Frequency response of the Sonos Play:3 is impressively smooth on-axis, measuring +/-1.7 dB from 300 Hz to 10 kHz. Off-axis it shows a downward tilt to the treble with a -18 dB dip centered at 5.5 kHz.
In the lab
When I wrote the first version of this review, I didn’t have a way to get signals from my measurement gear into the Play:3, so I did some crude measurements using pink noise, with the Play:3 on my 2-meter-high speaker measurement stand. Later, though, Sonos loaned me the $349 ZonePlayer 90, which has a line input I could use to feed test signals from my Clio FW analyzer into the Play:3. I’ve replaced the original measurements (which showed a very smooth response with a downward-tilted treble balance) with the ones you see here. The blue trace represents quasi-anechoic on-axis response at 2 meters above 200 Hz, spliced to a 1-meter ground plane measurement below 200 Hz, smoothed to 1/12th of an octave. (The ground-plane measurement was made with the mic placed equidistant from the front drivers and the rear passive radiator.) The green trace shows the average of responses at 0, 10, 20 and 30 degrees off-axis, which is the measurement we normally show in S+V.
All measurements were made by feeding the ZonePlayer90 a left-plus-right signal, which is a more demanding measurement than just feeding a single channel, because the side-by-side woofers will produce peaks and dips due to inter-driver interference when measured from off-axis.
On-axis response is extremely smooth and flat, measuring +/-1.7 dB from 300 Hz to 10 kHz, +/-6.4 dB from 69 Hz to 20 kHz. Off-axis response shows substantial treble roll-off but it’s smooth, with no minor peaks or dips except of course that big -18 dB dip centered at 5.5 kHz. These are vastly better results than I’ve measured from most iPod docks, whose frequency response charts tend to look like random scribble-scrabble drawn in crayon by a 2-year-old amped up on Red Bull.
I wouldn’t say the Play:3 plays loud enough for a party, but it comes close. On my proprietary, highly unscientific MCMäxxx™ maximum output test (cranking Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart” up as loud as it’ll play without a lot of distortion, then measuring the average output at 1 meter), the Play:3 delivered 92 dB, which is perhaps 1 or 2 dB higher than average for a device of its size and configuration.
Wrap-up
I’ve rambled on an awfully long time about a $300 product, but that’s for two good reasons: The Play:3 does a lot of cool things and I really, really like it. In my opinion, this is the compact music system for the next decade.
"The CD is dying. iPod sales are declining. More and more, people are getting their music from … well, everywhere: MP3s stored on a hard drive, Internet radio and music services like MOG, Pandora and the recently hyped Spotify. Problem is, we tend to get this stuff through our computers and smartphones, and too often the music never gets from those devices to a decent sound system."
This perfectly sums up why so few digital audio systems even come close to Sonos. Even the ultra high-end systems fail to measure up to the sheer simplicity, flexibility, and selection that Sonos offers.
Unfortunately, Sonos cannot do it all yet. They have no true audiophile products, nor do they have anything that caters to the custom market. Want to integrate your beloved Sonos with your Crestron? Fuggetaboud it! Think Control4 is neat? Pick a different digital music solution.
From what I've seen, none of the high-end or home-control companies come even close to Sonos with their own offerings. Sure, you could have your Control4/Crestron/Savant/pick a control company- app installed on an iPad, AND have the Sonos app.. but then you're dealing with differing UI schemes, which is never good for less tech-savvy customers.
I would hope Sonos gets around to offering some products that play nice with external control products. That, or jump head-first into the control market themselves (probably not a good idea). They could start with offering a single-box, multi-zone player solution that works in homes with centrally located electronics.
Anyways, I'm way off topic. Sonos is super rad even as it is. I use it, and I even got my technophobe parents to love it. I only hope they are able to expand their offerings to cater to all music-listening markets (i.e. audiophiles and custom-install).
This perfectly sums up why so few digital audio systems even come close to Sonos. Even the ultra high-end systems fail to measure up to the sheer simplicity, flexibility, and selection that Sonos offers.
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I use a Sony system.Plug in USB in computer or even now tv has integrated USB slots. Additional speakers just put anywhere the is an outlet.
I was looking at the Boze Wave Radio or Wave Music System, but now I am more interested in the Sonos. I have only used Pandora on my cell phone (an android smart phone), but would like to learn about more options. I wonder if the Sonos can interface with my Yamaha keyboard? Hmmm - the possibilities seem endless! Thank you for the Sonos article and the opportunity to share my thoughts.