When audio fans mouth the word sonoro Prestige, they immediately see shining eyes and a slight smile. One immediately thinks of high-quality workmanship, perfectly tuned quality and, above all, excellent music enjoyment. When I first came into contact with sonoro equipment in a hotel a few years ago, it was uncharted territory. There were other brands that I knew from many hotels and I was all the more surprised by the result from my little sonoro “cube”. Now sonoro has launched the new PRESTIGE device and we have tested it extensively.
The 2.1 audio system for music lovers – sonoro Prestige
When you first receive a device from sonoro and take it out of the box, you immediately notice the attention to detail. It was already the case a year ago with the sonoro Relax Audio with relaxation programs, and likewise with the sonoro Stream, which we use in the bathroom – you can immediately sense a high-quality product.
While the sonoro Relax Audio device has found its ideal place in the bedroom and lets you forget the stressful day in the evening with relaxing music, the sonoro Stream in the bathroom automatically puts you in a good mood when you take a bath or an extensive shower, and is above all insensitive to excessive moisture.
After we already knew the “small” devices from sonoro and were absolutely thrilled by the sound and especially also the workmanship and ease of use, the anticipation rose to the latest device from sonoro.
The sonoro PRESTIGE is the latest product in the renowned Smart Line series and is intended for use in the living room or dining room and joins with the elegant and simple style already the predecessor absolutely. sonoro succeeds also with the sonoro PRESTIGE series again to create a product, which one does not perceive at first glance so in the living room, but then wants to look again and again.
It also happened to us with the sonoro PRESTIGE after a short time that friends came by and inquired about the speakers in the room. However, it was only the current playlist from Spotify that was played via the sonoro PRESTIGE.
Music enjoyment for music lovers – sonoro Prestige
As fascinating as the first impression of the sonoro PRESTIGE is already when unpacking it (white gloves are of course included again), the sound is also very convincing at first impression.
With the PRESTIGE model, sonoro once again places great emphasis on high-quality workmanship and state-of-the-art sound technology. The fascination is immediately present again when you learn that it is a 2-way audio system. Below the sound wonder from Germany is a 4-inch subwoofer, and to the left and right of the display are two 3-inch midrange speakers and two 0.75-inch tweeters, which fit seamlessly into the harmonious design.
Of course, sonoro also optimizes the sound of this 450mm wide PRESTIGE device via the digital sound processor, but also leaves the user enough options to adjust the sound to their own preferences. We also see it quite clearly in our sensibilities that, for example, in an action movie the bass has to be a bit more dominant and you literally want to feel the vibration in the living room.
You can also tell between the devices of the sonoro RELAX series and the sonoro STREAM series that sonoro has once again optimized an already very good product in the sound area and the target group here is clearly the music lover in the living room.
The functions can of course be controlled via the sonoro app and are designed to be absolutely convenient. On the one hand, the input source can be selected, but also many adjustments of the device can be made.
In our opinion, it is nice that sonoro does not follow the trend of many smart TV manufacturers and only puts two to four buttons on a remote control. sonoro continues the quality of the remote control known from the RELAX series and also puts all essential buttons on the high-quality remote control again. A remote control is simply still part of a cinema experience in the evening and you don’t want to simply start an app again just to change a few settings once more. Perfectly solved by sonoro.
The connection wonder for music and cinema lovers
When you look at the various products from sonoro, you immediately notice the large number of connection options. You always have the feeling that you only need one sonoro device and can collect all devices and reception options in one device.
The sonoro PRESTIGE behaves the same way again and so the following connection formats are directly available for music lovers and cinema enthusiasts:
Slot-in CD drive
FM radio
DAB+ digital radio
Internet radio
Spotify Connect
Podcasts
Optical connection
Bi-directional Bluetooth
aptX Bluetooth technology
Especially those who have traveled a lot in the world, covered thousands of kilometers on American highways and found their favorite radio stations in time, will of course be pleased when they can now select from over 25,000 stations by music genre or even by region and find their favorites again.
