Sonos Play:5

Performance: 9
Features: 10
Ergonomics: 10
Value: 9

The S5 player looks fantastic and sounds brilliant. It's an excellent introduction to the Sonos service or, for existing users, a flexible new player to add to a running network.

If you've already sprung for a Sonos setup, the S5 nimbly extends your reach and sounds terrific. It's also light enough to lug between rooms, though you'll still need an AC outlet.

This amp/speaker combo offers the best value yet from the Sonos wireless music stable.

Conclusion But if you aren't deterred by the Sonos ZonePlayer S5's unique setup requirements, you'll be hard-pressed to find an all-in-one system that sounds better or is more versatile.

Score Details

• Performance: 9
• Features: 10
• Ergonomics: 10
• Value: 9

Awards
Hardware Secrets Silver Award

Conclusion
The Sonos S5 is one of the best choices for a whole-house, high performance, wireless digital music system. Setup and implementation are easy. The S5 ZonePlayer has excellent sound quality. The USD 399 S5 ZonePlayer gives you a lot of sound and ease of use for your money. Although there are a few incompatible routers and you may have to adjust any software firewall that you may have, everything just plain “works.” If you can afford one for every room of your home, your home will be brimming over with music. Yet, if you only want to purchase one, with the addition of a ZoneBridge, you can move the S5 Player to any location in your home at any time for music where and when you need it. You can use its alarm function to wake up to or use its sleep function to turn off automatically. Being able to control the system from your iPhone or iPod Touch is a nice additional feature that can save you some money.   ProsGood designExcellent sound qualityCompatible with wide array of music servicesPlays a wide variety of formatsGood interfaceGood valueEasy to set up and useAlarm & sleep functionsCan be used with NAS and other devicesCan be used with iPhone and iPod TouchConsSome software firewalls need adjustmentExpensive controller