Sonos Playbar

Manners Mcdade 8 May 2013

Good: Great sound quality, easy to set-up and use.

Bad: Nothing. It's all good.

Comment: The Playbar is the first item of home cinema audio I have bought. The room my TV is in is not huge, so I didn't want a multi-speaker system and the playbar is the first truly impressive single-unit speaker system I have come across. It is connected to my TV via optical cable and linked directly to my home wi-fi network via an ethernet cable. The sound quality is top-notch, I don't feel the need for a sub-woofer - maybe if I had a much bigger room or lived in a detatched house - but this is perfect for the average home. The experience of watching a movie or playing a game is greatly enhanced and it's also perfect for streaming audio via Spotify. The expense is justified when a product is this good. Excellent build quality and it looks great too.

Lasso 19 March 2013

Good: Great sound and as all other SONOS products it just works!

Bad: No DTS support

Comment: As usual with a SONOS product it just works! I really wish that all technical gizmos would be like this.
One drawback thou, it does not decode DTS, that means that if you try to connect it to your Blue Ray player to get actual true surround sound or if you have ripped all your BRs and try to play it thru certain TVs it will not work - it will just be silent!

There is a "SONOS Idea" to implement DTS, please support that effort here:
https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/please_add_support_for_dts_for_the_sonos_playbar

Roger Ford 6 March 2013

Good: Big Soundstage

Bad: Price of sub

Comment: Panasonic TVs have a hidden "Hotel Mode" which allows you to turn the speakers off.

From a demo of the Playbar I was very impressed by the big, clear sound generated from the bar. Even without the Sonos functionality it seems a bargain at £599. My biggest concern is that adding the sub doubles the cost, which puts it into high-end territory with the Bose Cinemate. I've yet to audition the two together.

Carling 26 February 2013

Good: The aesthetics, sound quality

Bad: Price and connectivity

Comment: In reply to Jordan, you are talking rubbish. The whole point of a soundbar is to link to a TV easily and get better sound. The Playbar will do the sound but adds complication for the average user just wanting to turn the "TV" up or down. That is why almost all the sound bars or 2.1 systems on the market now have a HDMI input with ARC and CEC to allow the consumers TV to control the volume of the soundbar. The very fact that you have to use an app to control the volume on the Playbar is real pain in the arse. Yes you can get the Playbar to understand the remote codes of you TV so it turns up/down from those signal but, counter to your comment, a LOT of TVs do not have the option to switch off their internal speakers (the entire Panasonic range for a start) This makes the Playbar a pain to use.
Most sound bars on the market have optical input alongside the HDMI so they can work either way.
having dealt for years with the public using this type of kit I can tell you now that this is going to be an issue for people.

Sonos should have focused on making this a proper sound bar then added the Sonos software to it. Instead they made a Sonos product and tried to turn it into a soundbar.

Jordan Whitworth 24 February 2013

Good: Brilliant sound and connectivity

Bad: Premium price

Comment: I actually posted this review primarily to counter the ridiculous "review" posted by Carling, who clearly has no idea what he's talking about....

1) why would a soundbar need a HDMIARC? a) more tvs have optical connection than HDMIARC, and b) why would you waste connecting a soundbar to a HDMI socket when it isn't streaming video, and you can get just as good sound through optical? Sure, you won't get DTS-HD, but when were you *ever* going to notice the difference without spending several more thousands of pounds on speakers and an amp?

2) Pretty much every TV on the planet has speaker selection, so you can simply choose "external" on the sound settings on the TV and negate the (non) issue you are referring to


I have heard this soundbar and it sounds great – the issues you’re mentioning are non existent and you are creating your own misery and misconceptions – I urge you to go out and listen to this soundbar, as that’s the only way you will appreciate its sound capabilities. There’s a reason they don’t publish things like power output – you don’t need to worry about them!! Worry about what your ears tell you, not a bunch of made up numbers ?

Jim Ludoviconi 14 February 2013

Comment: Playbar may well succeed in bringing surround to the masses - the idea of a 3-channel bar that is wirelessly expandable to 3.1 and 5.1 is very compelling. Add in Sonos' drop-dead ease of set-up and best-in-class user experience and it's hard to imagine anything less than total success for the product. The customer this product is aimed at cares little for HDMI (his or her TV will serve as the HDMI hub), and, considering the optical hook-up, ARC is redundant. Those with TV's whose volume cannot be defeated can avail themselves of the excellent smartphone APP's. As to the lack of DTS, the majority of consumers are put off by the over abundance of audio decoding choices and other superfluous features that inhabit our modern AV receivers - most will welcome the simplicity.

Carling 13 February 2013

Good: Soundbar shape

Bad: Connectivity & Price

Comment: For a "premium" product, this item seems to lack some fairly important features. Not having HDMI with ARC is a huge no-no on something that is supposed to be making life easier for the user. Without this feature you are going to have to use (with most TVs) either a universal IR remote control to turn it up and down or an app of some description. Most TVs do not allow you to turn off the internal speakers meaning that the way Sonos want you to control the Playbar will also end up turning the TV speakers up & down too. For theem to say that HDMI is not designed for audio is just laughable. DTS-HD may not be essential as far as Sonos are concerned but for those who actually invest in watching movies at home surley they want the best possible sound which Sonos here are simply not providimng. Y
Latsly they say that by spending a similar amount on a dedicated AV receiver you are not going to get the same sound quality. Well I'm sorry but that is utter bull**it.