A lot has changed in the seven years since this thread was last live.
If you're seriously considering the Sonos Playbar then your needs are very basic. The lack of support for any better audio than PCM stereo and vanilla Dolby Digital was the obvious Achilles heel as soon as it was launched. Time hasn't improved that situation. Having said that, it does sound good, and with so few features there's really nothing more to control than the volume. The Playbar learns the IR volume command from whichever handset is your preferred daily tool. For some, that will be their Sky/VM/Humax/set-top box remote. For others, it will be just the TV remote.
The fly in the ointment with Sonos as a used buy is the price. It holds its value really well. Used Playbars are fetching anything up to £450. That doesn't really offer much of a saving against the price new at as little as £549.
Where you're looking for value and performance, but not so interested in the multiroom feature that is the main USP or Sonos, then have a look at Yamaha.
There's a Yamaha YSP 500 for sale on Ebay at the moment. It will give the Playbar a damned good run for sound quality. There are more inputs, broader support for audio formats, and some features which the Sonos lacks such as the ability to focus sound on to an individual listening position. The YSP 500 is currently sitting at £30 + del with two days to go and no bids.
If you're seriously considering the Sonos Playbar then your needs are very basic. The lack of support for any better audio than PCM stereo and vanilla Dolby Digital was the obvious Achilles heel as soon as it was launched. Time hasn't improved that situation. Having said that, it does sound good, and with so few features there's really nothing more to control than the volume. The Playbar learns the IR volume command from whichever handset is your preferred daily tool. For some, that will be their Sky/VM/Humax/set-top box remote. For others, it will be just the TV remote.
The fly in the ointment with Sonos as a used buy is the price. It holds its value really well. Used Playbars are fetching anything up to £450. That doesn't really offer much of a saving against the price new at as little as £549.
Where you're looking for value and performance, but not so interested in the multiroom feature that is the main USP or Sonos, then have a look at Yamaha.
There's a Yamaha YSP 500 for sale on Ebay at the moment. It will give the Playbar a damned good run for sound quality. There are more inputs, broader support for audio formats, and some features which the Sonos lacks such as the ability to focus sound on to an individual listening position. The YSP 500 is currently sitting at £30 + del with two days to go and no bids.