Sonos BU250 Multiroom Music System

by Sonos

Product Features

• Convenient and cost effective way to get started
• Best-in-class wireless technology for multi-room music
• Instant access to endless music
• Simple setup
• New features and music services with automatic updates

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B002GU5YN0
• Item model number: BU250
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,591 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 28, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Important Note: Sonos App available on iPad and iPhone
The Sonos Controller for iPad™ is a free application that takes music control to a whole new level. Optimized for the iPad’s large touch screen, finding and playing music is fast, fun and easy. With the iPad’s multi-pane view, you can see and control your zones, music menu, queue and volume all at once. Browse, search and drag and drop to create the perfect playlist. Then, share the music experience with friends—in landscape or portrait mode. The Sonos Controller for iPad works over your home WiFi network. And you can download it for free on the App Store.

What's In the Sonos BU250 Bundle? Everything You Need to Start Playing Music in Every Room... Wirelessly

With speaker outputs, analog RCA inputs and outputs, and a subwoofer out, the included ZP120 makes all the right connections. View larger.

With optical and coax digital outputs as well as analog RCA inputs and outputs, the included ZP90 is just as versatile. View larger.

The bundle also includes the powerful Sonos CR200 controller (view larger). Use it to control all of your digital music, as well as your settings.

The BU250 adds your digital library to your home audio system... View larger.

...and follows you throughout the home. View larger.

Put a ZP120 in the bathroom for a relaxing spa-like mood... View larger.

...or let Sonos tuck you in at night. View larger.

The Sonos wireless multi-room music system is simply the easiest way to send your digital music collection throughout your home. Listen to music from your PC on your patio, or stream unlimited music from many popular music services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Internet radio, and more. To start playing music, just grab the full-color wireless Controller and simply pick a room, pick a song and hit play. With the Controller in hand you'll have instant access to your entire music collection, plus thousands of Internet radio stations, and the most popular online music services to play all over the house. You can even connect ZonePlayers to your favorite audio source such as an iPod or CD player and listen throughout your house. When you want to play more music in more rooms, just add ZonePlayers and Controllers to your heart’s content.

This Sonos BU250 bundle gives you everything you need to wirelessly play music in two rooms of your house. And with SonosNet’s superior wireless range, no room is out of reach. Just connect the ZonePlayer 90 (ZP90) to your home theater or stereo and place the ZonePlayer 120 (ZP120) with built-in amplifier in any room where you want music. Connect one ZonePlayer or ZoneBridge (sold separately) to your network and all the rest work wirelessly.

Now pick up the full-color wireless Controller and it's instantly on, ready to play music. You'll have access to your entire music library, including iTunes, plus over 25,000 free Internet radio stations, and the most popular online music services to play all over the house. Simply pick a room, pick a song and touch play.

Sonos CR200 Controller

The Sonos CR200 Controller is a wireless, handheld controller with a 3.5-inch full-color LCD screen with adjustable LED backlighting that lets you control all your music and all your ZonePlayers from the palm of your hand. Controllers are not tied to a specific ZonePlayer, so you can use any Controller to control the music--and the volume--in any or all rooms. The Controller provides instant access to your personal collection of music files stored on your computer, plus thousands of Internet radio stations and the most popular online music services. It comes with a Sonos Charging Cradle and high-capacity, removable battery. Add extra Controllers (sold separately) and give control to all the music lovers in your home.

Sonos ZonePlayer 120 (ZP120)

The Sonos ZonePlayer 120 is amplified, wireless, compact, and convenient. The ZP120’s state-of the-art digital amplifier delivers audiophile-quality sound to any room. And because the amplifier is built in, you won’t need to connect to a stereo to play your music. All you have to do is plug it in, connect your choice of speakers and you've got a room filled with music. And with the ZP120’s superior wireless range, music lovers really can play all the music they love, all over the house. The design of the ZP120 is both compact and cool so you can feel free to hide it away or leave it out for all to see.

Sonos ZonePlayer 90 (ZP90)

The Sonos ZonePlayer 90 lets you play all the music you want, all over your house, on all the audio equipment you already own--your home theater receiver, stereo system, powered speakers, and more. Just connect the ZP90 to any amplified audio device in any room and it's instantly part of the wireless Sonos system. The ZP90's digital and analog outputs deliver superior sound to every room. And with the ZP90's superior wireless range, no room is out of reach. The ZP90 is super-small, so it will fit just about anywhere.

