By SONOS fans, listen up: a new piece of gear has been announced for those who don’t want huge, complicated and expensive audio setups. It’s the SONOS PLAYBAR, and it’s a simple wireless hi-fidelity audio bar designed to sit over or under your television. It features six mid-woofers and three tweeters so you should get exceptional sound without the headache that comes with a full-blown home theater system.
Just like any SONOS setup, the PLAYBAR can be controlled using your smartphone and tablet, and can easily play video from your music library or from streaming music services like Pandora and Spotify. You can easily jump from movie and games to playing your music with little effort. It also syncs with your existing SONOS setup if you have other rooms hooked up with gear.
The device launches worldwide beginning March 5th and you’ll be able to find the SONOS PLAYBAR at Amazon, BestBuy, Magnolia, PC Richard’s and more for $700, 700 euro, or 600 pounds. Read on for full press details.
INTRODUCING SONOS PLAYBAR
Unleash Your TV Sound. Unleash All The Music On Earth.· Sonos HiFi sound for TV with nine amplified speakers
· Listen to all the music on earth – from any source
· Simple to set up, control and expandSANTA BARBARA, Calif. – February 12, 2013 – Sonos, Inc., the leading manufacturer of wireless audio systems, today introduced SONOS PLAYBAR™, the soundbar for music lovers. PLAYBAR brings immersive HiFi sound to the TV and, being a full Wireless HiFi System, streams all the music on earth through one easy-to-use player. HiFi meets HiDef globally beginning March 5. To see a preview video of PLAYBAR, visit www.sonos.com/playbar.
“Sonos has transformed the way people listen to music throughout the home and now we’re bringing our wireless HiFi approach to home theater,” said John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc. “PLAYBAR will change everything about the sound experience in your living room, bringing together amazing HiFi sound for your TV and wireless access to the world’s music in a radically simple way.”
The sophisticated all-in-one design of PLAYBAR combines exposed aluminum with high performance speaker fabric for a look that’s timeless, understated and because it does not require a subwoofer or speaker wire, easily fits into any room and setup. Its built-in sensors help PLAYBAR automatically adjust EQ and channel orientation so it can lie flat on the TV stand or rotate for low profile wall-mounting above or below the TV.
Under the hood, PLAYBAR gets its punch from nine individually amplified speakers: six mid-woofers to deliver deep, rich low-frequency sounds, and three tweeters for crystal clear high-frequency detail. PLAYBAR’s advanced speaker array technology combines hardware and software to create a surprisingly wide soundstage beyond the physical soundbar, while maintaining crisp, centered vocals. Whether you are watching a movie, playing a game or streaming a song from Pandora or Spotify, PLAYBAR will always sound much clearer, not just louder.
Designed for easy setup and use, PLAYBAR connects to the TV with a single optical cable, playing everything that is connected to it, including cable boxes, Blu-ray players and game consoles. It understands common audio formats output by TVs including Dolby® Digital. Customers can control the volume or mute with a regular TV remote or with one of the free Sonos Controller apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac or PC. PLAYBAR works seamlessly within the Sonos wireless audio family: Pair PLAYBAR with the award-winning SONOS SUB for deep waves of spine-curling, jaw-dropping sound and add a pair of PLAY:3s to act as wireless surround speakers for an immersive 5.1 home theater surround sound experience.
PLAYBAR will retail for $699 USD (€699, £599) and will be available for purchase at Sonos.com, Amazon.com, Best Buy / Magnolia Home Theater, P.C. Richard & Son and many other retailers around the world. For more information on SONOS PLAYBAR, including technical specifications and more, please visit Sonos.com/playbar.
Sonos also released a free software update for the Sonos Wireless HiFi System. Sonos System Software 4.0 introduces enhancements that make it faster and easier to play all the music on earth. Sonos Favorites provides one-touch access to your favorite music from any Sonos source (music library, streaming services and radio stations), right from the music menu. The Sonos Controller for Android features a new widget that allows you to control Sonos directly from your Android home screen. Plus, the Sonos Controller for iPhone has been optimized for the larger screen of the iPhone5. The free one-button software update is available now.
Additional product images and screenshots: pr.sonos.com
View and embed product demonstration: www.youtube.com/sonosABOUT SONOS, INC.
Founded in 2002, Sonos is the leading manufacturer of wireless HiFi systems. With Sonos you can stream all the music on earth wirelessly, from any source to every room and control it with your Android® smartphone or tablet, iOS device, Mac and PC. In addition to playing your personal digital music collection, The Sonos Wireless HiFi System gives you access to millions of songs and thousands of radio stations by partnering with Amazon Cloud Player, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify and many more. The award-winning system is available at more than 11,000 retailers in over 65 countries worldwide; or direct at Sonos.com. Sonos is a privately held company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA with offices in Cambridge, MA, Hilversum, Netherlands, Windsor, UK, Beijing and Shenzhen, China and Penang, Malaysia. For more information, please visit: Sonos.com, blog.sonos.com, Facebook/Sonos, @Sonos, Pinterest, Instagram @Sonos and YouTube.com/sonos.©2004-2013 Sonos Inc. All rights reserved. SONOS and all other Sonos product names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonos, Inc. SONOS Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. iPhone®, iPod touch®, iPad® and iTunes® are trademarks of Apple Inc. Android® is a trademark of Google Inc. Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories. All other products and services may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Love Sonos… Great devices and great integration with Amazon’s mp3 service. Not sure what this has to do with android, but its alright with me. For the record, I have an iPhone and a nexus, and the sonos app is marginally better on android.