It's Time to Update Your Sound System

​​Leia checks out the Sonos Move speaker
​on its charging stand.

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What's good for the goose

On a regular basis, I work hard to make sure other people's audio and visual systems are up-to-date, easy to use, and well organized.  Last week, I hired myself and cleaned out my own audio/visual cabinet in the family room.  I would have been embarrassed if any of my clients had seen how cluttered mine had become over the years.  Yes, I'm using the latest technology for listening to music and watching TV, but the remnants of old devices and cords had become a rat's nest.

Among the chaos, a discovery

As I decluttered the cabinet, liberating the space of a 1989 cassette tape deck, unconnected coaxial cables, leftover power cords from who knows what, and a few dust bunnies, I discovered something I had forgotten.  Emerging from a hole in the wall were two gray coils of speaker wire that ultimately led to our outdoor 3-season porch.  I hadn't used or seen them in a couple of years.  The wires weren't connected to anything in this cabinet--not to my audio receiver or TV or anything else.  My mind began racing.  What should I do with the wires?  The speakers are still there on the porch.  Surely I should connect them to something!

When you realize you have to let go

I was feeling guilty about not having used these porch speakers lately.  Then I thought about WHY I haven't been using them.  It was a simple reason:  I haven't needed them.  Yes, I still listen to music on the porch (it's a great place to relax on a summer evening).  But I've been using my wireless, portable Sonos Move speakers to listen to music there–and in the family room–and in my study–and in the kitchen–and in the yard–and, well you get the point.  The new technology of the Sonos speakers was all I needed.  It was time to let go of my old speakers that were no longer useful.

For your listening pleasure

My Sonos speakers do everything I need them to do.  They can play all of my music library from iTunes, Spotify, local radio stations, and more.  The speakers work with both Bluetooth and our WiFi network–which means that I can control what each speaker is playing using the Sonos app on my phone.  When I'm using the WiFi, I don't have to worry about keeping my phone close to the speakers, either.  To top it all off, the sound quality of my Sonos Move speakers are much better than the older porch speakers I have hard-wired to the wall.

Call it spring cleaning, call it self-evaluation, or whatever, but the exercise I just went through was cathartic.  I decluttered my cabinet, and I decluttered some nagging thoughts in the back of my mind that I was supposed to be using some old audio equipment that I really don't have a use for anymore.  What I use now to listen to music is sleek and adaptable.  It's also easier to set up, and easier to use than my old system.  As a result, I use it more frequently, which means that I am able to enjoy my music more often.

If you'd like more details about a Sonos (or equivalent) sound system, or help with setting one up, please let me know.  You'll wonder why you waited so long.