Depending on your sound exptations, in the bathroom we use a UE roll 2 with a pi situated outside the bathroom connected via an rca to 3.5mm. This works well with two small kids splashing water all over the place.
Considering the size of the UE roll, I think it sounds very good for the space and works well.
Worth considering!
Thatās a good idea. I donāt have big expectations for the sound quality in the bathroom but I think I would miss the physical pause/skip buttons.
Ok so I found the solution myself. Just posting it here in case anyone stumbles across this later.
It turns out the Bluesound Pulse Flex has a moisture rating of 1 which means it is fine for use in a bathroom: https://support.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115009399948-flex-ssplash-resistent
I will definitely go for the Flex then.
Yes, not having physical buttons is the thing I miss, although Iām able to control volume output. At a cost of approx Ā£150, Iām happy with it.
i bought a sonos play 1. for my kitchen
ā¦very impressed with its SQ for such a small deviceā¦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)ā¦
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 theyāre similar sizes)ā¦iād love to perhaps get the pulse mini if the SQ is that much superior to the sonos play 3ā¦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:1ās 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.
Iām using several Raspberry Pi endpoints and have a NAD T 777 v3 receiver on order, so Iām converting all zones in the house to RAAT. The Sonos Play:1ās 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.
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@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 tableā¦
decided to order just a single speaker for use with tidal/roon
for my morning coffee, web browsing for the mornings, cooking dinner, etc
ā¦i currently have the sonos play 3 so itāll be interesting to see how they compare.
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Please let us know what you think, I have a lot of Sonos and think of going blueā¦ sometimes!
well i set up the bluesound pulse mini (not as easy as sonos to setup iāll tell you that)
ā¦and admittedly i was letdown with the sound of it vs the sonos play 3ā¦
I was expecting the more $ blusound pulse mini to have considerably more clarity resolution etcā¦
but imo not so farā¦ more listening to come.
maybe because theyāre new they still need some ābreaking inā.
Play some high res in it and the Sonos. That will show you. Opps, you cant in the Sonosā¦ 
Yes i have. Thanksā¦but unfortunately what Iāve heard doesnāt blow me awayā¦i think 24/192 can be overrated from what iāve heard thus far. iām still working with placement: right now itās nearfield at 2-3ā away ā¦might put it on a single stand and try it 5-7ā back.
just plugged back inthe sonos play 3ā¦integrated with Roon right awayā¦wow.
it just sounds tighter more resolving, clearer and more balanced.
ā¦maybe because itās also a smaller driver than is in the
pulse miniā¦or that sonos ātru toneā calibration?
but iām just very surprisedā¦maybe the blusound needs more ābreak inā?
when listening I even have either speaker on auralex mopads.
it might be the pulse mini that goes bye byeā¦mint white colourā¦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 ālivelyā 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 āoldā 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 āoldā 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 3ā¦esp at lower volumes itās more clear, more balanced overall.
iām still working on placementā¦my sonictransporter/router are all right near it.
maybe i should move them into a different roomā¦i hear the sonics can improve afterwords when
oneās music server is in a different room than the speakers and other gizmos.
updateā¦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 āmuffled soundā.
if nothing is wrong iām selling it.
seems others on bluesoundās forum and via google search feel similar about this unit;
flex and pulse2 seem to get more love than pulse mini
Oh, thatās easy. Just find a Kii Audio dealer with a Sonos Connect. Thatās my system now. I am a serious listener, so I donāt 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 hereās my take.
Sonos is a great alternative for whole house listening. Itās 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 agoā¦) which, for me, is pretty important as an entertainment investment goes. As far as the sound? Itās good enough for having sound in every room, but for serious listening, I have my nuc connected direct to my stereo so I donāt 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 phoneās speaker as my kids too often do, itās absolutely fantastic.
As far as working with Roon?
Thatās 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.
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