Sonos and Bluesound are two renowned and well respected brands in the audio industry that produces high quality speakers, headphones, soundbars, and subwoofers.
In this article, we will cover a general overview of both brands, looking specifically at sound quality, durability, price and so on. Of course, each brand has different devices at different price points, however we will compare them as closely as we can.
Sonos is known for its high-quality wireless home audio systems, while Bluesound is a well-known brand in the home theater and audio industry known for its high-quality wireless multi-room home audio systems.
Pros and Cons of Sonos:
- Pros: Sonos is known for producing high-quality, easy-to-use wireless audio systems that can be easily integrated into a home network. Many of their products have good sound quality and are easy to set up.
- Cons: Over the years, many users have complained about Sonos as it relates to connectivity and in some cases, even reliability. In addition, their products can be relatively expensive.
Pros and Cons of Bluesound:
- Pros: Offers a range of high-quality wireless home audio products, including speakers, soundbars, and receivers. Known for producing products with good sound quality and support for multiple streaming services.
- Cons: Some products may be on the expensive side.
Quick History
Sonos Quick History
Sonos, Inc. is an American company that specializes in the development and manufacture of audio devices. They are best known for their quality multi-room audio products. The company was co-founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, Craig Shelburne, Tom Cullen, and Trung Mai.
The company displayed its first prototype at an industry event in 2004 and started shipping in early 2005. The company is always expanding its services internationally, for example to the UK in 2005 and Japan in 2018.
In January 2015, Sonos was rebranded by Bruce Mau Design, with a new visual identity and improved logotype.
Bluesound Quick History
Bluesound is a subsidiary of Lenbrook Group, a company that manufactures audio products.
It was founded in 2013 and specialised in the manufacture of HiFi home theatres, wireless speakers and multi-room audio components. The brand currently has several portable wireless speakers, CD players, amplifiers and connection components to its name.
Sound Quality
Sonos Sound Quality
One of the most distinctive features of all Sonos speakers is their superb audio quality. The sound output is rich and clean, with deep bass and clear mid-tones.
Sonos has a team of seasoned musicians such as Grammy-winning music producer Giles Martin that assist in fine-tuning their speakers to ensure a natural and superior sound. Each Sonos speaker sounds really great on its own but you can connect two or more speakers together for a really immersive experience.
Bluesound Sound Quality
Bluesound devices have exceptional audio quality with crisp mid-tones and deep bass. The multi-speaker connection puts you in the center of the performance with high-quality surround sound experience.
Their tweeters and woofers have a balanced output without one overwhelming the other. This gives a crisp and detailed audiophile-grade sound output.
Features
Sonos Features
Sonos is very popular for the suite of features that are incorporated into their products to ensure that you get the best out of your gadget. Most of the features ensure versatility in the speakers, which allows you to use them throughout the house, or outside.
Here are some features you can expect from your Sonos device:
Sonos App: The Sonos app is available for both iOS and Android to bring additional functionality to all your Sonos devices. Apart from functioning as a remote control for your speakers, it has a lot of other features such as the Calm app that plays relaxing music if you’re going to sleep, or you can set your alarm so that you wake up to your favorite music. It also has a sound equalizer feature to tweak the sound of your speaker to your taste.
Sonos Trueplay: To produce the best sound effect wherever you are, Sonos has a tuning feature known as Trueplay. Trueplay optimizes the sound of the speaker based on the acoustics of the room they are placed in.
Support For Multiple Music Platforms: Sonos has partnered with over 100 music service companies around the world such as Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and Amazon Music to ensure that you can listen to your favorite music, podcasts, or TV shows regardless of the platform you use.
Surround Sound: Sonos speakers can be connected to each other for a truly immersive stereo or surround sound experience.
- Support for Bluetooth, WiFi, Airplay 2 streaming
- Voice control support for Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and in-house Snips SAS
- Multiple input and output ports such as HDMI and optical audio input for TVs and type C to charge the battery-powered
Bluesound Features
Bluesound devices come with a lot of features, some of which are listed below.
- HDMI (ARC & eARC) connectivity.
- Digital and analog input/output options, headphone stereo mini jack, and subwoofer out.
- Multiple wireless options including Bluetooth and WiFi
- Apple Airplay, Tidal connect support
- BluOS app for controlling your devices and streaming
- High-resolution audio
- Voice control using Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri
- 20-plus Streaming Services including Qobus, Spotify and Tidal
- Supported formats include FLAC, ALAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF, MP3
Build Quality
Sonos Build Quality
Sonos uses sturdy materials like polycarbonate for the grille and a mixture of ABS and 10% glass fiber for the chassis to ensure a solid build, though this makes their speakers bulky. But if you prefer durability to portability, Sonos is the way to go.
Some of their speakers have IP ratings, which means they are water-resistant and dust-resistant, therefore allowing for outdoor use.
Bluesound Build Quality
Bluesound devices have a characteristically clean and elegant look without excessive controls.