Even if with us relatively little still radio runs and one spends the time rather with Podcasts, then Internet radio offers again completely different experiences and connections, which are not possible otherwise. There is of course the possibility to play some stations via the laptop, but if your own device does it in the living room, it is of course a completely different experience.
The radio program in the sonoro PRESTIGE is supplemented with the DAB+ digital radio standard, which enables even better radio quality and digital transmission. As in some cars, the additional information is again clearly displayed on the 2.8-inch display.
The most popular stations can be immediately and conveniently stored on four Quick Favorites buttons on the device, or alternatively, up to 40 stations can be preset on the included remote control. We immediately saved our favorites on the device and now also find more good radio stations by chance and music direction, which we then save.
In addition, aptX Bluetooth is a special codec for transmitting audio signals in particularly high quality. Where with a normal Bluetooth standard the transmission rates are relatively limited and the quality of the audio stream can suffer, the aptX Bluetooth codec optimizes and compresses the transmission without any significant losses. Thus, much more data can be transmitted for a better acoustic listening experience.
Another pleasant additional benefit with devices from sonoro is the connection to Spotify. We also regularly publish our editorial music list and have of course stored the various playlists directly in the device. There are some devices from other providers where you can transfer playlists with Bluetooth, but it is relatively limited because you are then not allowed to use the smartphone for other applications. Of course, if you only have to store the Spotify account and all changes are immediately updated by the device, it is perfectly solved.
Installation and connectivity – sonoro Prestige
For music lovers and cinema lovers or TV lovers, it has become a nice trend for many years to have a TV or music device in every room. The disadvantage for many years was, of course, if you had to re-record each time or take the CD with you.
sonoro has been offering connectivity for many years now, and so in the sonoro PRESTIGE up to 16 devices can be connected to each other using this multi-room technology. Per group, up to five different devices from sonoro can be linked throughout the house. We have thus created a group expressly for TV/movies and a group for music in the living room, dining room and also in the bedroom.
It is always surprising how well sonoro manages to do the initial installation. sonoro manages to do this installation again with the sonoro PRESTIGE device and in less than three minutes the device is completely installed, connected to the WLAN network and immediately surprises with a rich and good sound.
Even though the good installation, the easy integration of Spotify and the various sonoro devices in the house are almost expected from sonoro, sonoro also always manages to surprise the users with pleasant effects.
Of course, there are RCA ports for additional audio and video devices on the back again, as well as a headphone input on the front, but pairing with Bluetooth headphones also succeeds very well and without problems. We use the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 for this and it succeeds immediately. The bidirectional Bluetooth technology then also enables undisturbed music enjoyment on the one hand, but also many other additional functions.
Another unexpected factor that has additionally created order in the living room is the possibility to also charge smartphones and tablets (5V – 2.1A) directly on the device. We have gotten into the habit that tablet in the evening directly overnight back to the device and have the next morning a freshly charged tablet, save a socket (which are often too full anyway) and it additionally always looks tidy. Well solved by sonoro!
Overall impression
With the latest product from sonoro, the sonoro PRESTIGE, buyers once again get a high-quality high-audio device. As with MEISTERSTÜCK, RELAX and STREAM, high-quality materials are used and immediately give a special impression.
You get a product developed and designed in Germany with high-quality piano lacquer (in white, silver and black) and a housing still made of wood. We know several sonoro users and regardless of how the apartment or house is decorated, the products each fit elegantly and timelessly with the decor.
sonoro continues the good performance of the devices that we were allowed to test and present before with the new PRESTIGE series and improves and refines the smart line again.
There are just a lot of little things in the sonoro PRESTIGE that make the experience special and elegant. As a buyer, you get a product that leaves nothing to be desired, is manufactured to a high standard and is a great addition to your own home for any music or movie lover.
The multi-room connectivity allows for long-term planning and additional rooms can be easily connected to the sonoro system at a later date.
Our expectations for the sonoro PRESTIGE were relatively high, as we already know the sound and workmanship of sonoro and have once again been pleasantly surprised. The sonoro PRESTIGE has been available from selected audio partners since October. More information about the device and the various partners is always available on the sonoro website.