Desktop Controller Software

Sonos Desktop Controller software for PC and Mac is included with every BU250. It offers all the same functionality as the Sonos handheld Controller, and allows you to control your entire system from any computer or laptop in your house.

Best-in-Class Wireless Technology for Multi-Room Music

Sonos brings great sounding music wirelessly to any room in your house, without a big wiring project. SonosNet 2.0, our latest wireless mesh network technology, provides double the wireless range for whole-house coverage, ensures synchronous music playback, and avoids sources of wireless interference. Which means the music gets to all the right rooms--near or far--at exactly the right time.

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Now You Can Control Your Sonos with Your iPhone

The Sonos Controller for iPhone is a free application that turns your iPhone (or iPod touch) into a full-fledged Sonos Controller. Plus, it uses the familiar touch-screen interface and fits in your pocket so you can carry it with you all over the house. Best of all, you can download it for free on the App Store in seconds. Just grab your iPhone and simply touch the screen to pick a room, point and flick to pick a song, and then hit play. Grouping zones and searching tracks has never been easier. You can mix and match Controllers (CR200, Desktop Controller and Sonos Controller for iPhone) for maximum flexibility. Or get started with Sonos using the iPhone you already own and one or more ZonePlayers spread throughout your house.

When it comes to browsing through music libraries, searching for songs, viewing album art, or linking and unlinking zones, the Sonos Controller for iPhone makes it all incredibly easy. Thanks to iPhone’s intuitive touch interface, you can control your entire music experience with a touch of a finger. Quickly search for your favorite artists by typing on the virtual keyboard and browse through albums by pointing and flicking.

With Sonos ZonePlayers and any iPhone or iPod touch, you can find and play any song from your personal collection of music stored on your computer, plus thousands of free Internet radio stations via Sonos Radio. And the Sonos Controller for iPhone works seamlessly with the most popular music services so you can stream millions of songs and stations from the Internet to the rooms of your choice.

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Sonos' Simple Setup and Automatic Updates Mean "Maintenance-Free" Music

Setting up Sonos is incredibly easy. No technical or wiring expertise required. And no need to break through walls or re-wire your entire house. All you need is a high-speed Internet connection and a router to get started. One ZonePlayer or ZoneBridge in your system must be connected to the router and all the rest will work wirelessly. Add more ZonePlayers and Controllers without adding wires.

Unlike most other consumer electronic products, the entire Sonos system keeps getting better even after you buy it. With free automatic software updates you’ll always have the newest features and music services to enjoy. Just register your system and Sonos will automatically notify you when software updates are available. Simply press one button and your system updates itself.

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Get Access to Many Popular Internet Music Services, Free Downloads, 30-Day Trials, and More

Sonos works flawlessly with many popular music services

Sonos plays it all--music from your personal collection stored on your computer, thousands of free Internet radio stations, and music services that let you stream and download their vast collections of songs from the Internet to the rooms of your choice. Sonos gives you the freedom to listen to whatever you want, wherever you want. Play a classic album from your music collection in the kitchen and the living room. Listen to an Internet radio station in your bedroom that is streaming live from another continent. Whatever you're into, rock or rap, new age or golden oldies, Sonos gives you instant and endless music gratification.

Free Internet Radio

Sonos comes preloaded with over 25,000 Internet radio stations you can stream wirelessly to each and every room. Free of charge. Wake up to your favorite local news station or tune in to stations from around the world. Add even more stations to Sonos in seconds.

Compatible with Music from Popular Digital Music Stores

Buy digital music online from popular services such as Amazon MP3, Napster, Rhapsody, Audible, eMusic, Classical.com, and the Zune music store, and play your purchases all over the house with Sonos. Register your new Sonos system online and automatically receive special offers such as free downloads with these services.

Free Downloads and 30-Day Trials to Popular Internet Music Services

It gets even better. In addition to all this music, you also get several free 30-day trials to popular Internet music services packaged with the Sonos Controller. Try out SIRIUS satellite radio and get over 80 channels of 100% commercial-free music, news, talk, sports, comedy, and more. And with your Rhapsody trial, enjoy instant PC-free access to Rhapsody’s catalog of millions of songs and ad-free music channels, right from the palm of your hand. Or use your Pandora trial and get streaming music personalized just for you, playing only the music you love--Pandora lets you create custom stations based on your favorite artists and songs. And your trial of Napster gives you access to a library of over 5 million songs and easy-to-use music discovery tools.