The build is usually made of materials such as aluminum and sturdy plastic for durability and great audio output.
Ease of Use
Sonos Ease Of Use
Sonos products have a minimalistic design and a clean look without a clutter of buttons, which makes the products easy to operate.
Older Sonos speakers have a pause/play button that can mute if you press and hold or skip a track if you double click. Newer speakers have a touch-sensitive button that skips to the next or previous track if you slide from left-to-right or right-to-left, respectively.
Multiple speaker connectivity is easy to set up across different rooms using WiFi, Bluetooth, or connection to a single router.
Bluesound Ease Of Use
With the number of features available on their devices, Bluesound devices are quite easy to use. They have a clean look with a minimal amount of controls for the more important functions.
There’s remote control support and voice assistants such as Google Assistant, Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa. Plus, there’s the BluOS app which allows you to control the devices and stream from services such as Tidal and Spotify.
Cost
Sonos Cost
Sonos products are quite expensive, but they are known to always deliver quality regardless of their price tag.
Sonos products are known for always delivering excellent performance, build quality, and strong connections compared to other brands in the same price range. In short, Sonos makes products that give great value for money.
Here is a price range for some Sonos products:
Soundbars: $150 – $850
Smart speakers: $150 – $500
Premium speakers: $200 – $900
Amplifier: From $600
Subwoofer: From $700
Bluesound Cost
Bluesound devices are inexpensive, with most of their prices below the $1000 mark. Here are the price ranges for some Bluesound devices.
- Amplifiers: $950 – $1500
- Speakers: $390 – $750
- Music Streamer/Player: $650 – $1300
- Subwoofer: $600 – $950
Space Requirements
Sonos Space Requirements
Sonos speakers tend to be bulky, so they require ample space to use. Though this doesn’t mean that it cannot be used on your desk or placed on a bookshelf.
Some Sonos speakers, like the Sonos Roam and Sonos Move, focus on portability. Therefore, they produce the excellent audio output that Sonos is well-known for at a reduced weight and size.
Bluesound Space Requirements
Bluesound devices are compact, but they can be quite heavy. As an example, the Bluesound Pulse 2i measures 48.81 x 9.84 x 14.96 inches and weighs 20 pounds.
Remote Controls
Sonos Remote Controls
There are several universal remote controls supported by Sonos products. There are some custom-made Sonos remote controls for easy operation of your devices. Sonos devices can also be remotely controlled with the Sonos app which allows you to control each device connected to the network individually.
Sonos gadgets also have Snips SAS, Sono’s custom AI technology for connected devices with the purpose of bringing a music-specific voice assistant to all its devices.
Bluesound Remote Controls
Bluesound devices support the use of infrared remotes. They can also be voice controlled using the integrated voice assistant. The BluOS app allows remote control over a WiFi network.
Connectivity Options
Sonos Connectivity Options
Multiple Sonos gadgets in a single household can be connected to each other wirelessly, through a wired Ethernet network, or a mixture of both. Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth, WiFi, and LAN network for Internet connectivity.
Wired connections include HDMI for connecting to TVs and Ethernet connection to connect to multiple devices. Sonos devices can also be connected using Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, or Snips SAS.
Sonos gadgets can be connected to any device with Bluetooth or WiFi connection such as your smartphones, digital TVs, and other Sonos devices over the same network.
Bluesound Connectivity Options
Bluesound devices can be connected in various ways, including wired or wireless options, or a combination of both. The available options include HDMI, USB, WiFi, Ethernet, aux input and Bluetooth.
Power Range
Sonos Power Range
Sonos devices have different power ranges depending on the device’s performance. An average Sonos speaker consumes from 55 Watts to 125 Watts per channel.
Most Sonos devices do not have power buttons but have an idle/standby mode, consuming from 4-8 Watts in this standby mode.
All the information on the power range of a device is included in the product manual, so you can get information on the power range for your particular device.
Bluesound Power Range
Bluesound devices can be connected in various ways, including wired or wireless options, or a combination of both. The available options include HDMI, USB, WiFi, Ethernet, aux input and Bluetooth.
Frequency Response
Sonos Frequency Response
Sonos speakers have pleasing frequency ranges to suit the various types of usage scenarios. The Sonos five, for example, has a -3 dB bass response frequency of 88 hertz, which is excellent for a speaker of its size.
Bluesound Frequency Response
The frequency response range for Bluesound devices covers all the recommended ranges for maximum audio enjoyment. The Bluesound Pulse 2i speaker, a typical Bluesound speaker, ranges from 45Hz to 20KHz.
Conclusion
Sonos is a company that’s dedicated to manufacturing products with premium quality for a decent price. Their products have a wide range of features to suit each person’s needs. As said above, Sonos is a company that produces devices that give good value for money.
Bluesound devices make it easier to listen to the music of your choice. With the various streaming services and connectivity options available, they can be seamlessly integrated into your existing home audio system.
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