3 Cutting-Edge Home Audio Speakers from Sonos

If you want to listen to music anywhere in your house without cables trailing everywhere, Sonos is your answer. Sonos has some of the best home audio systems on the market.

The company's high-quality speakers and home audio systems are known for exceptional sound and ease of setup. Though they come at premium prices, Sonos home audio gives you a great experience that you would not hesitate recommending one to a friend.

Sonos Play:5 

For true room-filling sound, Sonos Play:5 is your best bet. The first Play:5 was released in 2009. It was a big hit until other systems came to the market. The new Play:5, according to Sonos, is a quintessential speaker for the age we are in. The home audio system is bookshelf sized and is offered with 6 synchronized drivers; 3 woofers and 3 tweeters. It produces a big and clear sound with a lot of bass and a nice definition in mid and high ranges. Unlike earlier models, the hard-to-press buttons on speakers have been replaced by touch controls which makes selecting songs and adjusting the volume a cinch.

You can orientate the new Play:5 on either side vertically or horizontally. This gives it more flexibility. The front grille of this speaker is made of plastic. Play:5 comes with Trueplay, a software that allows you to optimize the sound of wireless speakers in their position. The software uses the touch of your iPad, iPod or iPhone to measure the response of a speaker in your room and tweak it to sound better. It costs about $499.

Sonos Playbar 

Today, not only can you get audio anywhere in your house but you can easily get up to 5.1 surround sound right in your living room. The Sonos Playbar is offered with 6 mid-woofers which does a great job in covering the low frequencies and 3 tweeters to cover the high frequencies (all these operate on 9 class-D amplifiers). The Playbar easily connects to your TV using one optical cable and a power cord. By simply connecting the speakers to your home Wi-Fi system by use of the Sonos controller app, you can play all the music you want without wiring.

The right and the left tweeters are angled out to bring out clearer and louder sound. According to the manufacturer, the Playbar is able to make 24 million calculations to keep the system in a state of balance. Easily create a 3.1 home theater system by pairing the Playbar with a Sub or a 5.1 home theater by pairing the Playbar with a Sub and 2 other speakers. The Playbar costs $699.

Sonos Play:3 

In terms of price and size, this is the best home audio from Sonos. Though Sonos products are known to come at premium prices, the Play:3 costs only $299. This does not mean that its quality is below bar. Using the home Wi-Fi connection, the home audio system will stream music from NAS drive or a computer, or from online services. At 26cm wide and 16cm deep, the Sonos Play:3 can fit perfectly on a bedside cabinet.

Just behind the speaker’s grille, there are three drivers – one tweeter that sits in between 2 3-in mid-range drivers. Each of the drivers is powered by its own amplifiers. At the back of the speaker is a bass radiator to improve bass performance. You will need a Bridge unit if you will be using wireless.

If you're locally-based in central Illinois, one of the places to find Sonos home audio systems, as well as many other leading brands like Bose and Sony, visit:

Nerds on Call
4906 N. University
Peoria, IL 61614
Phone: (309) 689-3900
CallRNerds.com

Piano Tuning: A Revolution in Music & Sound

Pianos are one of the most pronounced musical instruments known to man. Various styles pianos can be found heard all over the world. Ranging from classic grand pianos to more modern day player pianos, the technology and progression of pianos has been of the most advanced compared to other types of musical instruments.

One thing that most pianos have in common is the fact that they need to professionally tuned. With exception of digital pianos, virtually all pianos rely on piano tuning to produce optimal sound quality. Below we describe the ways in which pianos are tuned.

Tuning a Piano to Produce the Perfect Sound

The tuning of a piano can be done in various ways, resulting in the production of different sounds based on pitch, tone, and various other elements. There are three main parts that are affected by the varied ways with which the piano can be tuned. These elements include:

• The length: It is in relation to the strings that determine the pitch. If all the other factors remain the same but the strings are made shorter, a higher pitch is produced.
• The mass on every unit length: It is considered that a higher pitch is likely to be produced if other factors remain constant but the wires are made thinner.
• Tension: The other major factor that determines the pitch produced by the piano is the tightness of the wire. Thus, the tighter the wire with all other elements being the same will produce a higher pitch.

In this case, therefore, it is clear that the tuning of the piano is only aimed at two main parts, which are the strings and the wires.

The tools used to for piano tuning include the tuning hammer, a variety of mutes, and a tuning fork (or in some cases an electronic tuning device can be used.) The tuning hammer is used in order to efficient turn the tuning pins, which increases or decreases the tension of the piano strings.

The variety of mutes that are used mute or disable the idle strings that are not being tuned. While tuning certain octaves of the piano, a felt strip is typically applied over the middle section of the piano as well as inserted between each note, thus muting the outer two strings of each note. As a result, the middle string is free to vibrate and can be tuned accordingly.

Most highly acclaimed piano dealers staff professional piano tuners. One source of piano tuning services with multiple locations found in Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida is Piano Distributors. The company's Clearwater, FL store is one of the premier sources for all things pianos, including lessons and La Grande Hall which seats 120 people.