Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

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financial.freedom
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Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

At Best Buy, we received an estimate for Sonos WiFi speaker system for our living room and outdoor areas as follows:

1. 3 living room speakers in the ceiling (Visual Performance VP42R) @ 174.99 each
2. 2 outdoor speakers (AW6500WHI) @ 249.99 each
3. Amplifier -- Sonance Sonamp2-100 (SONAMP2100) 699.98
4. Zoneplayer (ZP90) 349.98
5. Zoneplayer (ZP120) 499.98
6. Labor 650
7. Tax 227.05

Total = $3,451.94

This seems a little overpriced for 3 indoor ceiling speakers and 2 outdoor speakers on WiFi, but I have nothing to compare it to. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
lack_ey
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by lack_ey »

The Sonos part really seems expensive considering you can get, what, Chromecast Audio dongles for $35 each (or maybe even a little less if you look around), which streams over Wi-Fi and supports multi-room, to add the functionality to any dumb speaker set. And does labor really cost that much?

If you're using ceiling speakers you can't be hardcore about sound quality at all costs and you probably don't need the most boutique amps.
AlohaJoe
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by AlohaJoe »

financial.freedom wrote:This seems a little overpriced for 3 indoor ceiling speakers and 2 outdoor speakers on WiFi
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but what about the system is "wifi"?

You seem to have a normal, non-wifi amp which costs $700. (Why do you need such an expensive amp? A $200 amp would probably work fine.)

You seem to have normal, non-wifi, wired speakers that cost $1,025. You can spend as much or as little as you want on wired speakers. You could easily spend less if you don't want this much. Or you could spend more.

So basically they're saying "spend $1800 building a regular old-school wired speaker setup" and then spend another $850 to make it wifi.

Presumably they're suggesting two different Zone Players, one for the living room and one for outdoors? I don't really know how Zone Players work but I don't quite follow why you need two of them.

Is the idea that the more expensive ZP120 provides the amp for the outdoor speakers and the cheaper ZP90 is connected to the $700 amp for the living room speakers?

I mean, overall the setup doesn't sound horrible. But you could almost certainly do the whole thing cheaper if you wanted. You could buy a cheaper amp. You could buy cheaper speakers. You could not buy the amp at all and just buy two ZP90s. You could buy true wifi speakers. Buy 2 Play-1s for outdoors and 2 Play-3s for the living room. But that may or may not satisfy your audio desires.

I wouldn't pay $3,500 for that setup but I've admitted to myself that I'm no audiophile. Every time I've bought $200 headphones I couldn't tell the difference from the $80 headphones they replaced. When I bought an $800 speaker it sounded the same as the $200 speaker it replaced. But other people can tell the difference. (Or at least think they can :twisted: )
SleepKing
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by SleepKing »

Seems like their terminology is old. Sonons has a connect and connect amp that serve to tie in wired speakers to their wireless sonos network they will create. Also, whY are they selling you an $700 amp and the sonos connect amp to power the wired speakers? Maybe they havent explained it in detail to you? The prices seem accurate for retail. Check out sonos.com. Like others said, you can spend more on speakers if you want...or less. That is up to your audio preferences and budget.

$650 for labor seems high. However, if they are fishing wires through wall and running cables long distances that price should reflect all wires, cables, and be done to code.

We did something similar not long ago and only thing we saved on was using our existing receiver and a bit on the labor. However, we spent more on the acutal speakers. Overall i think you are getting an reasonable deal. BTW we love our sonos system, find it easy to use, and get much enjoyment out of it both outdoors and indoors!
ERISA Stone
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by ERISA Stone »

Best Buy is likely overpriced compared to a small business that does the same thing. I would check Angies List or something similar, show them BB's quote, and see what they say. If the product is something you are comfortable shopping around for and the vendor is willing to use your product, I recommend trying to find the speakers on your own and then find someone to do the install. I've saved hundreds buying components myself, and even saved a few thousand for one job.

Sometimes you can get longer warranties through the private authorized dealers than you can through BB as well.
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Boomer01
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by Boomer01 »

Sonos speakers and components are priced the same online and in stores, so there's not any wiggle room. There are several other brands you can check out including Yamaha MusicCast and Denon Heos.

We are building a new home and decided on the Yamaha system because it offers more flexibility since you can hardwire any brand speakers into the receiver and run them via wifi to other wireless Yamaha speakers.
PowDay
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by PowDay »

Have you considered just buying a handful of Sonos Play1's first, before going through the complication of in-ceiling speakers and separate amps?

