I'm glad you mentioned that these systems are not as 'plug and play' as the marketing claims. I have a HEOS system: A/V, Streamer, 550 Soundbar, and now HEOS 150 speakers. The problem is that the firmware for the 150s is behind the firmware for the Soundbar. Thus, I cannot group the 150s with the soundbar to get surround sound. I contacted HEOS and got nothing but the runaround. Something you should mention is the level of customer support you get for these system. So far, I am not very happy with HEOS and their double-talk as to when the proper firmware updates are coming so that I basically have more than doorstop bluetooth speakers.
We haven't run into that issue yet but that's good to know. I would beat them up re: a resolution to that grouping issue as that's a problem. NOTE: We have seen issues from many manufacturers over the last 18 months and all timelines are off re: firmware updates as everyone is working from home, they are lazy, etc. NOTENOTE: We aren't working from home or are lazy. Keep us posted if they get that firmware fixed! We'd like to know if it gets handled.
Hey guys, it's been a little over a year since this was posted and just curious if you still feel the same. Seems like for sound quality and connectivity the Denon system may be a little ahead of Sonos but some of the Denon complaints are updating firmware and such.
I switched from Sonos to HEOS, Initially I was disappointed but HEOS is slowly getting better. I will say that the Sonos experience is a little more polished, I suppose as a result of being in the multi room business longer than Denon. My most recent HEOS purchase was the Denon HEOS sub which I’m happy with but I would say that the Sonos sub performed better in my opinion.
They are supposed to sound great but we interviewed them and weren't convinced that it was the best choice for us. We were concerned about the reliability and ability to work with various apps. With this stuff it is touted as DIY/plug-and-play and it is...until it isn't. We have seen fewer issues with Sonos so we chose to stick with them over Bluesound.
@@airetheaterdesigns - appreciate the perspective. I know their PowerNode has rave reviews, but yeah... light on speaker reviews elsewhere. thanks again!
Unfortunately we aren't big fans and we want to be. We love Yamaha receivers and almost every one of their pieces have Musiccast built-in. The problem we have with Musiccast is that their pieces consistently fall off the network (in our experience). We haven't found a difference whether they are hard-wired or not. The piece I reference at 11:52 is actually our Musiccast streaming player. Our Sonos and Heos products are much more reliable. Until we see reliability with their players, we can't recommend their stand-alone streamers and streaming amps.
I'm still confused as to what Heos and Sonos actually is. Is it just independent wireless speakers? That is not how it was briefly explained to me the 1 time I've heard about it. So to listen to different things in different locations you have to use different source devices?
They have BAD advertising so many people share your question. Sonos and Heos are platforms that include their respective streaming "brain" along with speakers, pre-amps and amplifiers. This allows you to play music from apps in various rooms on different solutions such as soundbars, built-in speakers or portable speakers.
We have not. It sounds like a great concept for racks of central equipment aside from the fact that if one zone craps out, you are without all of them while it gets repaired.
Thanks for the video... You guys failed to mention Denon Heos integrator/installer products in their ecosystem: Superlink and Drive. If you have a use case of multizone / in-ceiling speakers, you would have to buy a pile of Sonos Amps .... And for the life of me.. i dont understand why system integrators love selling Sonos... I guess they make more money with selling more stuff...
Thanks for watching! We rarely bring up the Drive as the price is comparable to 4 Sonos Amps (Drive = $2500.00 and 4 Amps = $2800) and you then have a component that if one channel/function goes bad then everything is down. If one Sonos Amp goes bad, the three others are in use. We've sold tons of Sonos over the last 15+ years as it has been the most reliable solution for us. As an example, try calling Denon, Yamaha or any of the other manufacturers for troubleshooting. They will take you through 100 things on the phone. Sonos is able to "see" a diagnostic so many of these questions get answered instantly. This has been very helpful for us over the years.
@@airetheaterdesigns Thanks for the insight from the installer/integrator point of view. Well, I guess you could also say ... "Stick(sell) to what you know"
In Australia SONOS abandoned the installer/integrator market in favour of the local mall TV shops. They said they never would but they did. Here’s my reasons for supporting HEOS 1. They not going to give you a heart attack and "brick older product". 2. HEOS is licenced across 5 brands so unlikely to break that level of sharing. 3. HEOS allows you to "play from this phone" SONOS removed this function years ago. 4. HEOS allows you to seamlessly add your DENON or Marantz surround amplifier to the HEOS network. SONOS refuse to play ball on this point.
