- Sonos HiFi sound for your TV with nine amplified speakers
- Listen to all the music on earth - from any source
- Simple, single-cable setup
- Flexible, multiple position and orientation design for any room and TV
Summary : I was so excited by the concept of a Playbar. I have Sonos speakers in two other rooms of my house, but it is unfortunately not integrated in my two rooms with surround sound speaker systems. I would kill to have Sonos wireless music in those rooms, but seamlessly integrate with my existing A/V setups. That is what Playbar is for. Super exciting. While the setup experience and audio quality of Playbar is great and up to the usual Sonos quality bar, it unfortunately doesn't work with my Sharp Aqous TV, and I think that might be the tiny Achilles heel of this product. It probably works with most, but not every HDTV, due to a basic setup assumption. I love the Playbar concept, and it probably works great for most people!
Review :
I got this product to integrate into my main living room A/V experience. My LR is about 20'x16' with no separation from another 20'x16' dining room. Relatively big space to fill with audio. I've got a relatively generic 5 speaker setup, with no sub because everyone else in the house complains about the noise level when it is enabled ;-) I mounted my Sharp Aquos 46D62U on the wall, and ran HDMI and component
in-wall between a lower cabinet and the wall plate behind the Sharp. Pretty standard. I've got a number of HDMI sources running into a Onkyo amp, then one HDMI from the amp to the TV through the in-wall wiring. My goal in adding Playbar was to disable the existing room speakers, and use the Playbar as the audio source. I would get full Sonos integration plus audio from my existing PS3, Xbox 360, and AppleTV. Wee!
The out of the box experience was mostly to Sonos's standard quality level. I've come to expect that setup is very easy, and it was. They've added the steps needed to check audio coming from your TV source, and to configure your remote control to change volume on the Playbar. This all worked well for me.
The sound quality was also up to the high Sonos standards. I loved having my music collection seamlessly stream into my living room, finally. And as I'll explain in a minute, when I tested with an alternate TV, the audio quality for game (PS3, Xbox 360) and movie sources was quite good. I think for bigger rooms you'll want to add the Sonos Sub for depth, but for smaller rooms the sound was high quality and bright.
There were two big gotchas that will not affect everyone, but affected me. I think it is important to understand them before purchasing a Playbar:
1 If you have an in-wall installation for your TV, adding/retrofitting Playbar into the environment is not hard, but requires some manual dexterity and a longer digital audio cable than ships in the box. Most people with an in-wall installation do not think of putting optical audio cables into the wall during the initial buildout. Audio was supposed to transfer via HDMI in the new world order. This means you have to difficultly get behind the TV (most of the time flush mounted), plug in an optical audio cable, then run this unsightly cable down from the TV to the Playbar. I went in-wall because I wanted a nice aesthetic, but that cable ruins the clean visual experience.
The optical cable that ships with the Playbar is way too short for most runs from the back of a wall mounted TV to the Playbar. Most TVs have their connections in the back to one side (right, often), so you have to run the optical cable back to center, then straight drop it to the center of the Playbar where its connectors are. If you don't want an oddly angled cable running from the Playbar to the TV, this involves a few 90 degree bends, which adds to the required cable length. The Sonos supplied short optical cable was in no way long enough for this, but as a bit of an audio geek, I had extra optical cables of various lengths. If you don't have extra optical cables of longer length, be prepared to buy one to finish this install. This is a rare "fit and finish" miss for Sonos.
2 The basic premise of the Playbar solution is that you run all HDMI to the TV, then an optical audio cable from the TV to the Playbar. This is a huge assumption about the age of most people's TVs. New TVs have plenty of HDMI ports and the assumption that there is a working audio optical out is probably ok. What I learned is that my older (sold in 2006-2008 at high volume) but still good Sharp Aquos 46D62U has that optical audio out, but it was designed only for ATSC (over the air HDTV) audio. It is not a generic pass-through audio port. Translation, the Playbar does not work with my TV. But I had no way of knowing this when I got the Playbar. There is no list I could find of TVs that will not work with the Playbar, but I can guarantee these exist. It took me three hours of super geeking to learn all of this, buried in manuals and AVForum posts. In this way I'm not the average Sonos customer, as less of a geek would have gotten frustrated and taken something back well before this.
I trust Sonos, and assume that the vast majority of TVs work with this digital audio pass-through model. I grabbed a newer Sony TV I had stored and hooked it up outside my home theatre room, and it worked well. Maybe mine is a rare case, but I wonder with less expensive or older HDTVs, will Playbar work every time. Hopefully FAQs will quickly appear documenting the few TVs that won't work with Playbar, so you don't have to order something that has a very low but possible chance of not working with your TV...