The Play 1 can handle humidity fine, I leave mine permanently mounted outside, but under a covered porch.
navyasw02
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by navyasw02 »

financial.freedom wrote:At Best Buy, we received an estimate for Sonos WiFi speaker system for our living room and outdoor areas as follows:

1. 3 living room speakers in the ceiling (Visual Performance VP42R) @ 174.99 each
2. 2 outdoor speakers (AW6500WHI) @ 249.99 each
3. Amplifier -- Sonance Sonamp2-100 (SONAMP2100) 699.98
4. Zoneplayer (ZP90) 349.98
5. Zoneplayer (ZP120) 499.98
6. Labor 650
7. Tax 227.05

Total = $3,451.94

This seems a little overpriced for 3 indoor ceiling speakers and 2 outdoor speakers on WiFi, but I have nothing to compare it to. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I'm not understanding these model numbers, this all doesnt look like Sonos, but you mentioned a Sonos system at Best Buy?
adamthesmythe
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by adamthesmythe »

Previous comment removed because I had no idea what a SONOS was.

Still it sounds expensive because I think you could put in wired speakers and a central amplifier for much less. But then, maybe you don't want that.

I have wired speakers that came with my house and I kind of like them, only problem is they left one room out.
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gunn_show
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by gunn_show »

SleepKing wrote:Seems like their terminology is old. Sonons has a connect and connect amp that serve to tie in wired speakers to their wireless sonos network they will create. Also, whY are they selling you an $700 amp and the sonos connect amp to power the wired speakers? Maybe they havent explained it in detail to you? The prices seem accurate for retail. Check out sonos.com. Like others said, you can spend more on speakers if you want...or less. That is up to your audio preferences and budget.

$650 for labor seems high. However, if they are fishing wires through wall and running cables long distances that price should reflect all wires, cables, and be done to code.

We did something similar not long ago and only thing we saved on was using our existing receiver and a bit on the labor. However, we spent more on the acutal speakers. Overall i think you are getting an reasonable deal. BTW we love our sonos system, find it easy to use, and get much enjoyment out of it both outdoors and indoors!
Agree with sleepking and navyasw02... you mention Sonos but a majority of the system you outlined... is not Sonos. Don't know why you need two of the amps. Overall if you are going this way (higher end, wifi type systems) the pricing is on par, and as sleepking noted, if you are getting ceiling install and wires running all over to the amps and whatnot, then the labor sounds about right at $50-75/hr which is probably what BB charges. You may find better service and pricing from a local "home audio pro" that you can find from a referral or craigslist or facebook. That's who I used for some of my home theater / TV wall mount installation. BB probably overcharges to really profit on the labor. I'd start there, or simply go on the Sonos website and talk to one of their experts about what you want.

And +1 for Sonos fan, recently got mine and love it, no question. I replaced all my harmon kardon in my living room for TV/movies/music - playbar, sub, 2x play:3, and it seriously shakes the foundation. It's remarkable how loud it can get and still sound crystal clear.
"The best life hack of all is to just put the work in and never give up." Bas Rutten
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financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

lack_ey wrote:The Sonos part really seems expensive considering you can get, what, Chromecast Audio dongles for $35 each (or maybe even a little less if you look around), which streams over Wi-Fi and supports multi-room, to add the functionality to any dumb speaker set. And does labor really cost that much?

If you're using ceiling speakers you can't be hardcore about sound quality at all costs and you probably don't need the most boutique amps.
Thank you for the reply. I will look into the Chromecast Audio dongles.
Topic Author
financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

Thank you for the reply. My answers below in blue font.
AlohaJoe wrote:
financial.freedom wrote:This seems a little overpriced for 3 indoor ceiling speakers and 2 outdoor speakers on WiFi
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but what about the system is "wifi"?

I don't have a great understanding about sound systems. But the Sonos device connects to our Internet and has an app that plays over WiFi using Spotify, Pandora, etc. to the speakers.

You seem to have a normal, non-wifi amp which costs $700. (Why do you need such an expensive amp? A $200 amp would probably work fine.)

The amp seemed expensive to me as well. I will look into this and discuss with the rep from Best Buy.

You seem to have normal, non-wifi, wired speakers that cost $1,025. You can spend as much or as little as you want on wired speakers. You could easily spend less if you don't want this much. Or you could spend more.

So basically they're saying "spend $1800 building a regular old-school wired speaker setup" and then spend another $850 to make it wifi.

Presumably they're suggesting two different Zone Players, one for the living room and one for outdoors? I don't really know how Zone Players work but I don't quite follow why you need two of them.

Yes, they said we needed one for the living room and one for the outdoor area. I don't know why either, but will ask.

Is the idea that the more expensive ZP120 provides the amp for the outdoor speakers and the cheaper ZP90 is connected to the $700 amp for the living room speakers?

Yes, that is how it was explained to me. Our backpatio area includes a pool and he said it would be needed to project the volume.