@@airetheaterdesigns Fairly lame reasoning against the HEOS Drive. I was a dealer for Sonos in Australia from the beginning and it was good for a while but Sonos never addressed the rack mount request which was made so many times. They refused to integrate with other control systems for a decade until the other control brands applied pressure. BTW I tried calling SONOS support in Australia last month but they have shut down the local support line and redirect the caller to online chat in US which doesn’t work during our business hours due to the time zone
@@Timbo_tango I think it is pretty good reasoning. Do you buy 4 separate somethings for $2K and if one breaks you have 3 left or buy 1 Drive that effectively does the same as the above for $2500.00 (it was the same price when we did the review) and when it breaks you have 0 left. I have had 1 rack in 18 years where I needed a little more space and a Drive would be helpful. I have had MANY where I would be fine. What is your reasoning for the Heos Drive?
Good video, but why is the Denon DHT-716H not mentioned? That's their premium (heos built-in) soundbar. I have 2 of them with the DSW-1H sub and they sound great. For both movie and music.
We were focusing more on the difference between the platforms instead of all of the individual products. However, we're with you on sound quality...I think those things sound quite good.
Bummer thing about the denon speakers there not a true wireless speaker. You still need to plug in for power. I’m considering the move so I get music in my backyard & the freedom to move anywhere.
The Move is a good, inexpensive option (compared to a dedicated landscape outdoor system) to get tunes outside. Great for the beach, vacation, etc. as well!
There is a battery attachment for HEOS1 speaker. It is old and doesn't sound as good as the Move, doesn't have voice assistant, and is generally pretty old. But if you have to have a wireless version, Denon does have an option.
Not impressed with Heos so far. I can occasionally get it to work with my phone/receiver, but it's not very convenient. I want to get a speaker for the bathroom but I'm hesitant to get the Denon
I would call tech support. There is no reason aside from network errors hat both units shouldn't connect. If you follow all of the network protocols we discuss in our Sonos troubleshooting, Volume 2, you will probably be back in business. The elements are the same for Sonos or Heos.@@dangr123
I'm glad you mentioned that these systems are not as 'plug and play' as the marketing claims. I have a HEOS system: A/V, Streamer, 550 Soundbar, and now HEOS 150 speakers. The problem is that the firmware for the 150s is behind the firmware for the Soundbar. Thus, I cannot group the 150s with the soundbar to get surround sound. I contacted HEOS and got nothing but the runaround. Something you should mention is the level of customer support you get for these system. So far, I am not very happy with HEOS and their double-talk as to when the proper firmware updates are coming so that I basically have more than doorstop bluetooth speakers.
We haven't run into that issue yet but that's good to know. I would beat them up re: a resolution to that grouping issue as that's a problem.
NOTE: We have seen issues from many manufacturers over the last 18 months and all timelines are off re: firmware updates as everyone is working from home, they are lazy, etc.
NOTENOTE: We aren't working from home or are lazy.
Keep us posted if they get that firmware fixed! We'd like to know if it gets handled.
Hey guys, it's been a little over a year since this was posted and just curious if you still feel the same. Seems like for sound quality and connectivity the Denon system may be a little ahead of Sonos but some of the Denon complaints are updating firmware and such.
Sound quality - Heos
Connectivity/reliability - Sonos
Thanks for doing this. You guys are a great team. Very enjoyable and very informative.
Thanks for the good word! We appreciate it.
I switched from Sonos to HEOS, Initially I was disappointed but HEOS is slowly getting better. I will say that the Sonos experience is a little more polished, I suppose as a result of being in the multi room business longer than Denon. My most recent HEOS purchase was the Denon HEOS sub which I’m happy with but I would say that the Sonos sub performed better in my opinion.
Thanks for the input!
Hi. Thanks for this. Y'all ever touched the Bluesound Speaker solutions (with BlueOS)?
They are supposed to sound great but we interviewed them and weren't convinced that it was the best choice for us. We were concerned about the reliability and ability to work with various apps. With this stuff it is touted as DIY/plug-and-play and it is...until it isn't. We have seen fewer issues with Sonos so we chose to stick with them over Bluesound.
@@airetheaterdesigns - appreciate the perspective. I know their PowerNode has rave reviews, but yeah... light on speaker reviews elsewhere. thanks again!
What do you think about the yamaha music cast?
Unfortunately we aren't big fans and we want to be. We love Yamaha receivers and almost every one of their pieces have Musiccast built-in. The problem we have with Musiccast is that their pieces consistently fall off the network (in our experience). We haven't found a difference whether they are hard-wired or not. The piece I reference at 11:52 is actually our Musiccast streaming player. Our Sonos and Heos products are much more reliable.
Until we see reliability with their players, we can't recommend their stand-alone streamers and streaming amps.
Will never be an Apple guy, but good video!
Thanks for the good word!
