Shop RadioShack for Great GiftsSonos Digital Music System (ZP80 bundle)
Manufacturer: Sonos, Inc. Part number: BU80
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- With its ZP80 bundle, Sonos has done what fans of its highly regarded multiroom Digital Music System have requested all along: ditched the built-in amp of the ZP100, added digital audio outputs, and lowered the price. The recent Rhapsody integration is the icing on the cake.
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CNET editors' review
Sonos Digital Music System (ZP80 bundle) price range: $999.99
- Reviewed by: David Carnoy
- Edited by: John P. Falcone
- Reviewed on: 04/12/2006
- Updated on:09/29/2006
- Released on: 04/10/2006
The good: The Sonos ZP80 bundle is sleekly designed, it's easy to set up, and its wireless, color-screen remote allows you to access your music from anywhere in the house. The Sonos system is also easily expandable (to as many as 32 rooms), now incorporates digital outputs--both optical and coaxial--as well as audio inputs for streaming music from other sources, and you don't have to pay extra for a built-in amp that you likely don't need. Lastly, Sonos has integrated the subscription-based Rhapsody music service right into the system (no PC required), which means you have access to thousands of songs the moment you turn your system on and activate the one-month free trial. This is the first time Mac users have been able to use Rhapsody.
The bad: The Sonos system doesn't play copy-protected WMA or AAC files; the remote's rechargeable battery isn't removable.
The bottom line: With its ZP80 bundle, Sonos has done what fans of its highly regarded multiroom Digital Music System have requested all along: ditched the built-in amp of the ZP100, added digital audio outputs, and lowered the price. The recent Rhapsody integration is the icing on the cake.
Editor's note: As of May 2007, Sonos has discontinued the distribution of this particular configuration of its Digital Music System. In its place, the very similar Sonos BU130 bundle is available instead.
In 2005, Sonos introduced its first multiroom digital music system to rave reviews and an Editors' Choice from CNET.com. Most multiroom setups are complicated, costly affairs that involve pricey equipment and professional installers. But Sonos managed to come up with a simple, elegant, and relatively affordable solution to streaming hard-drive-based music to multiple rooms via a series of networked ZonePlayer base stations and a sleek command module. If the system had a weakness, though, it was that the original ZonePlayer, the ZP100, had a built-in amp that was overkill for buyers who already counted an amplifier or an A/V receiver as part of their existing music systems. Enter the ZP80, a much smaller, lighter, and cheaper ZonePlayer that also adds digital audio outputs. A single ZP80 will set you back $350, but the Sonos BU80 system currently bundles two ZP80s plus the CR100 remote control for $1,000. That's $200 less than the ZP100 bundle, not to mention a $100 savings from the cost of buying the components separately. In our book, the lower price and better balance of features makes the Sonos ZP80 bundle (a.k.a. the Sonos BU80) the new king of the hill for multiroom digital music solutions. It's also a big deal that Sonos has integrated the subscription-based Rhapsody music service right into the system (no PC required), which means you have access to thousands of songs the moment you turn the system on and activate the one-month free trial. This goes for Apple users, too, who previously had no way to run Rhapsody on their Macs.
User reviews
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What a great product!
by Rogerinnva on April 20, 2006
Pros: Excellent sound, SUPERB file manager, nothing else is even close!
Cons: Lack of headphone jack (but that's pretty trivial compared to the high points)
Summary: Sonos has a winner here. This should do for high-fidelity home listening what the iPod did for low-fidelity on-the-go listening. My Sonos setup has allowed me to put thirty years ...
Summary: Sonos has a winner here. This should do for high-fidelity home listening what the iPod did for low-fidelity on-the-go listening. My Sonos setup has allowed me to put thirty years of audiophile pleasure on my wireless network. Quality, fidelity, simplicity -- oh, and it manages metadata tags better than iTunes, MusicMatch, or any other player I've come across.
I do wish it had a headphone jack on the music controller, though, and a more full-featured equalizer / sound processor and analyzer would be nice. These aren't real criticisms, though, just a user's comments on some nice-to-have features that I've wished were available.
Congratulations to the Sonos team!8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Spectacular but with some limitations
by BjornWasHere on January 28, 2007
Pros: True multi-room stereo, easy to use for the entire family, excellent sound quality, easy to install, durable, great update service
Cons: Not useful for amplifying TV sound, Internet streaming hard to debug, some hidden limitations
Summary: This product is amazing and many years ahead of the competition. It is sometimes mistaken for just a wireless sound solution but it really is true multi-source, multi-room stereo. I ...
Summary: This product is amazing and many years ahead of the competition. It is sometimes mistaken for just a wireless sound solution but it really is true multi-source, multi-room stereo. I have owned it for almost a year and the entire family loves it. The remote is easy to clean (kids with sticky fingers...) and seems to be reasonably rugged.
The sound quality is excellent. Note that you may want to digitize your CDs using loss-less encoding to really benefit from the sound quality (assuming that you have good speakers).
