs power plugs, and he is missing at least two at the speaker locations.

The room is aroun 60sqm, and as I told you, 80% of the time he will play music. There will be an 8 seat table in one half of the room, and a TV on the wall and a large sofa for watching movies in the other half. I can't suggest floorstanders because the entire TV wall will have a counter underneath spreading the entire span of the wall. Ususally the music he listens to is Techno (Black Coffee, Paco Osuna, Mahmut Orhan, etc.)

I believe Sonos is not worth the money. But I can be wrong, so please tell me if I am. With the current Black Friday pricelist (I have it from one of the large AV Stores in my country), for the same price I can get:
Monitor Audio Silver 100 7G
Montior Audio SIlver 50 7G
SVS SB1000 Pro
Denon X1800h - AirPlay functionality is a must

Or I can go for KEF Q3 Meta, but they are more expensive with the current pricelist. He loved my KEF R500.

Or I can go for cheaper, like two pairs of Monitor Audio Bronze 100 and there is enough money left for a central speaker.

What other suggstions do you guys have? I believe all the speakers listed above are superior to Sonos, but maybe I am wrong.

 

[JeremyFife]

Sonos speakers measure surprisingly well, nothing wrong with them. That's doubly true if your friend has a tricky space and isn't into hifi fiddling.

If you think your friend might get the hifi bug, then your ideas make sense.
Perhaps, in this case, Sonos is a sensible route

 

[JP]

^ That, and do you really want to be your friend's AV support person?

 

[Spkrdctr]

I would recommend whatever is extremely easy to set up and use. He doesn't seem like he is into fiddling with stuff all the time. To make him happy let him use the easy thing he finds. Probably Sonos.

 

[Bland_username42069]

Not being into acoustics but a lot glass and tiles sounds like it would deter spending bank on a system. Couple of second hand bookshelf speakers and a Bluetooth / amp / DAC combo is surely enough

 

[EERecordist]

Do you have more detailed width - the TV wall, length, and height? 60 sq meters is very large. I would doubt Sonos has a system for a 60 sq meters room. Can the floor be covered with a large area rug with jute padding under it? I would be concerned about all those hard surfaces.

Maybe designers who have worked in high end glass apartments have found solutions? From an audio standpoint, the best solution would be a sub and spatial wireless earbuds for all the audience. That would be akin to the "silent disco" approach. That is probably not socially acceptable.

Back in the day, the attraction of Alexa running Sonos content was a novelty. Now most streaming services have it.

For the sake of your friendship, and all the possibilities for failure, as others have said, this might not be a project to become involved in. Have the dealer solve it with a money back return guarantee.

 

[mglobe]

I run a pair of Sonos 500’s in stereo that are mounted in a gazebo that is open to the weather. They measure well and sound great for the application. I wouldn’t dismiss Sonos if it can be a solution for the specific application.

 

[Ellebob]

He can have the best of both worlds. Get 2 Sonos amps. One for the front speakers and one for the surrounds. You will is a phantom center channel. You can then get nicer speakers for the front speakers and use in wall or in ceiling speakers if they don't want free standing speakers cluttering the area. You also don't need power by the surround speakers.The Sonos app is easy to use for music and has pretty much every music service built-in. You can add Sonos subs for bass or any other brand of sub you desire since the amp has a subwoofer output. If you are listening to music and turn on the TV, Sonos will automatically switch from music to TV.

 

[Timcognito]

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[Petrushka]

Sonos Fives are recommended by ASR.

 

[Ellebob]

Sonos fives are a good choice for nusic but they don't have an HDMI ARC/eARC input for TV or any surround sound capability. It sounds like he wants to have TV play through it at times.