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Sonos, maker of wireless multi-room music systems that most people can’t afford, now has a one-room option that may seem a bargain to iPhone and iPod touch users.
The Zoneplayer S5, available worldwide from today, costs $400 in the US and can be controlled by a free app available for the Apple devices.
“That makes Sonos much more affordable,” Phil Abram, Sonos president, told me during a demonstration, comparing it to the B&W Zeppelin and Bose SoundDock 10 iPod docks that cost $600.
That seems an unfair comparison - the S5 lacks an iPod dock for one thing, and advertises itself as an “all-in-one wireless music system”, a description which itself seems somewhat misleading as a standalone S5 has to be wired!
It has two ethernet ports on the back to be connected to a wired network. The wireless element comes in if you splash out another $400 on a second S5 and the built-in wireless mesh networking in the unit kicks in to connect the other S5 to the system.
Sonos also offers a $100 Zonebridge to connect up to a broadband router and wireless-enable a single S5, as well as a $350 controller unit if users don’t have an iPhone or touch ( but it would be cheaper just to buy a $200 touch). You can also link your digital music collection to the S5 from a computer or laptop on the network.
The unit also has volume controls, a headphone socket and an AUX input where you can use a cable to hook it to an iPod’s headphone socket and jerry-rig it as an iPod dock.
By now, if you’re a less than wealthy non-iPhone or non-Sonos owning consumer, you may be thinking this is not such a good deal after all, and there seems little appeal here for audiophiles either.
The S5 is a single unit rather than having two stereo speakers, which to me suggests little separation in the sound.
Mr Abram counters that this is not a concern of Sonos users and the unit has a 5-driver speaker system that can fill a room with sound. It did fill out our small interview room, but I could not vouch for its capabilities in a larger space.
What did impress me was the large number of sources that the Santa Barbara company allows users to feed into the S5 over their wired/wireless connection - their iTunes library, last.fm, Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora and more than 25,000 internet radio stations are among the services.
In summary, the S5 is a no-brainer purchase for existing Sonos customers looking to extend to other rooms, of some appeal to iPhone and iPod touch owners and of little interest to other budget-conscious consumers.
David Gelles, Joseph Menn, Chris Nuttall and Richard Waters in the FT's San Francisco bureau upload their views - plus tech insights from writers in New York, London and Tokyo
Richard Waters
Chris Nuttall
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