SONOS

[imorgan]

OK, so go easy on me as I'm new to PH.

For a long while now I have wanted to sort out multi room music for my house. After much deliberation and investigation I am coming round to a Sonos system. Anyone out there got one of these and have any opinions as to whether it is worth the money - I am looking at a grand for music streaming in 2 rooms, with a incremental cost of circa #300 for each additional room?

Sensible approach or off my head - would value your input?

[Plotloss]

The Squeezebox offering is a very valid alternative.

[ukwill]

imorgan said:

OK, so go easy on me as I'm new to PH.

For a long while now I have wanted to sort out multi room music for my house. After much deliberation and investigation I am coming round to a Sonos system. Anyone out there got one of these and have any opinions as to whether it is worth the money - I am looking at a grand for music streaming in 2 rooms, with a incremental cost of circa #300 for each additional room?

Sensible approach or off my head - would value your input?

Oh boy. Popcorn time.

It really boils down to you and what your prefs are. Personally I like the style of the Sonos far more. These days it's also a lot easier/cheaper to get into Sonos ownershhip.

If price is really important and you like fiddling, buy the Squeezebox, else if exist...

All I can say is that I've had my Sonos since '05 and I still think its one of the best gadgets I've ever bought.

[Zod]

There is no more fiddling with the Squeezebox than the Sonos and, with the Duet, there is nothing in it on style either.

[ukwill]

OP - good review of both here: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Sonos-wireless-music,r...

Page 7 talks about the competition. Notably the Squeezebox.

Whatever you choose Im sure you will enjoy - both are great.

Zod, sorry but I totally disagree. However, its been done to death and I just cant be arsed. Plenty of forum posts about the two over at AVForums (for starters).

[spikety]

I've recently moved to Sonos from a Roku setup (similar to Squeezebox). The Sonos is excellent, but the real killer in my view is the support. I put up with random dropouts for years from the Roku despite incessant fiddling. With the Sonos I had some teething problems but they were sorted by hitting a 'send diagnostics' button which allowed the (very helpful) phone support agent to diagnose and sort the problem remotely straight away.

If you have perfect wifi coverage and no issues with routing transport protocols the squeezebox will be fine. If you have iffy wifi or troublesome routing and enjoy troubleshooting, again squeezebox is fine. If you want it to 'just work' and support if not, then I recommend the Sonos.

[spikety]

I've recently moved to Sonos from a Roku setup (similar to Squeezebox). The Sonos is excellent, but the real killer in my view is the support. I put up with random dropouts for years from the Roku despite incessant fiddling. With the Sonos I had some teething problems but they were sorted by hitting a 'send diagnostics' button which allowed the (very helpful) phone support agent to diagnose and sort the problem remotely straight away.

If you have perfect wifi coverage and no issues with routing transport protocols the squeezebox will be fine. If you have iffy wifi or troublesome routing and enjoy troubleshooting, again squeezebox is fine. If you want it to 'just work' and support if not, then I recommend the Sonos.

[Zod]

ukwill said:

OP - good review of both here: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Sonos-wireless-music,r...

Page 7 talks about the competition. Notably the Squeezebox.

Whatever you choose Im sure you will enjoy - both are great.

Zod, sorry but I totally disagree. However, its been done to death and I just cant be arsed. Plenty of forum posts about the two over at AVForums (for starters).

and they're all utterly partisan. Listen to plotloss.

[IMO]

Great advice guys. I'm pretty sold on the Sonos so just needed to be tipped over the edge. Another question - I don't want to 'waste' a Zone Player in the room where my router is so will go for the Zone Bridge option. Is there any drop in sound quality as a result?

[ukwill]

IMO said:

Great advice guys. I'm pretty sold on the Sonos so just needed to be tipped over the edge. Another question - I don't want to 'waste' a Zone Player in the room where my router is so will go for the Zone Bridge option. Is there any drop in sound quality as a result?

There is no difference in sound quality when using the ZoneBridge.

I'd put money on you being happy with the Sonos system once you've installed it.

Good luck!

[danyeates]

Sonos looks fantastic although I've not had much of a play with it.

Do you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone? They have the remote feature so they can control iTunes anywhere within your wireless network. You can then buy the Apple Airport Express (I think that's what it's called) which plugs into the mains socket in your other rooms and has a 3.5mm output jack to connect to your PC.

You can then control this with your iPhone or iPod Touch. Just another, much cheaper option.

[spikety]

Also, Airport Express requires your mac/pc to be on with iTunes running. Sonos can run from a NAS.

Sonos also provide a free app for the iTouch/iPhone which closely mimics the UI from their dedicated controller.

[danyeates]

Yeah, Sonos does have those advantages I admit but thought it was worth mentioning as I thought it was a cool device for £70 or so.