I say "you can start" your rig because one of the Sonos' main selling points is its ability to wirelessly coordinate ZonePlayers all throughout the house for flawlessly synced music playback. The idea is that you spend $300 on the ZP80 (or $350 on a ZP90 if you miss out on the clearance inventory) and then later on, when times aren't so tough, you can add more ZonePlayers as you go. What's great about the one ZonePlayer is that you immediately get the AirPort Express-like ability to grab music from your Mac or PC, plus the iTunes Remote app's ability to control it from a little handheld, but that's just the beginning. The ZonePlayer comes with the ability to serve up web radio, Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora, Last.fm and Best Buy Music, all without a computer.

In my house, it all plays out rather well:

When my laptop is awake and on the network, the ZonePlayer I have connected directly to my router (via Ethernet) and a stereo system can access all of my non-DRM tracks. I can sort through all those tracks via the Sonos Desktop Controller, which works on both Macs and PCs and whose setup was ridiculously easy. But I can walk away from the laptop (leaving it on) and instead pick up an iTouch lying on the coffee table, which lets me view the same exact tracks, and just as fast.

Say I close or power down my laptop, or my wife wants to get on the Sonos while I am away, laptop in tow. There are so many sources of music available via the Sonos Controller app, she may not actually even notice that my vast library is gone. (I could, obviously, load the Sonos control on her laptop so that it would serve her music, too, but based on what I'm telling you, that has so far proven irrelevant.)

My wife loves Fresh Air with Terry Gross. By searching for the show in the Radio section, she can not only find out when it's on next, but can listen to recent shows in full, at a much better sound quality than those damn Audible downloads, for zero money. She can also search for different radio stations and add them to favorites—we have both our favorite NYC and Seattle radio side by side. You can't yet bookmark actual radio shows, a la Fresh Air, in Favorites, but I'm hoping that's something that will be worked out soon.You probably now that Sonos offers free 30-day no-credit-card-required trials of Rhapsody, Napster and Sirius—the key, I think, is to try all three in a row, giving you basically 60 days of free on-demand music sampling, and a month of decent satellite radio, before you choose one, if any.

Controlling the system over Wi-Fi is easy, too. You kinda have to get used to the queue concept that goes back to desktop music jukeboxes of olde—once you add songs to the queue, they're there until you clear them, even after they've played. But you can add many songs and radio shows of differing sources to the same queue, making for a highly programmable audio experience: I can listen to the new-ish Coldplay, followed by Terry Gross's interview with Seth Meyers, followed by a classic mix playlist I devised in iTunes (automatically recognized by Sonos), all queued up in just a few minutes. The volume control is funny—on the iTouch, you have to tap to the left or right of the slider to make it go up or down, but once I figured that out, it was smooth sailing.After the super-syncability and the multiple sources of music, the third best thing about Sonos is the fact that it is constantly being upgraded. So even though there are some technical advantages to the newer hardware (wireless-N is the big one), the basic functionality is the same, meaning buying at clearance shouldn't be a problem.

What don't I like? I feel like this new setup has answered my biggest historical gripes with the system; though it would be nice for it to play iTunes DRM tracks, and it would be convenient for the first ZonePlayer to connect wirelessly and not via hard Ethernet (it does this so that it can create its own super-stable Wi-Fi network), the thing is getting better and cheaper at the same time—$300 for clearance ZP80s, potentially even less on eBay. If that isn't good news in these troubled times, I don't know what is. [Sonos]

Related: Gizmodo's Essential Iphone Apps

In addition, Sonos updated their system software to version 2.6, which Classical.com and LiveDownloads.com to its list of music services for use with the Sonos Controller 100 (which has yet to be upgraded from its original design, btw), and are offering $200 worth of free downloads between the three services. The update also enables support for NAS Hard Drives, and 65,000 music files. There's also an eMusic promo in there. The ZP 90 and 120 are available now for $350 and $500 respectively, or as part of the BU150 bundle which includes the ZP 90, 120 and CR100 Controller for $1000. [Sonos]

SONOS INTRODUCES THE
SONOS ZONEPLAYER 120 AND SONOS ZONEPLAYER 90

Wireless Range and Amplifier Design Innovations Deliver State of the Art Multi-Room Music Experience

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – August 5, 2008 – Sonos®, Inc., the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home, today introduced two new ZonePlayers to deliver a state-of-the-art multi-room music experience. With innovations in both wireless technology and amplifier design, the Sonos ZonePlayer 120 (ZP120) and the Sonos ZonePlayer 90 (ZP90) make Sonos the ideal system for music lovers who want to enjoy all the music they love, all over the house. The new ZonePlayers are available starting today at all Sonos authorized retailers and at HYPERLINK "http://www.sonos.com" www.sonos.com.

The two new Sonos ZonePlayers give music lovers the ability to add music to absolutely any room. Connect speakers to the amplified ZP120 and place in the bedroom or the backyard. The non-amplified ZP90 can be connected to a home theater or stereo, allowing customers to make use of the audio equipment they already own.

“Sonos’ mission is to fill every house—and every room—with music," said Phil Abram, President & Chief Operating Officer, Sonos, Inc.  ”These new products continue Sonos’ heritage of blending the latest technology, software and user experience to create an unmatched music experience in the home.”

