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Have you ever wanted to listen to your favorite tunes, no matter where you are in your home? Sure, everyone wants one of those in-home audio systems but they aren't easy to set up or install. Sonos is trying to change all that with their latest product, the ZonePlayer S5.

If you aren't familiar with Sonos, they make it easy to create your own multi-room music system with the ZonePlayer 90 and 120 products. They're wireless boxes that connect to your home theater system or a set of speakers and allow you to play audio to them, similar to the way Apple lets you do it with an AirPort Express and AirTunes. But if you didn't have speakers, you'd have to set up a pair near or close to the ZonePlayer and it wouldn't be very portable. That's where the new ZonePlayer S5 comes in.

It takes the original line of ZonePlayer products and integrates them into an all-in-one speaker system, cutting out all that clutter of having speakers and an extra box to plug in. Inside the S5 are two tweeters, two 3-inch mid-range drivers, and one 3.5-inch subwoofer, which basically means you have excellent, room-filling sound. All this weighs about nine pounds, so you won't have too much trouble porting it around the house. It doesn't have a battery though, so you'll need to carry the AC cord with it as well. There's more to the Sonos system than just the hardware. The software allows you to stream your iTunes Library internet radio station, or network storage device to any "zone" in your home. When I received the review unit shortly before the holiday season last year, I thought this would be a great way to send Christmas music throughout the house, and it worked seamlessly. You can also connect a line-in device such as a Zune or iPod and listen to that through the speakers and throughout the house if you have another "zone" setup.

Setting up the ZonePlayer was easy (for us at least), but the initial setup depends on if you want to place the first "zone" near a router or plunk down extra money for another device. If you don't have an Ethernet connection handy, you'll need to purchase the ZoneBridge ($99), which creates a "SonosNet" network, a proprietary wireless technology which Sonos says provides for the best sound quality and performance. The S5 also has two standard Ethernet ports (no gigabit here, speed demons) on the back, one for connecting to a ZoneBridge and the other for connecting to another device that needs a network connection. If you want a second "zone", say in your office, you should have no problem just plugging the S5 or other ZonePlayer in and having it work without issues. In my case, I set up the ZoneBridge near my wireless router and placed the ZonePlayer S5 in my living room.

I was amazed at how loud the S5 could go, without any audible distortion. The low-end over powered the mids and highs, but that changed by disabling the Loudness option that is oddly enabled by default. Now, you must ask, how do I control this thing when I'm walking around the house? Using your iPhone, iPod touch, the Sonos Controller 200, or your Mac or PC desktop/laptop. In our review period, we used the iPhone application. If you don't have an iPhone or iPod touch, you'll have to shell out the $349 for the Sonos Controller 200 for the best experience (although a netbook would also work well if you have one), which looks and feels like an iPod touch but also includes a convenient docking station. The iPhone app worked great, but you won't be able to control your Sonos system over a 3G or Edge network.

While the Sonos system has a heavy price, it is certainly worth it for those looking to enjoy their music throughout their house. The ZonePlayer S5 will run you $399, the ZoneBridge we mentioned will run $99, and the Sonos Controller 200 runs a hefty $349 (you might as well buy an iPod touch for that price and get a million times more functionality).

Pros

• Powerful, room-filling sound.
• Easy, straight-forward setup.
• Easiest way to get an "in-home" audio system.

Cons

• Pricey.
• Requires ZoneBridge or direct connection to a network router.
• Can't control it on the go without iPhone, iPod touch, or CR200 controller.

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