Sonos

[George Hincapie]

Out of curiosity, have any of you used a Sonos Connect? Perhaps via wired ethernet with a NAS attached? If so, how was it musically?

[Fretless]

I have 2. There is one attached to the kitchen stereo via wifi, and a second on ethernet cable in the sitting-room for background music (old NVA system with Arcam speakers). Sonos gear will work wirelessly but the sound is better on cabled connections. There is also a software hack to disable the wifi completely - improves the sound as well.

Sonos equipment is easy to setup and use and I was very happy with the SQ until I started playing around with Pi's which are noticeably more 'audiophile'. Running them off a NAS is a doddle - user interface on PC/tablet asks where your music is and automatically loads it.

The remote-volume control is also great if you are feeling lazy - although it slightly reduces the clarity. Styling is nice. You can run Spotify, Airplay, multi-room, TV, etc. They have both analogue and digital outputs - and an extra ethernet socket for extending the wired network.

Main drawback is the price. You will find the sound quality to be good but not exceptional.

[Shevans]

I have been a Sonos user since 2005, used the ZP80 / ZP90 / Connect with great success on various NVA amps but came to the conclusion that they are a bottleneck for audio quality despite what the idiots in the Sonos forum think and the test monkeys measure.

I still have a few Sonos speakers left but have moved over to Bluesound devices now as they support hires files, MQA and soon Roon. The audio quality is far better than Sonos, the software is good and music services available are getting better with each release. I can see Bluesound becoming the audiophile version of Sonos in the future.

Bluesound does cost more than Sonos but even when comparing an integrated speakers between the two Bluesound wins within seconds. Their Pulse Mini is so good you forget that is a tiny box, downside is that you can only buy from Sevenoaks in the U.K.

[George Hincapie]

Wow! Bluesound is stupidly expensive! The Vault version is twice the price of the equivalent Brennan B2...

[Copperblue]

I use Sonos connect only, wired connection to a router switch to which is also attached a NAS.

Excellent software in the Sonos - it just works, picks up all my lossless FLAC CD copies on my NAS which have been ripped using dBPoweramp software.

CD rips sound surprisingly good through the Sonos - I would say as good as a £300 to £500 CD player (better than my Oppo 103D universal disc player for example). I also use Tidal which sounds OK but not as good as the CD rips on the NAS. Tidal and Spotify really work for me to enable to hear different music and helps me to rationalise / prioritise my vinyl purchases. Vinyl is my main listening for pleasure.

I do enjoy Tidal and Spotify when I'm travelling though.

[George Hincapie]

The Sonos can be 'audiophiled'...

https://www.wyred4sound.com/products/up ... t-modified

[Fretless]

Modded Connect costs about the same as a Bluesound Node 2.

[George Hincapie]

Has anyone done a A/B output comparison?

[Fretless]

One of my maior gripes with Sonos is that the whole system is limited to 16-bit. The mod does not improve that. Bluesound does up to 24-bit, 192 kHz Hi-Res.

[Shevans]

Has anyone done a A/B output comparison?

I tried the original Bluesound Node, a Sonos connect and compared them about 3 years or so ago. The Node was better and I was able to clearly hear interconnect differences using it which I could not when using the connect. At the time there was no UK dealers and it was on loan from a friend, if I could have purchased one in the UK mail order I would have.

Also Sonos have admitted that newer connnect models are no longer bit-perfect

(CONNECTs manufactured from 2011 on, with hardware version 1.16.5 or higher.)