NFT: Sonos home theatre vs wired - can anyone recommend?

and if you can wire along with the lighting, that's a no brainer in my opinion.

My parents have a small Sonos system and it works well since my Mom like to have the radio on in the kitchen and on the deck.

If/when I finally do the house thing I'm going to try and wire in speakers when opening up the walls as a wired system sounds better and costs far less.

I don't have any feedback on a full 5.1 Sonos system other than its really expensive (I think its over $2k last time I looked). For $2k you can spend half on a 60" TV and the other on a really good wired sound system.

so since it's not wired, it's not as good

We are fully Sonos integrated. We have the Soundbar, Sub and 2 Play 1s in our Family Room, as well as different units throughout the house. The Soundbar rocks for what it does, but if you can get a wired solution you'll be better off just doing it that way and buying a Sonos Connect to whatever receiver you use.

The Soundbar only has one digital input so you'd need a switch of some kind because most TVs won't output 5.1 from audio out. It also is restricted to Dolby Digital.

It's definitely the way to go if you can.
I have this 5.1 Energy speaker set for my living room. It's not very expensive and sounds fantastic. Plenty of sound filling my house, bumps when I want it to. Paired with a Yamaha receiver my movies and music sound great.
Energy RC-Micro 5.1 - ( New Window )

if you shop around

Thanks - couple followups. I currently have a bose soundlink ii -- and we use the hell out of that thing. I've even hooked it up to the TV when watching some movies and it works well. Obviously not surround but I was surprised how well it did for a small speaker. If Sonos is basically the same thing but even better for the familly room with surround capability - that might work well. then adding on throughout the house wirelessly seems like a good deal.

For TV - we dont have cable, we stream via Roku and download most everything else so setting up a DVD player and a separate receiver isn't really what we want to do. Assuming all this, will Sonos deliver a rich experience?

very convenient, i use it mainly with spotify.

speakers are no big deal.

but i also have a sonos controlled hooked up to my high end stereo. it sounds great.

so a mix of sonos where you don't have pre-wired rooms and a controller through your stereo works very well.

I have a Sonos speaker in the kitchen but the rest are hooked up to existing speakers and/or components...love it!

i don't think the speakers are great. but i do love being able to move them outside in the summer and playing music where i don't have wiring.
but i don't have the subwoofer, which might help.

however, the controller playing through your existing stereo is really convenient and sounds as good as any other music source. so even if you just use a stereo or your house is prewired it's worth springing the $100 for the controller for the stereo.

I know a few people who work there & have it in their homes. The sound quality is top notch. Highly recommended.

(Play-bar, Sub, and two Play 1s) as well as several other speakers in rooms around the house. I like it, the sound is good but not outstanding. Better for music than fir home theater.

However, If your talking about set up and convenience there is nothing comparable in my opinion. No wires, no cutting through walls.....basically plug in and play. And the Sonos platform is amazing with its integration to various music sources.

You're paying for convenience and the platform while giving up sound quality a touch. It still has a very nice sound though.

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