“We are going to be a Sonos family” — a friend of mine actually said that shortly after unwrapping the Sonos Play:1 at his birthday party in late November — “Now I have to get the Playbar”.
What is a Sonos family? It’s a collection of wireless Wi-Fi speakers positioned around the home to give your actual family an immersive and customisable audio experience. It is not a cheap system but once you have the Playbar and several of the Play:1, Play:3 and Play:5 speakers, you can create a home theatre, play music in stereo and/or play different songs on different units in different rooms.
This nascent Sonos family in my example subscribes to JB NOW, and it also works with Rdio, Spotify, Mog, Pandora and Deezer, in addition to internet radio stations and any native content you have on a hard drive or NAS.
So penetrative has the Sonos system become over the past 12 months, complacent rival Bose has been forced to act, unveiling the SoundTouch system, and admitting that it was “not the first to bring any products to market”.
On a non-audio note, I also like that Sonos is a palindrome and its name appears the same when you read it upside down.
Sonos Playbar
RRP $999
Stylish design and cutting-edge wireless audio technology make Sonos the go-to brand for multi-rooming and internet-connected music playback. The Playbar does everything you expect from a soundbar — one of the boom categories of 2013 — while also connecting to millions of songs worldwide.
Best Feature: Seamless integration with Rdio and Spotify music streaming.
And if you are reading this article on a device connected to a Sonos Playbar, indulge yourself with the aforementioned birthday boy’s third favourite song of 2013 (the first two were inappropriate):