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We recently wrote on how to use media streamers around the home.  Now we’ve found a great deal on one with CDiscount’s amazing 20% voucher code - which is valid only until 6pm today for this Sonos Bundle 150, down to £564.

First up in our series on wireless media streaming systems, we’re looking at Sonos, one of the best known names in the field.  Sonos specialise in multi-room music streaming systems, at the upper end of the price scale.

How it works

Sonos products use a wireless mesh network to stream music between the different components in the system.

Connect one component to your broadband router, and then connect other supplementary components to speakers or hifis in other rooms. The components connect to each other wirelessly, and you can use controllers to browse through the music stored on your computer and play it through the components.

What to buy

You need at least one ZonePlayer to start your system.  Plug this into your router and then into either speakers or a hifi system.  (If you don’t want music to play in the room where your router is, you can use a ZoneBridge instead of a ZonePlayer.)

Next, add another ZonePlayer in every room you want music to play, plugging each of them into speaker or a hifi.  The ZonePlayer 120 has an integrated amplifier, so can be directly plugged into speakers.  The ZonePlayer 90 doesn’t, so you would need to plug it into an amplified music system, such as a standard hifi.

There are a range of ways to control the system, from two different kinds of remote controls (the older CR100 and the newer touchscreen CR200), to an iPhone app, to a program you can install on your computer.

You can also access music from internet radio and online music services through your computer and play them on your Sonos system.  If you haven’t heard of these services yet, watch out for a blog post explaining the different options in the near future.

Sonos sells each component separately, or offers bundles of everything you need for the simplest Sonos set-up

Good points

Sonos has tried to make its systems as simple as possible to understand and to set up.  Judging from Reevoo reviewers, they’ve seem to have succeeded on the set-up front - as one reviewer puts it, “it does what it claims to do, and it does it without any setup problems”.  One happy owner of the Sonos 120 bundle commented:

“Simple to set up and use out the box. My 11 year old son set up 8 rooms in an afternoon!”

Sound quality is also highly praised by Reevoo reveiwers.

Another advantage (and one not available with all media streamers) is the ability to use Sonos systems with online music services.

Bad points

The high ratings for Sonos products on Reevoo.com (between 8 and 10/10) indicate that owners have few complaints. The appearance comes in for a certain amount of criticism - as you can see from the pictures in this post, all components are grey/white boxes - but, as one reviewer points out, “what does that matter really!”

Another down-point is the price - the cheapest you can get a bundle is a whisker under £650, and outfitting an entire house can quickly add up to much more.

Some users have encountered problems with Sonos’ wireless transmission, saying it’s patchy at times, or occasionally drops out.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if your stereo could play all the music on your computer? Or play the same music in all the rooms in your house? Or if you could watch the videos you’ve got on your computer on your TV?

If any of this sounds appealing, you should consider buying a wireless media streamer.  These devices use a wireless internet connection to share music and videos between devices including hifis, computers and TVs, and between different rooms.

Although this arrangement might sound tricky to set up, you don’t need a degree in electrical engineering to set up most streaming systems.  Some manufacturers, like Sonos, go out of their ways to make it easy, by selling ‘bundles’ of everything you need to get started, while others design ’single unit’ systems, like the Sony NASSC55PKE

There are two main varieties of media streamer.  The first variety concentrates on music, detecting the music files on your computer and either plugging into your stereo system or speakers to play them.  Audio streamers from the upper end of the market will usually work with a subscription to a music-streaming service like Napster, Spotify or Last.fm (more about these services later).

The other kind streams both audio and video content, and is usually used to display videos saved to your computer hard drive on your TV, or show TV on your computer.  More high-end versions also display your photos on your TV or offer direct access to sites like YouTube.

You may already be familiar with some of the big names in the media streamer area: Sonos multi-room music streaming systems are well-known, as are the Squeezebox range of video streamers and Apple’s Apple TV.

Unfortunately, the variety of different types of streamers on the market means that it’s much harder to decide which streamer to buy than, for example, which TV to buy.

We’ve just added a dedicated media streamers section to Reevoo.com which is a great place to start.  We’ll add in more detail on the different types over the next few weeks and we’ll also be writing some blog posts to guide you through this complicated market.