Sonos Play:3

Measuring 5.2 by 10.6 by 6.3-inches and weighing 5.7 pounds, the Sonos Play:3 comes from the Bose school of minimal design.

The top panel has exactly three buttons: Mute, Volume Up, and Volume Down, but these buttons can be used in different combinations to achieve different tasks, like pairing the Play:3 with a ZoneBridge.

So, notice anything missing? A headphone jack would have been nice, but Sonos reps might just argue that you could just as easily plug earphones in to your iPod and listen to it directly. The big kicker is: The Sonos app does not stream music off of your iPod.

If paired with another Play:3, each unit can be assigned to the left or right channel, making it possible (for double your money) to achieve a very wide stereo image.

The back panel also houses the power cable connection and the Ethernet connection port. There is also a screw-in wall mounting connection on the rear panel.

From a pure audio performance standpoint, the Sonos Play:3 truly shines. The speaker offers rich bass—and can reach maximum volume without distortion issues.