9/28/2011

Sonos BU130 Digital Music System Bundle Review

Sonos BU130 Digital Music System Bundle
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This is the absolute best digital jukebox out there, period. As an added bonus, it's flexible, scalable, multizone, wireless... and systems costing twenty times as much do not even come close the ease of use: Sonos currently has the highest Wife Acceptance Factor of any techno-gadget out there, only equaled by TiVo.
Although some amount of technical savvy is required for the initial setup, anybody can pick up the beautiful remote and immediately figure out how to use it (it's a bit like an iPod).
This bundle contains the wireless controller and its charger (but no charging cradle, more on this later), a ZP80 and a ZP100. The main difference between the two zone players is the ZP100 has a built-in amplifier so you can hook up speakers directly to it, whereas the ZP80 doesn't but it offers digital output (coax and optical) which the ZP100 lacks. Both zone players feature an analog input (you could use it for a TV or a satellite radio receiver, for instance) as well as analog line output. It's the perfect starter kit for a two-zone system; you can always add more controllers and zone players later as needed, and seamlessly integrate them into your system.
Sonos has been relentlessly adding features since its initial release: Rhapsody, Pandora, Napster, Sirius Satellite Radio (no antenna needed, you get the feed over the internet). Reliability has been exemplary.
The price may seem a little steep for a music system, but the nearest competitor (Logitech Squeezebox Duet Network Music System) is nowhere near as fully featured (no amplifier, no audio input, no Sirius) and doesn't cost much less for a two zone system. It also seems to be a lot more complicated to setup and use, but I must admit not having any first-hand experience with it.
The only blemish on the Sonos is that they sell the charging cradle separately for a ridiculous amount of money (it's just a dumb piece of plastic) when it's an indispensable part of the system. Considering the fairly high price of the system, I fail to see the rationale behind excluding it from the bundle... It must be the brainchild of some marketing moron. Other than this minor but irritating point... This is just the most enjoyable, reliable, easiest to use system out there.
This NAS box is a perfect complement to your Sonos system and will host the music files so you can turn off your computer and keep the music going: D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
The infamous cradle (don't forget to order it): Sonos CC100 Charging Cradle for Sonos CR100 Controller
Edit: the Logitech Squeezebox Duet now supports Sirius.
[Edit August 2008] Sonos released new ZonePlayers, ZP90 and ZP120, part of the new BU150 bundle which replaces the BU130. Don't buy the now obsolete BU130 bundle unless you can get it at a significant discount over the BU150.

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