I'm still confused as to what Heos and Sonos actually is. Is it just independent wireless speakers? That is not how it was briefly explained to me the 1 time I've heard about it. So to listen to different things in different locations you have to use different source devices?
They have BAD advertising so many people share your question. Sonos and Heos are platforms that include their respective streaming "brain" along with speakers, pre-amps and amplifiers. This allows you to play music from apps in various rooms on different solutions such as soundbars, built-in speakers or portable speakers.
Do you use the Heos drive very often?
We have not. It sounds like a great concept for racks of central equipment aside from the fact that if one zone craps out, you are without all of them while it gets repaired.
@@airetheaterdesigns yes, it seems you can purchase 4 links for the same price
Nice hat ..go Braves!
Thanks for the video... You guys failed to mention Denon Heos integrator/installer products in their ecosystem: Superlink and Drive.
If you have a use case of multizone / in-ceiling speakers, you would have to buy a pile of Sonos Amps ....
And for the life of me.. i dont understand why system integrators love selling Sonos... I guess they make more money with selling more stuff...
Thanks for watching! We rarely bring up the Drive as the price is comparable to 4 Sonos Amps (Drive = $2500.00 and 4 Amps = $2800) and you then have a component that if one channel/function goes bad then everything is down. If one Sonos Amp goes bad, the three others are in use.
We've sold tons of Sonos over the last 15+ years as it has been the most reliable solution for us. As an example, try calling Denon, Yamaha or any of the other manufacturers for troubleshooting. They will take you through 100 things on the phone. Sonos is able to "see" a diagnostic so many of these questions get answered instantly. This has been very helpful for us over the years.
@@airetheaterdesigns Thanks for the insight from the installer/integrator point of view.
Well, I guess you could also say ...
"Stick(sell) to what you know"
In Australia SONOS abandoned the installer/integrator market in favour of the local mall TV shops. They said they never would but they did.
Here’s my reasons for supporting HEOS
1. They not going to give you a heart attack and "brick older product".
2. HEOS is licenced across 5 brands so unlikely to break that level of sharing.
3. HEOS allows you to "play from this phone" SONOS removed this function years ago.
4. HEOS allows you to seamlessly add your DENON or Marantz surround amplifier to the HEOS network. SONOS refuse to play ball on this point.
@@airetheaterdesigns Fairly lame reasoning against the HEOS Drive. I was a dealer for Sonos in Australia from the beginning and it was good for a while but Sonos never addressed the rack mount request which was made so many times. They refused to integrate with other control systems for a decade until the other control brands applied pressure. BTW I tried calling SONOS support in Australia last month but they have shut down the local support line and redirect the caller to online chat in US which doesn’t work during our business hours due to the time zone
@@Timbo_tango I think it is pretty good reasoning. Do you buy 4 separate somethings for $2K and if one breaks you have 3 left or buy 1 Drive that effectively does the same as the above for $2500.00 (it was the same price when we did the review) and when it breaks you have 0 left. I have had 1 rack in 18 years where I needed a little more space and a Drive would be helpful. I have had MANY where I would be fine. What is your reasoning for the Heos Drive?
excellent advice I'm subd
Thanks for the good word!
@@airetheaterdesigns no problems. The other vids sound great
Good video, but why is the Denon DHT-716H not mentioned? That's their premium (heos built-in) soundbar.
I have 2 of them with the DSW-1H sub and they sound great. For both movie and music.
We were focusing more on the difference between the platforms instead of all of the individual products. However, we're with you on sound quality...I think those things sound quite good.
Bummer thing about the denon speakers there not a true wireless speaker. You still need to plug in for power. I’m considering the move so I get music in my backyard & the freedom to move anywhere.
The Move is a good, inexpensive option (compared to a dedicated landscape outdoor system) to get tunes outside. Great for the beach, vacation, etc. as well!
There is a battery attachment for HEOS1 speaker. It is old and doesn't sound as good as the Move, doesn't have voice assistant, and is generally pretty old. But if you have to have a wireless version, Denon does have an option.
Not impressed with Heos so far. I can occasionally get it to work with my phone/receiver, but it's not very convenient. I want to get a speaker for the bathroom but I'm hesitant to get the Denon
What do you mean specifically by "it's not very convenient"? What is or isn't working as advertised?
@@airetheaterdesigns for instance: neither of my heos devices have been able to connect to my wifi. So I either have to plug them in or use Bluetooth.
I would call tech support. There is no reason aside from network errors hat both units shouldn't connect. If you follow all of the network protocols we discuss in our Sonos troubleshooting, Volume 2, you will probably be back in business. The elements are the same for Sonos or Heos.@@dangr123
@@dangr123I had the same issues. But I have no problem connecting via the AUX cable between my phone and speaker. Works great!