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Complete Your Sonos Setup with Select Accessories (sold separately)

Want to get the most out of your Sonos system? Add to the BU250 bundle with these accessories (sold separately) to expand your music coverage throughout the home.

	Sonos ZonePlayer 120--The ZP120’s state-of the-art digital amplifier delivers audiophile-quality sound to any room. The energy-efficient Class D amplifier provides 55W per channel of power with a THD+N <.02% for excellent audio quality playback — without hisses, crackles or hums. And because the amplifier is built in, you won’t need to connect to a stereo to play your music, making it the easiest way to add a room to your Sonos system. Just plug it in, connect to speakers and enjoy.
	Sonos ZonePlayer 90--Just connect the ZP90 to any amplified audio device in any room and add a room to your Sonos system. The ZP90’s digital and analog outputs deliver superior sound to every room. And with the ZP90’s superior wireless range, no room is out of reach. The ZP90 is super small, so it will fit just about anywhere.
	Sonos CR200 Controller--Add Controllers to your Sonos system to let all the music lovers in your home in on the fun. The CR200 has a 3.5-inch color LCD screen with adjustable LED backlighting. Just pick a room, pick a song and hit play. Use search to find your favorites, and quickly link and unlink zones to play the same song in every room or different songs in different rooms. Controllers aren’t tied to a specific ZonePlayer, so you can use any Controller to control the music and the volume in any or all rooms. And there’s practically no limit to how many Controllers you can have--one for every room, floor or music lover in your house.
	Sonos ZoneBridge--The Sonos ZoneBridge makes setting up an all-wireless Sonos system wonderfully fast…and easy. Although it doesn't play music like a ZonePlayer, it's a cost-effective way to extend your SonosNet network range. Instead of using a ZonePlayer, simply connect the ZoneBridge to your router to instantly activate the SonosNet wireless mesh network. It’s the ideal solution if your house doesn’t have Ethernet wiring or your router is in a room where you don’t want music. And with a two-port Ethernet switch, it also brings standard Internet connectivity to your set-top box, DVR, PC, game console, or NAS drive.
	Sonos S5 ZonePlayer--The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 is a high-performance wireless music system with 5 speakers powered by 5 dedicated digital amplifiers, all in a compact single cabinet. With 2 tweeters, 2 mid-range drivers and 1 subwoofer, the S5 delivers crystal-clear, room-filling sound that rivals much larger, more complicated audio equipment. With the S5 you can quickly add a room of music anywhere you want — simply plug it in and enjoy. And thanks to the S5’s superior wireless range, no room is out of reach.

Product Description

The BU250 includes two Sonos ZonePlayers and one Sonos Controller to let you enjoy the music files on your PC or networked hard drive anywhere in your house, thanks to hassle-free wireless networking capability. Controller offers a 3.5" color LCD to provide easy browsing of your PC music library and independent control of each ZonePlayer in your system.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Works as adverstised! November 8, 2009

By T. Walker

Amazon Verified Purchase

I have owned the Sonos 250 bundle for a week now and it works like a charm!
It comes with an extensive owners manual,easy setup and most importantly it simply works.
I returned a Squeezebox Duet for a refund after 25 days it was a too problematic (constantly on the phone with tech support),the controler had too much lag time booting up from sleep mode.

The CR200 remote controler is an awesome piece of work it is robust (as is the entire Sonos system),fast and has a very sturdy rubberized build with a big bright full color screen,very nice.
The build quality for all the componets is top notch and I mean TOP NOTCH quality.

One thing to note...the 120 zoneplayer will not connect to a receiver only speakers as it has its own built in amp I made that assumption,not a problem my mini Onkyo receiver will find other duty around the house.All this is to say if you intend to connect to 2 receivers STOP and buy two Sonos 90 zoneplayers and CR 200 separately.
The sound from the built in amp is equal to if not better my my mini 60 amp Onkyo system.
The Sonos 90 zoneplayer in the bundle connects to my big Onkyo receiver in the family room again the sound is awesome and of course it syncs with the other room or plays seperate selections in each room if you desire.
There is another Sonos 90 in my future for my mini Onkyo.