All in all, I really love the Playbar concept, and wish, oh wish, it had worked in my main home theatre room. The sound quality is great and setup is a breeze. Now to convince my wife I need a new TV for the living room?!
Buy SONOS PLAYBAR TV Soundbar and Wireless Speaker Now
We have a small 10'x12' game room for our Xbox 360 and Wii U. Each console is hooked up to a LG 47" LED TV. The video quality is fantastic but the sound left a lot to be desired. This "problem" needed a solution. I set four simple goals to address this.1) The system had to sound great.
2) High Wife Acceptance Factor. :)
3) I did not want to run a separate A/V receiver. I simply don't have the room.
4) I did not want to run wires under the baseboards or carpet.
To achieve these goals I decided to build a complete Sonos Home Theater System, with the new PLAYBAR front and center (literally).
Here are the components I chose for my system:
Sonos BRIDGE
Sonos PLAYBAR
Sonos SUB
Sonos PLAY:3 (x2 as Surround Speakers)
Let's start with the setup. First thing I did was download the Sonos software for my laptop and hooked up the Wireless BRIDGE to my router. After the software downloaded and installed, getting the BRIDGE recognized by the software was as simple as pressing a button.
After the BRIDGE was set-up, I went on to tackle the PLAYBAR. Installation was equally as simple. An optical cable from the TV along with power from an outlet are the only two wires needed to get running. Press a couple buttons to sync the PLAYBAR with the BRIDGE, follow a few prompts in the software, disable the TV speakers, and the PLAYBAR is handling audio for my TV and game consoles. It was super-simple and a dramatic improvement in fidelity compared to the TV's built-in speakers.
Next up was adding the subwoofer and surrounds. I found a nice spot in the corner of the game room and hooked up the power cable to the sub. Press a button on the front of the SUB, follow a few prompts in the software, and the subwoofer is handling the low frequencies. Adding the two PLAY:3 surround speakers was just as easy. Provide power to each PLAY:3, press two buttons on each speaker, follow the prompts in the software, and your done.
My new Game Room/Home Theater system was complete. Installation took less than an hour from start to finish. No big bulky receiver, no running wires under the carpet or baseboards, and the wife approves!
How does it sound?
After minimal tweaking in the Calibration Menus I got the sound just right. Mids and highs are clean and crisp, voices are clear, and the SUB is in perfect lock-step delivering deep/tight bass to Movies, Music and Games. This is an incredibly balanced combination that fills the room with accurate, high-quality sound. I honestly wasn't expecting to be this impresssed. I'm stunned by quality delivered without a dedicated A/V receiver. Incredible job, Sonos!
Here are a few of the software features that I found most helpful.
1) You can turn off the white status light on each speaker. This is great if you find those lights to be a distraction when the room is dark.
2) You can enhance/amplify "Voice/Speech" which makes hearing dialog at low volume levels much easier.
3) Not all room seating is rectangular. When calibrating the Surround Speakers you have the option for setting distances independently for the main seating position. Note: This is somewhat limited as the only three options to choose from are less than 2ft, 2-10ft and over 10ft.
I took some screenshots of the software menus I found helpful. Check 'em out under Customer Images along with some photos of the PLAYBAR in my game room.
I almost forgot. A review wouldn't be complete without at least a "Con". Here is my one real pet peave. There are no official Windows RT or Windows Phone 8 apps. It would be great to use my Surface RT tablet and/or my Nokia Lumia 920 phone as a controller for the system.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading!
Read Best Reviews of SONOS PLAYBAR TV Soundbar and Wireless Speaker Here
I'm a HUGE Sonos fan. I own 3 Play:5's and a Sub. I'd been wanting to replace my bulky 5.1 speaker system with a Playbar since it was rumored. All their products have incredible sound quality so I was optimistic about this set up.Set up is easy, sound quality is good for the unit. It's a nice product and looks great while being easy to operate (although more reliant on the Sonos application than I'd prefer). It's the typical awesomeness that you get with any Sonos product.
Here's the issue though: Sonos says they want you to use your TV as a hub, all the inputs going to the TV and then optical audio out from the TV to the Playbar. Great idea but the problem is that most TV's won't pass Dolby Digital (DD) 5.1 surround from HDMI to the digital/optical audio. If it's from the TV itself (such as Netflix on a smart TV) or input directly from the coaxial cable it will pass 5.1 through the optical port BUT not from HDMI. This is required to be HDCP compliant. There are a few tv's that do this but they're few and far between and hard to verify.
