Review on Sonos Play: 5 Wireless Speaker (Black) - Gen 1 - Discontinued by Manufacturer by Beth Williams

It's quite difficult to review Sonos because it really is a SYSTEM and not a standalone product. Components will be added as needed/desired. The first part of my review is about how I feel about the Sonos system. Next I will talk about Play:5. Finally, I'll mention the Sonos Bridge component because I think it's worth getting. I began my acquaintance with the Sonos system on the recommendation of a friend. I can't believe I've lived without him for so long. If you love music, this is the system for you. I'm just an amateur music lover but I find the sound AMAZING and the setup easy. My wife (who isn't very tech savvy) can control the music in each room. We can play music from iTunes (our local network storage), NAS, Spotify, Pandora, IHeartRadio, etc. I even discovered great music services that I had never heard of before. We were even able to "merge" my wife's and my Spotify's playlists with Sonos playlists to create playlists that we would both enjoy. The Sonos system is VERY well thought out, and as someone in the tech industry I'm excited to see that kind of thought translated into a product. There are great controller apps for Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android. I wish there was an app for windows phone but c'est la vie. Play:5 is the first in the series that I've received - and sold in the Sonos ecosystem. It's in my home office and I listen to music all the time when I'm working from home. Any music sounds great on this device: rock, jazz, classical, blues, folk, hip-hop. I got it because of the deeper basic functions. I work from home and listen to a lot of techno/trance music. This device works well when you need maximum sound and maximum volume in a room. This would probably be overkill in a kitchen or small room, but it's perfect if you're dancing or really want to blast your tunes. I play electric guitar and play along to the music on Play:5. This is the way to go when you need to fill a room with immersive sound. Need even more sound? Get another Play 5 and set it up together for room-wide stereo playback. You can organize components into rooms and manage each room with the click of a button. While you don't need a Sonos Bridge (a separate product) to use this device, I think the Bridge adds a LOT of value by providing a dedicated WiFi network for devices to communicate over. This means that all communication between devices takes place via a single point of entry into your WiFi network. Because the bridge is connected to your router, you don't need to tether the Play:5—you can move it from room to room. Very elegant, very portable and very reliable.