i bought a sonos play 1. for my kitchen
…very impressed with its SQ for such a small device…then i took it back for the play 3.
I now understand why Sonos leads the wls pack for their ease of setup/integration.
i also have a Roon lifetime membership (and just got in a Sonictransporter i5)…
question: do i need anything else to have Roon/Tidal feed to it, esp with Sonos being a closed system?
i would love to hear from anyone who has compared the sonos play3 vs the pulse mini (since they’re similar sizes)…i’d love to perhaps get the pulse mini if the SQ is that much superior to the sonos play 3…but the bluesound pulse mini is 2x the cost of the sonos play3.
I cannot comment on the sonic differences.
I own 3 Sonos Play:1’s and have ordered a Bluesound Pulse soundbar for use as a Roon endpoint in the kitchen.
The advantage of Bluesound is that they use RAAT and can be grouped with other RAAT zones, while Sonos zones cannot be grouped with RAAT zones.
I’m using several Raspberry Pi endpoints and have a NAD T 777 v3 receiver on order, so I’m converting all zones in the house to RAAT. The Sonos Play:1’s are/will be used in the office.
The Pulse Mini is a lovely unit. It does High Res and MQA. It is RAAT certified also. Works perfectly with Roon for me. I use it wired and have no issues.
@Chrislayeruk - do you find that it keeps in sync when grouped with other RAAT devices? Am just trying to work out how many of us are struggling with Bluesound and syncing (see Third speaker out of sync ) or whether there is some peculiarity to our setup. Thanks.
am about to receive a new bluesound pulse mini for my kitchen table…
decided to order just a single speaker for use with tidal/roon
for my morning coffee, web browsing for the mornings, cooking dinner, etc
…i currently have the sonos play 3 so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare.
well i set up the bluesound pulse mini (not as easy as sonos to setup i’ll tell you that)
…and admittedly i was letdown with the sound of it vs the sonos play 3…
I was expecting the more $ blusound pulse mini to have considerably more clarity resolution etc…
but imo not so far… more listening to come.
maybe because they’re new they still need some ‘breaking in’.
Yes i have. Thanks…but unfortunately what I’ve heard doesn’t blow me away…i think 24/192 can be overrated from what i’ve heard thus far. i’m still working with placement: right now it’s nearfield at 2-3’ away …might put it on a single stand and try it 5-7’ back.
just plugged back inthe sonos play 3…integrated with Roon right away…wow.
it just sounds tighter more resolving, clearer and more balanced.
…maybe because it’s also a smaller driver than is in the
pulse mini…or that sonos ‘tru tone’ calibration?
but i’m just very surprised…maybe the blusound needs more ‘break in’?
when listening I even have either speaker on auralex mopads.
it might be the pulse mini that goes bye bye…mint white colour…if anyone is interested PM me.
sorry to hear the pulse mini did is not working out for you so far. Maybe give it some time for break in before making a final decision? Having said that, I also found the sonos sound flavour preferable in some respects. When I compared a Play 1 with the Flex I found the sonos had a more dynamic and ‘lively’ sound. The Play 1 was not perfect though and indeed it had a few issues with harsh treble and required heavy EQ to compensate.
If you are thinking of expanding your sonos then it is worth considering that the Sonos sound flavour has changed over the years. I have listened to the Play 3 and also own a (7 year old) Gen 1 Play 5. I find the Gen 1 Play 5 sounds better balanced than say the Play 1 and Play 5 Gen 2. I think the ‘old’ sonos sound has changed and you may also find that the newer sonos models sound different to your Play 3. I actually recently returned a Play 5 gen 2 and a Playbase after 7 days of use as I found them harsh (treble emphasis and sharpness in vocals). My Gen 1 Play 5 sounds so much better. The notable exception has been the new Sonos One which is closer to the ‘old’ sonos sound. Very nice indeed.
Keep your play 3 if you like the sound and check / test carefully before buying new sonos units.
I have not listened to the Pulse mini but I borrowed the Pulse 2 and it was amazing. Great balance and clarity without harshness. I had the Pulse 2 next to my Sonos Play 5 Gen 1 and I definitely preferred the Pulse 2.
Flex vs Sonos Play1: Play 1 is slightly better after heavy EQ. Flex (I kept one) is better for longer term listening without fatigue.
there is more treble with the play 3…esp at lower volumes it’s more clear, more balanced overall.
i’m still working on placement…my sonictransporter/router are all right near it.
maybe i should move them into a different room…i hear the sonics can improve afterwords when
one’s music server is in a different room than the speakers and other gizmos.
update…compared them again today.
so far the sonos play 3 is the clear and easy winner to my ears.
i now have a trouble ticket with the bluesound, just to be safe.
seems others on their forum have expressed similar sentiments of a ‘muffled sound’.
if nothing is wrong i’m selling it.
Oh, that’s easy. Just find a Kii Audio dealer with a Sonos Connect. That’s my system now. I am a serious listener, so I don’t need multi-room speakers. I can tell you it sounds great and amazing spaclous with an incredible bass for such monitor speakers. Before, I had the Sonos Connect connected trough a Rega DAC with a decent tube amplifier and 2 Diapason Adamantes III speakers. My interest in this discussion is:
Is BlueSound better than Sonos Connect aka does it sound better on my system?
Can you hear the difference between CD quality and high res, because one of the plus points of BlueSound is the t it can play high res files.
We all know the adage about opinions, but here’s my take.
Sonos is a great alternative for whole house listening. It’s robust and continues to add features without leaving any of the old equipment behind (I just got notice they are going to finally stop supporting the original remote they sold probably 10 years ago…) which, for me, is pretty important as an entertainment investment goes. As far as the sound? It’s good enough for having sound in every room, but for serious listening, I have my nuc connected direct to my stereo so I don’t use the Sonos infrastructure for that. But if you want to have music in your house wherever you go and have it sound better than just a little bluetooth speaker or listening using your phone’s speaker as my kids too often do, it’s absolutely fantastic.
As far as working with Roon?
That’s an old post I made where I was streaming unique music to 15 different zones from my Roon core, most of which were Sonos nodes. Your mileage may vary.
Michael, that is a very impressive Roon - Sonos ecosystem you have set up
Can I ask though… have you experienced the ‘Roon lost control of the audio device’ issue when streaming to sonos units? It seems quite a few people have experienced this when fast forwarding or skipping tracks and wanted to check if it happens in your set up as well.
Thanks
My vote would be BlueSound just because I experience frequent “Loss of control” errors when listening to our various Sonos devices. No experience with BlueSound personally but have read good things.