So if you have multiple sources (say an Xbox 360 and a Blu-Ray player) there's no way for those sources to ever deliver 5.1 to the Playbar as Sonos intended (assuming you add a sub and some Play:3's to the mix). And you can't wire multiple inputs directly to the Playbar because they have a single input for the sake of simplicity. Normally I'm fine with this, but in light of the limitation with HDMI => optical pass through on TVs this became an oversight to me upon learning about the pass through issue. You can solve this by finding a TV or receiver that does pass through DD 5.1 through the optical audio, but you shouldn't have to. Alternatively you can use an optical audio switch, which is fine most of the time but may not work with a blu-ray player since Playbar lacks DTS support. Lastly you can buy a converter to convert HDMI => digital (optical or coaxial) audio and HDMI. But again, for $700 should you have to?
In the end you're left with a system that is capable of producing much better sound (especially if a sub and some Play:3s are added) that most everyone won't be able to hear and results in this not sounding as good as it costs. And that's just a shame to me.
Pros:
++Easy set up
++Sonos
+Decent sound from stereo source
Cons:
---Single optical input only
--No DTS support
--Entire package is expensive for 5.1 (or even 3.1)
The only scenario I can see this being a good thing is if you have a room where you want to add a Sonos component and a soundbar to and you want to do it in a single package without caring about other components, like for a Den or a bedroom. Any other solution seems like there'd be a better option.
Ultimately I'm disappointed. Had Sonos included multiple audio inputs or HDMI pass through, or even better yet HDMI switching (in place of a receiver) then this could have been an amazing piece. But the reliance on a single optical input being provided from the TV, one which will down convert any HDMI source's audio to stereo sound, in the name of simplicity just seems like a bad idea.
Had I known about the tv's not passing through audio I wouldn't have bought this. My mistake, honestly, but it just makes it baffling as to why Sonos didn't provide different input options. As it stands I'm returning it.
Want SONOS PLAYBAR TV Soundbar and Wireless Speaker Discount?
The sound on the Sonos Playbar is really good. It's designed super sleek and cool, and does a great job at "fake" surround. But it's a single bar, so it lacks the true surround sound that you'd get from having separate sub & speakers spread out, which you probably already know. If that's what you're looking for then look into true surround systems instead. Or, for an even bigger expense, it can be expanded to a true wireless 5.1 system by adding the Sonos Sub and two Play:3 speakers.The connections provided: a single optical audio input, a power port, and a pair of ethernet jacks. So, you can connect your home theater devices directly to your TV, then connect your TV's optical audio output directly to the sound bar. But if your TV lacks an optical audio output, then you'll run into a variety of complications. They're mostly *workable* complications, but just be prepared to deal with this as a hassle if you're lacking optical audio.
Yes, it's pricey. But, keep in mind that Harman Kardan's competing playbar is priced generally the same ($600 range), and this one comes equipped with Sonos' best in-class digital music software built in, Sonos Connect, which gives you access to your library of digital music (Amazon Cloud Player, Spotify, Pandora, and Rhapsody) through a simple interface. You can also sync it to other Sonos audio systems throughout your house. So, you're getting much more than just a playbar in this price. But keep in mind, you will need a device that is able to download the Sonos:Connect app in order to use as a remote to sort through your library. Compatable devices are iPod Touches, iPhones, iPads, and most smartphones and tablets.
Another thing to know in advance: Although the Playbar is technically wireless, at least one Sonos component on your network needs a wired, ethernet connection. You can purchase a Sonos Bridge for $50 to use the Playbar wirelessly, but when you're already putting out $600 for a "wireless" soundbar, this is something they should be more clear about.
Sonos has chosen not to provide a remote for setting controls, which is something a lot of people take issue with in other brands. But they do provide you with the ability to program it to your TV remote. I get it... Who wants ANOTHER remote to have to deal with? .. But, I had to go through a lot of troubleshooting in order to get the remote setup working correctly, provided by onscreen prompts and tips on their website. Once you get it setup, it will give you the option to set your TV to mute, which I recommend doing, unless you want an annoying echo. Other than a couple hang ups with the remote, setup was crazy easy.
Onto the sound: for a playbar, it's pretty damn good. But, like I said, it's a playbar. It does its best to provide surround sound, but it's still a playbar and comes across a bit artificial and definitely lacks in the bass department.
But the sleek design with keyhole mounts provided on the back allow you to place it on the stand in front of the TV or -even coolermount it on the wall above or below. If you're looking for high quality surround sound that simultaneously provides the most simplistic, sleek look, you really can't go wrong with this playbar. And if you're interested in using it for listening to your digital music library through Sonos Connect (which is what I think is the best feature of this device), then you will be highly pleased with your purchase. As far as I know, there's not another audio system out there that provides surround sound for your TV with home theater connectivity AND audio streaming. (If I'm wrong about that, please feel free to correct me in the comments.)
