Visitors to our home are often surprised to realize that music is coming from speakers in our ceiling (pictured at right).
I'll admit that when my husband first suggested installing speakers, which I can only describe as resembling something you'd see at the mall, I was skeptical. But now, nearly one year later, I've started asking him why we don't have speakers in every room (because apparently I need a soundtrack wherever I go - including the bathroom).
The real "magic" to the system is not the speakers, but the Sonos wireless, multi-room music system which drives them.
At the bottom of our basement stairs (pictured below) sits a Sonos 120 Zoneplayer ($499) which is connected to our router. This is the heart of our household's sound system through which we can access music services including Pandora, Naposter, Sirius and HD Radio (which allows us to listen to radio stations from around the world, including our local favorites). We can also play any music we have in our personal library. In Sonos-speak, the speakers in our kitchen and living room are defined as a "zone."
We have a second Zoneplayer, also in the basement, which drives the speakers in our bedroom. When playing the same thing at the same time on both zones, the system matches the playback so that music is synched together with no echoes.
Stashed in a kitchen cabin is a rechargeable Sonos Controller (Yep, you guessed it – Pictured below.) but most of the time we use the free apps for my iPhone and iPad to control the system. We've been able to get rid of our bedside alarm clocks, setting the system to wake us up in the morning with the built in alarm clock function.
The Sonos system is available in three different systems: the Sonos S5 ($399) is an all-in-one bookshelf unit with speakers (like a Bose Wave Radio), the Zoneplayer 120 we have, and the Zoneplayer 90 ($349) which needs to be connected to an existing sound system like a receiver.
Because it's a wireless (no holes, no wiring) my husband assures me that installing the system is very easy, and can be completed by any would-be do-it-yourselfer. You need to have one of the three available Sonos devices listed above, or a small wireless connector called a Zonebridge 100 ($99), connected via an ethernet cable to your home router or high-speed internet modem. Remaining units are plugged into available electrical outlets and only take a few minutes to set up.
We plan on expanding the system in the future – adding speakers outside (for entertaining), and additional speakers in our kids rooms so they can listen to music, or story podcasts such as Storynory.
Special thanks to my husband, and tech consultant, Steven Brandt
for explaining where the music comes from.