The new ZonePlayers incorporate SonosNet™ 2.0, our latest wireless mesh network technology, which doubles the wireless range of the Sonos Multi-Room Music System. SonosNet 2.0 uses Sonos’ mesh network combined with state of the art MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) wireless technology which uses 3 antennas to send and receive music. SonosNet 2.0 helps assure the music gets to all the right rooms, near or far, at the right time – creating perfect synchronization of music without all the wires. The extended range works between any mix of ZP120s and ZP90s and is compatible with all previous generations of Sonos ZonePlayers, Controllers and ZoneBridges.
Sonos ZonePlayer 120

Advances in power supply design, digital amplifier engineering, industrial design, and mechanical engineering make this the smallest, lightest, most powerful amplified Sonos ZonePlayer ever. The incredibly efficient amplifier and power supply, combined with the fan-less design of the aluminum case, allows the ZP120 to operate silently. The ZP120 delivers 2x55 watts per channel RMS at 8 Ohms. With measurements of THD+N < 0.02%, 20Hz-20kHz, the ZP120 delivers powerful low distortion audiophile quality sound to every room of the house. The ZP120 can be connected to speakers and discreetly placed on a bookshelf, under furniture or beds, or hidden in cabinets with connections to in-wall speakers.

The ZP120 will retail for $499 individually. It is also included as part of the Sonos Bundle 150 (see accompanying press release) for $999.

Sonos ZonePlayer 120 Technical Specifications

Class-D Amplifier: Great sounding amplifier that is lightweight, small and very energy efficient

Output: 2x55W RMS (55W power into 8 ohms, TDN+N<0.02%)*
Speaker connections: Spring binding posts

Line In: Auto-detecting RCA allows any external audio source to be played by all ZonePlayers in the system

Subwoofer out: Auto-detecting RCA, 80 Hz crossover

Wireless connectivity: SonosNet™ 2.0, a secure AES encrypted, MIMO peer-to-peer wireless mesh network

Network bridging: 2-port switch (10/100Mbps, auto MDI/MDIX) allows Ethernet devices to connect through SonosNet

Power Supply: AC 120/240V, 50-60Hz, user-switchable

Dimensions: W 7.3 inch x H 3.5 inch x D 8.15 inch (W 185mm x H 89mm x D 207mm)

Weight: 5.1 lb (2.3 kg)

Product finish: Anodized precision machined extrusion aluminum case. Aluminum casing also facilitates passive cooling.
*Both channels driven, minimum continuous average power, 22Hz-20KHZ-AES17 measurement bandwidth

Sonos ZonePlayer 90

The Sonos ZonePlayer 90 allows music lovers to play all the music they want, all over their house, on all of their favorite audio equipment—a home theater system, powered speakers, a premium table top radio such as a Bose Wave® Radio, and more. It is the easiest way to integrate existing audio equipment into a multi-room music system.

The ZP90 will retail for $349 individually. It is also included as part of the Sonos Bundle 150 (see accompanying press release) for $999.

Sonos ZonePlayer 90 Technical Specifications

Sound quality: THD+N < 0.009%, 20Hz-20KHz

Line-out: Analog (RCA), digital (optical and coaxial)

Line-in: Analog (RCA), auto-detecting

Wireless connectivity: SonosNet™ 2.0, a secure AES encrypted, MIMO peer-to-peer wireless mesh network

Network bridging: The 2-port switch (10/100Mbps, auto MDI/MDIX) allows Ethernet devices to connect through SonosNet™

Power Supply: AC 100-240V, 50-60Hz

Dimensions: W 5.5 inch x H 5.4 inch x D 2.9 inch (W 139.7mm x H 136mm x D 74mm)

Weight: 1.5 lbs (0.69 kg)

Product finish: Light gray, high quality PC

Sonos System Technical Specifications

Audio formats supported: MP3, WMA (including Windows Media DRM), AAC (MPEG4), Ogg Vorbis, Audible (format 4), Apple Lossless, Flac (lossless) music files, as well as uncompressed WAV and AIFF files. Native support for 44.1kHz sample rates. Additional support for 48kHz, 32kHz, 24kHz, 22kHz, 16kHz, 11kHz, and 8kHz sample rates.

Music services supported: Best Buy™ Digital Music Store, Napster®, Pandora®, Rhapsody® 3.0+, SIRIUS® Internet Radio, and downloads from any service offering DRM-free tracks, including Amazon MP3™, eMusic® and more.

Operating systems (for stored files): Windows® XP SP2 or higher, Windows Vista™ Mac OS X v10.4 and v10.5 NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices supporting CIFS.

Internet radio supported: Streaming MP3, WMA

Album art supported: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF

Playlists supported: Rhapsody, iTunes®, WinAmp®, Windows Media Player®, and MusicMatch™ (.m3u, .pls, .wpl)

In conjunction with today’s ZP120 and ZP90 announcement, Sonos also introduced Sonos Software 2.6 to all Sonos customers. The new feature update includes more than $200 in DRM-free music offers, support for music collections with up to 65,000 tracks, and more. See accompanying press release.

Sonos is the first wireless, multi-room music system that lets you play all the music you want all over your house — and control it all from the palm of your hand. To learn more about Sonos, to place an order or to locate an authorized Sonos dealer, please visit HYPERLINK "http://www.sonos.com" www.sonos.com or call 877.80.SONOS.