If you're looking for the absolute most dynamic surround sound for your money... Well, then you're probably not looking at playbars in the first place.
Let me end this review by disclaiming that I am not a sound "purist". Purists will grow tired of the sound on this playbar fast and will, I'm sure, be able to pick out many more audio flaws than I can. I think it sounds good, not amazing, but good... Especially for a soundbar. It's also innovative, well-designed, and provides two good audio functions with surround sound that you won't be able to find anywhere else on the market without spending more money. So, it all depends on what you're looking for.
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If you don't have any other SONOS products in your home already, you'll need to either connect the PlayBar to a network router or network switch with a network cable, or purchase a SONOS BRIDGE which plugs into your network router. The reason you need this is that the SONOS network is actually separate from your existing WiFi network (it makes its own), which is great because it doesn't interfere with regular WiFi traffic, and vice versa.
Adding the device requires pushing a couple of buttons on the unit itself when prompted by the app and then telling the SONOS app what room it's in. Then you can program the PlayBar to respond to your existing TV remote or cable/satellite set top box. An on-screen wizard walks you through this. Tip! If you can't get the PlayBar to recognize commands from your DISH or DIRECTV or cable remote, then you may need to first set up that other remote to control your TV. Most set top box remotes come without any TV remote commands pre-programmed into them so if you try to program it into the PlayBar, you won't get very far. This was a problem for me with a DISH remote until I first programmed the DISH remote to control my TV, then the PlayBar was able to see the remote and respond to it for volume control. Once you do that, you can do the basic operation of the bar (volume up/down) using your existing remote control, and you won't have to refer back to the app. The PlayBar's optical digital input automatically gets preference, so if you're listening to music on it, then turn on the TV, it will automatically switch over to TV sound.
In terms of sound quality, the PlayBar blows away any TV speakers I've heard. The thinner a TV gets, the worse it sounds. Speakers need some room to resonate, and the PlayBar has that, while flat panel TVs do not. Movie dialog, male or female vocals have a nice transparency on the PlayBar, treble and high frequencies are detailed without being harsh and bass response is tight, if not prodigious (there's only so much bass you can get from a small cabinet).
The PlayBar uses some acoustic and electronic techniques to expand the sound stage so it sounds wider than it is. I noticed this on a few songs and movies, but it was particularly obvious on Rush "2112" and on The Moody Blues "Wildest Dreams." The instruments were emanating from points outside the edges of the bar while vocals were locked in place in the center. There are a total of 9 speakers on the PlayBar (each with its own amplifier) and SONOS uses this entire array to create a coherent soundstage.
But, as good as it sounds, the PlayBar isn't perfect. Bass is on the lighter side, and if you use the EQ controls in the SONOS app to boost the bass, it gets a bit boomy. Also, the PlayBar can get a bit congested and harsh when pushed to higher sound levels, though this is definitely better if you add the Sonos sub. With the sub, the PlayBar can then allocate its amplification and drivers to the midrange and treble which are easier to drive without distortion. Also, these sonic deficiencies are only evident when comparing the unit to dedicated speakers and amplification.
But there are two reasons why the PlayBar is unique and gets my recommendation: A.) it's upgradeable to fully discrete and wireless 5.1 surround (with the addition of the Sonos sub and a pair of Play:3 speakers) and B.) it's a SONOS! (more on that later). I tested the PlayBar on its own and then with the sub and play:3 rear speakers. Adding the sub and rear speakers was a simple as adding the initial PlayBar to the Sonos network, but there is a new option within the "room set-up" that allows you to add the play:3s as surround speakers for the PlayBar. The set-up wizard asks a couple of questions about distance from listening position to the rear speakers and (for the subwoofer) some questions about the levels, but that's about it.
With the sub and play:3s added, the system was able to reproduce discrete 5.1 channel Dolby Digital surround sound. I confirmed this using a 5.1 channel test track from one of Dolby's sampler discs as well as a few movie clips and a couple of full length films. The PlayBar does not decode DTS but this may not be a show-stopper for some as few TVs output or pass through DTS. The issue with this or any sound bar that uses the TV's digital output for sound is that most TVs will not pass through a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal from source through to TV output. Some Sony TVs do it as well as some VIZIOs and some LGs (there may be others), but many TVs will drop the signal down to 2-channel output at the digital out. For this reason, I would have liked to see a second digital input on the PlayBar as well as DTS decoding. I can understand why SONOS chose this single-input approach if there were an "input" function on the PlayBar to switch inputs, chances are things could have gotten confusing for most users. Still, for advanced users, the second input would have been appreciated.