One limitation is that you cannot use it to amplify a TV so you cannot replace your TV room/living room amplification. The reason is that there is a substantial delay between the line in and the speaker out on the Sonos amplifier. You loose the lip-synch in the movies! Work-around: keep your TV amplification and get a Sonos ZP-80 to feed it with.
The Internet radio channels are easier that ever to dial in and you get a great selection of pre-loaded stations. Some streaming formats are not supported however and there are no real good debugging tools when a station doesn't work well.
There are some hidden quirks. like for example that you really should start up the systems in a particular order (the one connected to Internet first). On the other hand the service with automatic firmware upgrades are great and the quality of the firmware is rock-solid.
The long-term effect on our home is that we are gradually installing in-wall/in-roof speakers and tucking away the amplifiers in cupboards. So we get an impressive, state-of-the-art stereo in every room that takes virtually no space at all.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A great product from a great company...
by dddave40 on October 6, 2006
Pros: An easy to use, set up, no hassle network music system
Cons: Adding more Zoneplayers is making me broke!!
Summary: I am a an audiophile who has been waiting for a well designed, effective network music solution that allows me to stream high quality music formats for years. I started ...
Summary: I am a an audiophile who has been waiting for a well designed, effective network music solution that allows me to stream high quality music formats for years. I started out with the Turtle Audiotron which worked decently with MP3s, a great idea with a half-baked implementation that came before its time. Now we have the Sonos, a system that is easily expandable, doesn't require an expertise in networking, and allows me to stream music throughout my home in a CD quality lossless format (FLAC). This system works great, is designed from a sensible, user friendly point of view, and easily scales to accomodate my growing music collection and need to hear music in all parts of the house. Whats even more impressive is the company. I haven't seen such a great customer centric company in a long time. I have had nothing but frustration dealing with companies like Sony, Creative, Buffalo Tech, and others who clearly do not care about the customer once the sale is made. Most consumer electronics companies should learn from Sonos. They have a great web site with tons of support information, a well moderated forum, and an excellent, responsive customer service department. Sony, Creative, and all you other companies with crappy customer service, shame on you!!
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent and Easy
by phoard1 on April 28, 2006
Pros: Easy set up. Great Sound. Cool looks.
Cons: Expensive. Take $200 off the introductory packages and you have a perfect 10
Summary: I was skeptical, and wondered if it is worth the price. Each person can answer the price question for thenselves, but technologically this product rocks. Got it home, followed the ...
Summary: I was skeptical, and wondered if it is worth the price. Each person can answer the price question for thenselves, but technologically this product rocks. Got it home, followed the set-up directions and it went off without a hitch. This product is awesome and I can't stop using it.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great product!
by bugmenot2 on April 14, 2006
Pros: the controller, perfect sync, easy to use
Cons: price, but still cheap compared to the other alternatives to do what this product does
4 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Completes the digital music revolution
by watoosi on May 6, 2006
Pros: Easy setup, great design, simple operation
Cons: Price. Single-purpose controller/remote
Summary: I'm building a new house and when I looked into a "whole house" audio system, the wiring and equipment made it prohibitively expensive. Even though this is an expensive ...
Summary: I'm building a new house and when I looked into a "whole house" audio system, the wiring and equipment made it prohibitively expensive. Even though this is an expensive digital music system, it's cheaper than the alternatives and gives me more flexibility. Would be great if they expanded the controller to become a full system remote.
3 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Capable but easy
by bill.weir on July 22, 2006
Pros: Great UI, transparent resource location
Cons: Unconvincing iPod wheel, poor included power adapter
Summary: I'm someone who spent many hours putting together a MythTV box to listen to all my mp3 music from my living room, etc. I also use Rhapsody to stream ...
Summary: I'm someone who spent many hours putting together a MythTV box to listen to all my mp3 music from my living room, etc. I also use Rhapsody to stream music all day, every day. So when I found Sonos could aggregate all my music *and* Rhapsody too I needed to give it a try.
It's a score. I think even spouses will like this.
It has a great UI and sharp color screen.
It's not possible to do the rich album/artist/etc searches you can do from the Rhapsody UI so you need to do that on the computer and add them to your library, but once you've done this the music appears in your Sonos controller just like your mp3's - as if you'd bought it.
Regular MP3's in your library don't show album art on the controller but Rhapsody content does. So I added all my mp3's into the Rhapsody app and now album art appears for my mp3 collection too. Score again.
Also Pro: You can serve multiple, different streams from the same Rhapsody account - if you prefer, streams can be synchronized in party mode throughout the house. The controller wakes up when you move it. The controller works for MP3s located on a network server even if the Sonos desktop software is not loaded. You can listen to internet radio stations. It is spdif audio capable (also has RCA). Oh, and it's wireless. I could go on...
Cons: The iPod wheel looks right but the response speed doesn't quite work - it's too slow, and unconfigurable. Plugging in the supplied power adapter requires dexterity - you're going to decide to buy the cradle too so count on another $70.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This thing is Awesome
by Av8rMike on June 26, 2007
Pros: Handles my entire CD collection of 300+ CD's
Cons: Expensive, wish it did the same thing for my movie collection
Summary: I've had the Sonos a few months now and it is Awesome. I've burned my entire CD collection to an HP Media Vault (500GB) in Loss-Less format and ...
