Sonos Alternative

[cbmotorsport]

Wondering if there's a solution other than Sonos for the following:

I own a Coffee Shop with a covered courtyard and want music inside and out, I'd like to be able to control the volumes of the internal and external speakers separately, I don't want wired speakers.

Cost is a consideration, hence why curious about Sonos alternatives, sound doesn't have to be incredible.

Thanks!

[PM3]

Googled " Sonos Alternative "

One of the pages of links which indicated 15 alternatives ( all relevant ) https://beebom.com/sonos-alternatives-multi-room-s...

[cbmotorsport]

Thanks. I had done that, was looking for some actual user experiences.

[Lucid_AV]

cbmotorsport said:

Wondering if there's a solution other than Sonos for the following:

I own a Coffee Shop with a covered courtyard and want music inside and out, I'd like to be able to control the volumes of the internal and external speakers separately, I don't want wired speakers.

Cost is a consideration, hence why curious about Sonos alternatives, sound doesn't have to be incredible.

Thanks!

Initial thoughts...

• you don't want wired speakers, but those multiroom speakers are going to need their own power points which may involve an electrician - at a 'skilled trades' cost - compared to speaker wires which a competent DIYer can run. If you're on a budget then that's something to think about

• How good is your security? Fingers crossed it doesn't happen, but a nice fancy wireless speaker sitting on a bracket.... "Oh, they're expensive, aren't they? That would look nice in my bedroom. Wonder how much I can get for it at CEX?"

• a covered courtyard; is that still basically outdoors with a roof? Subject to temperate variations. Damp. Cold. Freezing? How long do you think an indoor multiroom speaker will last, or are you intending to go round each night taking the speakers down and then putting them back up the next day? That's going to get to be an onerous task pretty quickly. Also, if they're easy for you to remove and refit then they're going to be easy to nick

• indoor / outdoor independent volume control - Yeah, that can be achieved easily with other tech too, and in a way that doesn't involve dragging you away from something more important or handing over the reins to some staff member who might decide to have a different choice of music whilst they're adjusting

• music content and public performance legalities. You're going to need a licence from PPL PRS unless the music you choose is licence free. There are a number of businesses set up with a pool of musicians who will supply licence free music, but you're going to pay quite a bit for it, and do you really want to hear the same tunes over and over again? Streaming radio or internet radio, sure. But what if your competitors start to advertise, or the stream you've hit on carries adverts for the Flagstaff airport hair car and tire centre? Your music choices can say a lot about your establishment. Give some thought to whether they'll say the right things.

https://www.gov.uk/licence-to-play-live-or-recorde...


I can understand the appeal of a wireless multiroom system. It seems like an easy solution. I would suggest though that keeping things very low tech helps you maintain better control of the audio system whilst also making it less of a target for opportunists. A 100Volt Line Audio amp with several speakers grouped in two zones - with separate volume controls for each zone - could sound just as good as say Sonos for background music but stand up to like in a commercial environment (including outdoor use) far better.