Gadget Show Live 2012 - Sonos

No self-respecting gadget nut's home is complete without some type of home audio system. The Sonos team know this all too well, and are showing off their latest wireless audio range at this year's Gadget Show Live!

A Sonos music system allows you to easily and wirelessly play music throughout your house by transmitting quality music to different zones. These zones can be made up of self-contained wireless players in the shape of large Play:5 or Play:3 units or small units connected to your existing speakers or Hi-Fi unit.

I have been using a single zone system with a Play:5 unit at work for the last 9 months and I am totally sold. The sound quality is exceptional, the unit produces a huge sound for its size, and all the music is controlled from a beautiful, simple iPad app. The Sonos Controller app integrates with online music services such as Spotify, Napster and internet radio services as well as music stored locally in iTunes on our network. This essentially gives me access to any song I want at anytime!!!

However the real power of Sonos is unleashed once you install multiple zones. You could have your surround-sound speakers as one zone in the lounge and a small Play:3 unit in the kitchen as another zone. You can control all the zones using the mobile app and adjust the volume or switch songs as you walk from the kitchen into the lounge.

While your partner gets comfortable on the sofa listening to Abba Gold, you can sneak into the kitchen to listen to an entirely different playlist (thankfully!) without interrupting them at all. If all that Abba is bleeding through into the tranquility of the kitchen, you can turn the music down in the lounge (or off!), from the kitchen. Or from anywhere else in the house for that matter.