I mean, overall the setup doesn't sound horrible. But you could almost certainly do the whole thing cheaper if you wanted. You could buy a cheaper amp. You could buy cheaper speakers. You could not buy the amp at all and just buy two ZP90s. You could buy true wifi speakers. Buy 2 Play-1s for outdoors and 2 Play-3s for the living room. But that may or may not satisfy your audio desires.

It does not have to be amazing, but don't want poor quality either (something mid tier would do). We would mainly have the music as background for entertaining.

I wouldn't pay $3,500 for that setup but I've admitted to myself that I'm no audiophile. Every time I've bought $200 headphones I couldn't tell the difference from the $80 headphones they replaced. When I bought an $800 speaker it sounded the same as the $200 speaker it replaced. But other people can tell the difference. (Or at least think they can :twisted: )

I can't tell the difference either if the speakers are the same size. In the store at Best Buy, he played the largest speakers first which sounded better. But I think that it was just louder volume and not necessarily any difference in quality that I could hear.
Topic Author
financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

SleepKing wrote:Seems like their terminology is old. Sonons has a connect and connect amp that serve to tie in wired speakers to their wireless sonos network they will create. Also, whY are they selling you an $700 amp and the sonos connect amp to power the wired speakers? Maybe they havent explained it in detail to you? The prices seem accurate for retail. Check out sonos.com. Like others said, you can spend more on speakers if you want...or less. That is up to your audio preferences and budget.

$650 for labor seems high. However, if they are fishing wires through wall and running cables long distances that price should reflect all wires, cables, and be done to code.

We did something similar not long ago and only thing we saved on was using our existing receiver and a bit on the labor. However, we spent more on the acutal speakers. Overall i think you are getting an reasonable deal. BTW we love our sonos system, find it easy to use, and get much enjoyment out of it both outdoors and indoors!
Thank you for the reply. I will inquire about the amps. Glad to hear you enjoy your sonos system.
Topic Author
financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

ERISA Stone wrote:Best Buy is likely overpriced compared to a small business that does the same thing. I would check Angies List or something similar, show them BB's quote, and see what they say. If the product is something you are comfortable shopping around for and the vendor is willing to use your product, I recommend trying to find the speakers on your own and then find someone to do the install. I've saved hundreds buying components myself, and even saved a few thousand for one job.

Sometimes you can get longer warranties through the private authorized dealers than you can through BB as well.
Thank you for the reply. I've started looking up the products through private authorized dealers.
Topic Author
financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

PowDay wrote:Have you considered just buying a handful of Sonos Play1's first, before going through the complication of in-ceiling speakers and separate amps?

The Play 1 can handle humidity fine, I leave mine permanently mounted outside, but under a covered porch.
Thank you for the reply. That may be an option for the outdoor space. For the living room, we don't really have shelves and places to put them.
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financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

Boomer01 wrote:Sonos speakers and components are priced the same online and in stores, so there's not any wiggle room. There are several other brands you can check out including Yamaha MusicCast and Denon Heos.

We are building a new home and decided on the Yamaha system because it offers more flexibility since you can hardwire any brand speakers into the receiver and run them via wifi to other wireless Yamaha speakers.
Thank you for the reply. Which company did you go with for install or did you use your builder?
jasper
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by jasper »

Love my sonos.

We have 2 portable sonos speakers. Can take them outside or move them around to different rooms

We have no additional amplifiers or any installed wiring

I am no audiophile so this may not be sophisticated enough for others. Way way less than 3.5k

But i have friends who have easily spent to that level for what u propose
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financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

navyasw02 wrote:
financial.freedom wrote:At Best Buy, we received an estimate for Sonos WiFi speaker system for our living room and outdoor areas as follows:

1. 3 living room speakers in the ceiling (Visual Performance VP42R) @ 174.99 each
2. 2 outdoor speakers (AW6500WHI) @ 249.99 each
3. Amplifier -- Sonance Sonamp2-100 (SONAMP2100) 699.98
4. Zoneplayer (ZP90) 349.98
5. Zoneplayer (ZP120) 499.98
6. Labor 650
7. Tax 227.05

Total = $3,451.94

This seems a little overpriced for 3 indoor ceiling speakers and 2 outdoor speakers on WiFi, but I have nothing to compare it to. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I'm not understanding these model numbers, this all doesnt look like Sonos, but you mentioned a Sonos system at Best Buy?
Thank you for the reply. Some of the components are not Sonos. ZP90, ZP120 etc. are Sonos.
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financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

gunn_show wrote:
SleepKing wrote:Seems like their terminology is old. Sonons has a connect and connect amp that serve to tie in wired speakers to their wireless sonos network they will create. Also, whY are they selling you an $700 amp and the sonos connect amp to power the wired speakers? Maybe they havent explained it in detail to you? The prices seem accurate for retail. Check out sonos.com. Like others said, you can spend more on speakers if you want...or less. That is up to your audio preferences and budget.