In any case, The PlayBar does decode surround encoded 2-channel PCM or Dolby Digital sound (which TVs do put out) and will give you a reasonable surround sound stage even from non-Dolby 5.1 material as long as there is rear channel information encoded into the content.
Watching a movie in full 5.1 Dolby Digital surround on the system is a vastly improved experience over the PlayBar alone: bass is deep and extended without being bloated; surround effects emanate from all around the room and overall dynamic range is greatly enhanced as the PlayBar is able to concentrate all its power on the front three channels, without having to worry about surround or low bass. The only caveat? Adding the sub and play:3 rears brings the system cost from $700 to $2000 and that's a bit steep.
In addition to being a sound bar, the PlayBar is also an independent wireless SONOS zone. This means you can fire up the SONOS app on your phone or tablet, access your entire music collection stored on a PC or local network drive (or in iTunes on an iPhone or iPad) and play it back through the PlayBar. You can also access a ton of different online music streaming services, some of which are free, and some of which require a subscription. I was finding songs and discovering new artists on Spotify, accessing my local MP3 collection on my PC and streaming Pandora radio stations just minutes after opening the box. And the nice thing about SONOS is that it manages music from these different services in a single playback queue so one song came from Spotify, then a couple from one of my ripped CDs, the next from Spotify... you get the idea.
For those who say you can do that streaming stuff with AirPlay, or an AppleTV or a streaming Blu-ray player (etc.), I say, "poppycock!" To use Apple TV, you're limited to the Apple ecosystem (e.g. iTunes) and whichever apps they choose to enable. SONOS is more of an open platform with support for different file formats as well as all of the most popular music streaming apps and services. Also with AppleTV and virtually any other streaming media box, you have to have the TV on and switched to the correct input in order to hear anything. For music listening, this just isn't convenient. With the PlayBar, everything is driven through the SONOS app on your smart phone, PC or tablet. Pick your music, press play and you're good to go. And when you want to switch back over to watching TV, the PlayBar handles that for you automatically so the sound matches the picture.
I find myself listening to a *LOT* more music with the PlayBar in the living room, because it's not just easy but actually fun. If you're feeling adventurous (or home sick after a move) you can also access any of thousands of streaming internet radio stations, right within the app.
If you add on more SONOS components (Play:3, Play:5, etc.) throughout your home, you can decide which room gets which music, right from your smart phone, PC or tablet. It's an advanced multi-room audio system without the cost of installation or the need to rip up your walls. Also, with the PlayBar in the system and connected to your TV, you can pipe that TV sound to any other SONOS wireless zone in your home which was an unexpected treat for me.
For TV listening, the PlayBar has some nice features which work standalone or with the full 5.1 system. "Night" mode compresses the dynamic range so you can hear whispered dialog and subtle surround effects without the loud parts of the movie being overpowering. "Speech enhancement" brings the dialog forward in the mix so you can make out what characters are saying, even when there are other distractions. You can use both at the same time or each feature independently. I tested both and found that they did make subtle but noticeable improvements to dialog intelligibility. And the Night mode did equalize differences between soft and quiet points. I found I could keep "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," at a reasonable volume level and I didn't need to leap for the remote when the explosions kicked in. But for daytime movie viewing (and for music) I left these features turned off.
Turn-Ons:
* Good sound overall, considering size
* Simple connection and set-up
* Nice looking and nice personality
* Flexible installation
* SONOS app puts the world of music at your fingertips.
Turn-Offs:
* Needs more bass
* Gets a bit congested at high volumes
* Could use a second fiberoptic input and DTS support
* Limited by TV's ability to pass through 5.1 surround
* A little pricey
Reviewing the PlayBar is a bit tricky. As a pure sound bar, it's a nice sounding simple solution that can plug and play with your existing TV and remote. But again, as a pure sound bar, it's expensive and doesn't offer the low bass extension of many more affordable sound bar/subwoofer combos. But unlike most sound bars, the PlayBar is upgradeable. Find the bass a bit light? Add a sub. Want to experience discrete surround sound? Add a pair of Play:3s as surrounds. This is something most other sound bars simply cannot do. But what really sets the PlayBar apart from every other sound bar on the planet is that it's also a SONOS wireless speaker with all the streaming musical goodness that the SONOS platform has to offer. You'll come for the enhanced sound from movies and TV, but you'll stay for the music. Highly recommended.
A more detailed review is available on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com).
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