All in all you cannot go wrong here Sonos cost more then its competition but is a better value and worth every penny.
I went the low road (Squeezebox) and it was full of bumps and headaches, dig a little deeper and save yourself some time and headaches Sonos is the way to go.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and done November 12, 2009

By Derek Wiebenson

Amazon Verified Purchase

My wife and I decided it was time to get rid of the stereos that sat around our apartment working only as radio's and iPhone input players -- we hadn't played a cd or tape on them in years. I stumbled on Sonos after looking through audio magazines on-line and it was on the only system I saw that really address all our needs. I ordered the BU250 bundle along with an S5. They arrived yesterday and I literally had them playing music in under 15 minutes -- including the uninstallation of the previous stereo equipment and the indexing of my music collection.

Step 1. Plugged in Zoneplayer 90 into router and power. Plugged in externally powered speakers.
Step 2. Moved old stereo to floor; attached speakers from old stereo into Zoneplayer 120 and plugged into outlet.
Step 3. Moved old box radio to floor; plugged S5 into outlet in the kitchen.
Step 4. Installed software from cd onto computer (this required pressing the mouse button several times but no actual technical understanding). Indexed the music on the computer too.
Step 5. Following the software prompt, told each Zoneplayer to announce it is around (push mute and volume up button at the same time). The software also had me update the software on the Zoneplayers to the latest versions (automaticly done, I just had to acknowledge this was ok). I then started playing local NPR station per commands from the computer to prove I could.
Step 6. Woke up the Controller 200 (it was already fully charged out of the box) and used the mute/volume button combo press on one of the Zoneplyers to let the remote know there is a system around to latch to.
Step 7. Gave remote to wife (I have an iPhone with the app installed). She then logged into her Pandora account from the remote and was playing music in under a minute.
Step 8. Invited friends over to gaze at what I have accomplished.

It was really that easy. We now have a bunch of bookshelf space back in the living room and we can quickly listen to just about any song out there with just a few touches to the remote. I have a NAS on order so we can play our music collection without having the computer powered on.

Bottom line: a very easy to use, easily expandable, full featured solution to life after cd/tapes.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonos got it right! December 29, 2009

By Dragoncat

Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a very sophisticated user so getting something as easy to set up and use as a Sonos was not originally part of my purchase criteria. But since I'm not the only user I had to go beyond my own considerations when making a purchase.

This review is for a Sonos BU250 bundle + S5 that I purchased just before Christmas this year. I added a pair of SP100 speakers just a couple of days ago. I've had the system for about a week.

I previously had a Squeezebox system for a few years (SB3 attached to the home theater, Duet set up in the living room). Though the SB3 had been trouble free I was always disappointed by the user interface to search and play specific music. The frequent updates to the Squeezecenter software (now Squeezebox Server) were equally frustrating since those updates sometimes introduced problems that were not previously evident. Finally the range of the system was limited since it relied solely on the existing WiFi network (or wired Ethernet--in my case via powerline adapters). Regardless, the music was prone to stuttering or stopping altogether...quite a frustration when you have guests or just want to sit back and relax. In all fairness, Logitech (the owner of the Squeezebox brand) has done some commendable updates to their Duet software which has improved its functionality considerable. Still, the continuing dropouts and occasional lockups made the whole system less than a pleasant experience. With all that said, I am still a staunch supporter of the Squeezebox system and will continue to recommend it for certain users and configurations. For me, it ultimately fell short for what I had hoped to accomplish.

After doing a bit of research on options and alternatives I decided to go the Sonos route. I've known of Sonos for a few years but had decided on the Squeezebox route primarily based on cost. This time around, I decided the extra cost would be offset by the ease of use, so I went ahead and took the plunge.

For me, the critical factor for my decision was the mesh network which allows each unit to "piggyback" from the others, extending the network throughout the house. Now I don't have be concerned about the extent of a wired network since the mix of Sonos units throughout the house takes care of everything. I have a ZP120 in the living room (connected to Sonos SP100 speakers), a ZP90 in the media room (connected to the home theater and wired network), and an S5 in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The CR200 controller sits in the living room, but we also use the free iPhone/iPod Touch app to control the system when we're away from the living room.

I intend to add a couple of additional units--a ZP90 connected to a pair of powered speakers in my home office, and a second S5 that can do double duty in the guest room and as an outdoor system when we entertain.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the setup, ease of use, and overall functionality. And during my one call to technical support (I had a setup challenge since my network wasn't cooperating to connect to the initial Zoneplayer) the staff member was knowledgeable, patient, and thorough in his execution. After a bit of troubleshooting, we got the problem resolved and I have been a happy listener ever since. I highly recommend the system to anyone looking for a pain free whole house (or part of house) music system!