$650 for labor seems high. However, if they are fishing wires through wall and running cables long distances that price should reflect all wires, cables, and be done to code.

We did something similar not long ago and only thing we saved on was using our existing receiver and a bit on the labor. However, we spent more on the acutal speakers. Overall i think you are getting an reasonable deal. BTW we love our sonos system, find it easy to use, and get much enjoyment out of it both outdoors and indoors!
Agree with sleepking and navyasw02... you mention Sonos but a majority of the system you outlined... is not Sonos. Don't know why you need two of the amps. Overall if you are going this way (higher end, wifi type systems) the pricing is on par, and as sleepking noted, if you are getting ceiling install and wires running all over to the amps and whatnot, then the labor sounds about right at $50-75/hr which is probably what BB charges. You may find better service and pricing from a local "home audio pro" that you can find from a referral or craigslist or facebook. That's who I used for some of my home theater / TV wall mount installation. BB probably overcharges to really profit on the labor. I'd start there, or simply go on the Sonos website and talk to one of their experts about what you want.

And +1 for Sonos fan, recently got mine and love it, no question. I replaced all my harmon kardon in my living room for TV/movies/music - playbar, sub, 2x play:3, and it seriously shakes the foundation. It's remarkable how loud it can get and still sound crystal clear.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, not all components are Sonos. ZP90, ZP120 etc are Sonos. I will ask about the two Amps. And will look for a local home audio pro to get another quote. Glad to hear you are happy with your Sonos system.
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financial.freedom
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by financial.freedom »

jasper wrote:Love my sonos.

We have 2 portable sonos speakers. Can take them outside or move them around to different rooms

We have no additional amplifiers or any installed wiring

I am no audiophile so this may not be sophisticated enough for others. Way way less than 3.5k

But i have friends who have easily spent to that level for what u propose
My brother-in-law has had social gatherings at his house with just a well-placed Amazon Echo and worked well. Having two portable speakers might work for inside, but would need speakers for outside as well. This is very different from what we looked into, but might be worth discussing with DW to see what she thinks.
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gunn_show
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by gunn_show »

financial.freedom wrote:Thank you for the reply. Yes, not all components are Sonos. ZP90, ZP120 etc are Sonos. I will ask about the two Amps. And will look for a local home audio pro to get another quote. Glad to hear you are happy with your Sonos system.
You only need all the various amps if you are going to A/ keep older non-Sonos gear or B/ buy new additional non-Sonos gear. Sonos gear is the same price anywhere you buy it - direct, Target, BB, etc. It is very simple that way, and they are high-end gear, so they have no need or desire to play the margin or discount game. I bought mine right at Christmas when all pieces were $30-50 off, which saved me couple hundred bucks. Otherwise it doesn't matter where you get the gear, it's mostly about the installation labor cost for you. Frankly, I'd call Sonos, tell them what your goals are - and if you can go ALL-Sonos, you don't need any install help. It really is plug and play with the app. At most you might need a good electrician to wall-mount or hide some wires, that sort of thing. A local electrician should be far cheaper than a BB technician. If you do go with a mixed-vendor setup, then I would find the local home audio pro to set it up, worth the investment.
"The best life hack of all is to just put the work in and never give up." Bas Rutten
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gunn_show
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by gunn_show »

financial.freedom wrote:My brother-in-law has had social gatherings at his house with just a well-placed Amazon Echo and worked well. Having two portable speakers might work for inside, but would need speakers for outside as well. This is very different from what we looked into, but might be worth discussing with DW to see what she thinks.
severe apples and oranges here... Echo is a voice activated device that happens to have a cheap speaker in it to play music. If that's all you want, save yourself $3000 and go buy a bundle of 'em

stuff like Sonos is very high end audiophile gear ... and by outside he means the beauty of Sonos is that because they are wifi controlled, you can move them anywhere - inside or outside - as long as you can plug them in somewhere (and get wifi signal). A couple play3 or play5 would be plenty loud outside, without question.
"The best life hack of all is to just put the work in and never give up." Bas Rutten
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Boomer01
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Re: Cost of WiFi indoor/outdoor speakers: Is 3.5k too much?

Post by Boomer01 »

financial.freedom wrote:
Boomer01 wrote:Sonos speakers and components are priced the same online and in stores, so there's not any wiggle room. There are several other brands you can check out including Yamaha MusicCast and Denon Heos.

We are building a new home and decided on the Yamaha system because it offers more flexibility since you can hardwire any brand speakers into the receiver and run them via wifi to other wireless Yamaha speakers.
Thank you for the reply. Which company did you go with for install or did you use your builder?
The builder will have the wiring installed and I can hook up the speakers and components.
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