Sonos PLAYBAR TV Soundbar Wireless Streaming TV and Music Speaker Review

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!