Jordan O'BrienSonos offers by far the most popular multi-room system on the market, and through its ‘Works with Sonos’ programme, the company is attempting to get other manufacturers on-board. Now, Pioneer & Onkyo Europe GmbH has announced that its products are now compatible with Sonos, allowing users to add their AV receiver to a full Sonos home audio system.
Currently only a select number of Pioneer and Onkyo products have been announced as compatible, but the company plans to expand the compatibility list in the future. The current list of products includes:
Pioneer
- VSX-933
- VSX-LX303
- VSX-LX503
- SX-N30AE
- SC-LX701
- SC-LX801
- SC-LX901
Onkyo
- TX-NR686
- TX-RZ730
- TX-RZ830
- TX-8270
- TX-8250
- TX-RZ1100
- TX-RZ3100
- PR-RZ5100
All the compatible products will have to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the rest of the Sonos system, and once they are, users will be able to control basic functions through the Sonos app. The audio output from the Onkyo/Pioneer components will need to be connected to a Sonos CONNECT Wireless Music System unit to gain full compatibility, however.
When set up, a user will be able to play music via the Sonos app and the Pioneer or Onkyo component will…
1) Automatically wake up
2) Automatically switch to the right input connection
3) Allow the user to select the volume level via the Sonos app
4) Play the chosen music
A firmware upgrade will be required to add the ‘Works with SONOS’ functionality – instructions on how to do so will be posted at www.pioneer-audiovisual.eu and www.eu.onkyo.com