Double your audio pleasure. That was the theme while testing the Sonos One speaker recently. Ironically, given the name, I linked two of them together as a speaker pair. And, I tested two different voice bots, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. I even thought about grilling two steaks, but that seemed like overkill. I was too eager to blast Radiohead all around my house and see if two Sonos One speakers are better than...er, one.
And -- yep. They are. Because the Sonos One speaker is made with such a powerful amplifier and a pristine audio quality, it helps immensely to add another one. The setup was lightning fast; the app guided me through all of the steps, and at one point I simply pressed a button on the left speaker and then on the right to pair them. I wasn’t content to just have more volume in my living room, though. I wanted to see if there was any sonic improvement.
That’s where Radiohead came into play. Using the Google Assistant bot to ask for specific songs, I queued up High and Dry and listened closely to how the acoustic guitar slipped in and out of both channels. On the right speaker, there’s a droning organ for a while. It’s absolutely brilliant because you feel like you are able to hear more distinct sounds. It’s almost like this was how the music was intended to be heard! Using only one Bluetooth or Wi-Fi speaker doesn’t quite do justice to Pyramid Song with its curiously myopic piano.
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I also used Alexa to play books and ask about the weather. I love how elegant it all looks. The Sonos One is about the size of a small cookie jar and doesn’t take up too much space, so having two of them isn’t obnoxious, even in an apartment. It’s really the same as having two old-school speakers connected to an amp with speaker wire -- minus the amp and the wires. Audiophiles might even be convinced to try this setup.
Playing music is fast and easy with the voice bots, although I preferred the Sonos apps because I could easily browse through a playlist and pick songs I liked. The touch controls are handy for adjusting volume, muting, and going to the next track. You can pair the Sonos One with other Sonos speakers as well, such as their speaker bar. Warm and organic audio, voice-controlled news, deep cuts by Radiohead. Maybe I will grill those steaks.
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