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Japan, Tokyo
1 Level
766 Review
65 Karma

Review on Enhanced Home Theater Surround Sound System: Sonos 3.1 Entertainment Set with Playbase, Sub, and Alexa Compatibility (White) by Ryan Bowers

Revainrating 2 out of 5

Pretty good sound, terrible setup process, outdated Wi-Fi connection

First, I'm an IT professional. My review applies to most Sonos products. I just unpacked the system components, PlayBase, Sub, (2) One SL. PlayBase connected to TV via optical cable. Use of a business WiFi hotspot with a very good range. Installed app on Android phone, (3) iPad, Windows 10 and jailbroken Revain Fire tablet. I've been trying to set up a new system with an app on each device for hours without success. The Sonos support site is almost entirely useless to the pro outside of the most basic setup configuration. It's almost like Apple; "Just plug it in and it just works." "We can't give you details about anything other than what the basic instructions say." "Just try again, it should work, but we don't have any Any idea what else we can do." "We don't have a phone number to call us, just send us an email and wait 24 hours for a reply." In the end, I just connected all the components with ethernet cables and each assigned a static IP address and setup worked. Then I unplugged the Ethernet cables and the system continued to work. However, over time, no matter what you do, the application no longer "finds" the system. Apparently they connected to Wi-Fi with no problem after working without an Ethernet cable for a while. Even my DHCP server shows they are connected to an IP address. Another issue is using Roku media streamers. So far I am not getting any sound from my Roku with any settings. And of course, Sonos doesn't have a unique address on the website. Roku is probably the most used media streamer right now. It would be nice to consider this issue in the pre-purchase literature. In my opinion, there is simply not enough information on the Sonos support website for experienced people. For now, I feel like the Sonos system is for people with the most basic system needs. Something else might confuse us. I'll update this review when I dig deeper into the setup and use it for a while. Keep for updates. This $1,500 system may need to be returned. UPDATE 2/18/20: I've had a little more fun with the Sonos system since it's been running smoothly. In addition to the Playbase I added a subwoofer and 2 SLs. I've also found that Ikea offers compatible speakers built in partnership with Sonos. I added two of these for individual rooms and they work great for only $100 each. I decided to set up my home computer to share my music library, which apparently it should have access to. The app's connectivity to other streaming services is a bit lacking, but once you get used to it, it will work fine. I will add more updates later.

Pros
  • Stylish and modern design
Cons
  • Slightly crumpled

Comments (1)

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November 07, 2022
Superb... most everything about it is awesome.