Summary: I've had the Sonos a few months now and it is Awesome. I've burned my entire CD collection to an HP Media Vault (500GB) in Loss-Less format and it performs flawlessly. It's like having a jukebox with all your music on it but better because you can listen to different CD's from the same collection in different rooms at the same time. Having a NAS is great too because you don't need to have a computer powered in order to access music. Recommend ZP80 with the Digital Optical cable to keep everything digital.
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Rare instance of product exceeding expectations
by mep2007 on April 13, 2007
Pros: Great sound, great functionality, user friendly
Cons: None to speak of
Summary: Not only does this product work extremely well, but also the customer service is absolutely outstanding. It is far and away the best customer service I have ever experienced, hands ...
Summary: Not only does this product work extremely well, but also the customer service is absolutely outstanding. It is far and away the best customer service I have ever experienced, hands down. Questions by e-mail are answered promptly and thoroughly, and questions by phone are are handled by knowledgeable and helpful reps. This product is worth every penny (and probably more).
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We listen to our music collection so much more often now.
by jond0 on April 3, 2007
Pros: Great user interface and easy setup
Cons: very expensive!
Summary: We are big fans of Sonos. Set up is a snap and it has a great UI. We get much more mileage out of our music collection, which help me ...
Summary: We are big fans of Sonos. Set up is a snap and it has a great UI. We get much more mileage out of our music collection, which help me justify the exorbitant price tag.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sonos, Inc.
- Part number: BU80
- Description: Make your favorite audio devices part of a wireless, multi-room digital music system with two Sonos ZonePlayer 80s (ZP80s) and a Sonos Controller. Connect a ZP80 to your home theater, stereo, PC with powered speakers, tabletop radio, and more. Then, control the music on all those devices with the wireless Controller. To hear more music in more rooms, just add on. Includes Sonos System Setup software. Now you can play all your favorite digital music, all over your house, on all your favorite audio equipment-your home theater system, powered speakers, stereo, and more. Just connect a ZP80 to any amplified audio device in any room, and that device is instantly and seamlessly part of a wireless, multi-room digital music system. Which means you can use the full-color Sonos Controller to control all your music, and all your rooms from the palm of your hand. You can also use a ZP80 to retrofit a conventional audio system with home-run speakers or as a wireless extender to increase the wireless range of your Sonos system. No matter where or how you use the ZP80, the digital and analog outputs will deliver superior sound to every room. And because the ZP80 isf so compact, you can put it just about anywhere. Now you can have instant access to your entire digital music collection, including all your playlists, from anywhere in your home - inside or out. That's because the Sonos Controller uses SonosNet, a secure, wireless mesh network that extends the range of your Controller throughout your entire home. Which means you don't have to run to your PC every time you want to pick a new tune or raise the volume. You can use up to 32 Controllers for all your ZonePlayers - like one for every room, floor or music lover in your house. When it comes to scrolling through your music library, browsing titles, viewing album art, queuing up tracks, choosing zones, and more, the large, full-color LCD screen and scroll wheel make it a real cinch. No other digital music system lets you do all that.
General
- Product Type Network audio player
- Width 5.4 in
- Depth 5.5 in
- Height 2.9 in
- Weight 1.5 lbs
- Enclosure Color White
- Available Body Colors White
Audio System
- Sound Output Mode Stereo
- Total Harmonic Distortion 0.009 %
- Bass Control Yes
- Treble Control Yes
- Additional Features Balance control
- Digital Storage Media None - -1
Network Player
- Network player type Network audio player
- Network player functionality Digital audio playback, Internet radio playback
- Supported digital audio standards AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, AIFF, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis
- Connectivity Wireless / wired
- Connectivity protocols IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet), IEEE 802.3u (Fast Ethernet)
- Sample rate 8 kHz, 11 kHz, 16 kHz, 22 kHz, 24 kHz, 32 kHz, 48 kHz
CD System
- MP3 playback Yes
Headphones
- Headphones Type None
Microphone
- Type None
Remote Control
- Remote Control Remote control
- Features LCD backlight, Back-lit buttons
Remote Control (2nd)
- Type None
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x Audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) - Rear, 1 x Audio line-out ( RCA phono x 2 ) - Rear, 2 x Network ( RJ-45 ) - Rear, 1 x Digital audio output (coaxial) ( RCA phono ) - Rear, 1 x Digital audio output (optical) - Rear
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Internal
- Power AC 120/230 V
Miscellaneous
- AV Furniture None
- Cables Included 1 x Network cable, 2 x Audio cable
Manufacturer info
- Sonos, Inc.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sonos, Inc. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.sonos.com
- Address:
506 Chapala, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 - Phone: 805-965-3001
- Email: pr@sonos.com
- Fax: 805-965-3010
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