IMAGE AUDIO, ELECTRONICS
AND HOME THEATER
Audio and Video Sales, Design and Installation
SONOS
OK folks… it’s Saturday morning and we need to talk SONOS! I have seen some pretty cool products in the thirty plus years I have been in the audio business… like the introduction of the first “laser disc” from Magnavox I had the honor to introduce in a store I ran in Buffalo back in the 70’s… you know the 12” shinny silver disc that played movies (in standard definition video to our picture tube TV’s) on a real ugly looking silver machine…that ate the disc from the cover!!! It was cool at the time! The introduction of the first CD players…I had to have that… even though I did not own one disc when I received it. There are just so many cool things I have been lucky to see right upon or even before release…and had the opportunity to demonstrate, sell and install… BUT, the coolest thing I have seen lately is SONOS!
Today, when most folks have most all of their tunes on some computer in the house and some are using iPods for a music sources and purchasing iTunes, it seems as if the only place we get to listen to our music is on those “dynamic” speakers that we received with our computers… man they are just awesome aren’t they! The worst part is, some of us have a pretty good audio system in the living room or family room and some of us even have speakers around the house… like in the kitchen, the deck or patio or even in the master bath. BUT… we listen to our tunes in the computer area… WHAT! Are we nuts! We spent all of that cash for the great audio system and to have speakers installed around the house and we are listening thru the “computer speakers” in the office…. We are crazy.
Well…does the above sound like you? Fear no more my audio challenged friends… SONOS to the rescue!!! Free your tunes… (You know the 5000 songs on your computer) play them on your audio system and around the house. Even if you do not have speakers in a location you want tunes… SONOS has an answer for that as well. Not only that, you can control all of your music remotely… by artist, album, song, genera and a few other ways I have not even examined. Skip a tune, search a tune, and create a play list… all on the go. Or find individual songs, add them to your play list or play them immediately…all from your music library and all from the hand held remote. You even have volume control. The large LCD display on the SONOS remote shows album art, you can see the list of tracks on the album and what is playing next, and have complete control of ALL you music, man this is cool… and if you have an iPhone… “There’s an App for that”! That’s correct… you can control SONOS music system from your iPhone and that’s only a small part of what SONOS is all about.
Let’s talk internet radio. How many internet radio stations are there you ask… about a million! Well maybe not that many but there is a metric truck load of them! And not just from the U.S. Listen to radio from all over the world, Africa, South America and Europe…and more. I found a “Beatles Radio” station from where else but… Liverpool… it is all Beatles music all the time. The station plays all Beatles songs by the Beatles and also by other artists as well including orchestral arrangements too. I guess you see I like the Beatles. I also have “Atlanta Blues Cast” from Atlanta GA. Blues for the masses, Classical guitar and piano music from NY City, the “Acoustic Café” from Radio I.O. and our local WRUR Public Radio and WXXI and about five or six others. They are in “My Favorites” located right on the SONOS controller…. Select “radio” then “favorites” and there they are… all my favorite radio stations. Push the “select” button… instant radio… cool.
I had a customer who was from Greece. He wanted Greek radio in his home…. I said SONOS! He gets just about every Greek radio station in Greece… Some he knew very well… he is a happy man!
And that’s not all yet… How about music services that are on line… like Pandora and LastFM, they are FREE! Yep, FREE. Plug in an artist name or a song title and either service will play that artist and others who sound like him/her/them until you stop it from doing so. Create your own “radio stations” that play what you like not what others choose for you. Pop, Country, Classic Rock, Acoustic Rock, Classical, Jazz, Adult Contemporary, Hip Hop, Show Tunes and many others… whatever your mood deserves! We have about 15 favorite “Radio Stations” here…. All listed in “my favorites” in the RADIO category… Also available are the traditional “pay” sites that require a subscription like Napster, and Rhapsody. These do require a charge card and a monthly or yearly subscription but are also much more flexible when it comes to finding and playing music. A typical script may be $8.99 to $10.99 a month…. It’s cheaper than the purchase of one CD.
The BAD! Well if you consider not being able to record the music from these services bad. You cannot load the music on your iPod… sorry. BUT you can purchase iTunes and play them at home on your SONOS… on your quality audio system and throughout your home. That’s the bad. Not bad at all really.
All in all, SONOS will free your music that is now in captivity on your computer. SONOS will allow you to control your music from any location in and around your home. SONOS offers more music than you could afford to purchase. SONOS can fill every room in your home with music. SONOS can stream up to 38 different audio streams at one time covering 38 different locations with 38 different tunes or radio stations. SONOS is REAL easy to use. SONOS is what every music lover should consider for their home, cottage, office or business or where ever music need or wants to be. Best of all, there is NO charge for the tunes. Purchase the SONOS System and the music is FREE… so what are you waiting for? SONOS!