Sonos / the best mousetrap?

[thedudeabides]

Hi all,

I had my annual physical and my doc asked me about this product line.

Non audio types have raved about the quality but more importantly about the multi-room / multi-source capabilities in a wireless system.

Seems like a pretty darn good "life style" product for the money (reasonable sound quality for non-critical listening) considering cost of wiring / install in an existing home environment.

Any thoughts / experiences with this wi-fi based product and other products on the market that are similar in nature.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

GG

[LL21]

Sonos is easy to use as an interface...personally I like it. I have never truly experimented with hard drives though it was the concept of a music server that led me to buy a standalone DAC over 6 years ago when almost no one was selling one. That said, I did a lot of reading and I believe Empirical Audio has created some kind of reclocker which allows one to reclock the signal as part of a Sonos-based setup and then i2s directly into the back of a DAC...creating a much lower amount of jitter in the signal to the DAC.

I know of at least one owner who swears by this solution with his Zanden DAC and preferred it over his Zanden transport. So done right, I have been told it is a great interface with proper audiophile quality. YMMV and I have never done it...eventually opting for a matching Zanden Transport. Will get around to a server when all the elements (isolation, interface, how to properly, losslessly burn files, etc) is all touch of a button easy for people like me.

[AMP]

I carry the line, but have been a Sonos user since long before I got remotely close to the industry.

In my opinion Sonos absolutely nailed it with their offering (keeping in mind that we aren't their target market).

It's best to think of Sonos as a software product and the hardware is just the enabler to make the software work. Much like Apple they chose to keep the hardware ecosystem completely closed and that has allowed them to control features and functionality very well.

The good:

1) It's truly plug-and-play with most systems up and running in multiple rooms in a matter of minutes.
2) The interface is completely intuitive and non-intimidating to average people (non-geeks).
3) The system always works...if setup properly. This is where working with Sonos directly or through a dealer has benefits as the shirts at Best Buy don't have a clue.
4) Install the software on your computer and it finds your music and serves it up. No configuration needed in most cases. It just works.
5) Excellent selection of third-party services. I've discovered some great music with Pandora and made purchase decisions with MOG.
6) The CONNECT (used to be the ZonePlayer 80 and 90) has a digital out with relatively decent performance. I have one that was modified by Cullen and it's even better. Digital output is bit perfect and the clock mods reduce the jitter significantly.
7) The new offerings (Playbar, S1, SUB) all work very well and are well worth the price. We installed a playbar in our bedroom and were able to kill two birds with one stone...better sound on the TV, and got rid of the speakers we were using for music. Sound quality is surprisingly good considering the reality of where it's placed.
8) Feature releases are frequent and usually very well tested before release.

The bad:
1) Bitrate for file playback is limited to 16/44 and this likely won't change anytime soon. Sonos has offered up several reasons, but the most compelling is the fact that due to the way that the system works it's actually very difficult to keep the zones in sync. Bumping up the bitrate (over 8x for 192/24) would make that even more difficult.
2) The system currently has a limitation to the number of files that it can catalog (about 65,000), but the practical limit is lower. A friend with about 22,000 files does have trouble browsing his library on occasion as the system slows to a crawl. I've got about 15,000 loaded and haven't had any trouble so YMMV. I can say that my network is quite a bit more robust than his.
3) Sound quality from their speakers is average at best for anything more than brackground music.
4) They discontinued their dedicated controllers favoring smartphone / tablet apps instead. This is fine as the apps work well, but there's always a delay in waking up the phone, finding the app, it connecting to the system, etc. Not a big deal, but can be frustrating when you need to mute playback or skip a horrible track. The dedicated controllers were always on and ready to go.

Overall it's a solid product that shows some sound engineering. The fact that the core products haven't changed in years (other than marketing names) shows that they had a very clear plan from the beginning and that's refreshing in the flavor-of-the-month consumer electronics industry.

[JackD201]

My home has Sonos zones in various locations. It just works. These are set up with simple independent systems around the house comprised of Bel Canto S300 integrateds and Duevel Planet Omnis. The girls have a Sonos hooked up to a Yamaha integrated and a pair of B&W 302s. I only had two complaints. The first wasn't even really SONOS' fault since a change within Apple had my SONOS down until they could come up with a patch for iTunes reintegration. That took about a month and a half but all was well afterwards. The other was that the SONOS controller s broke down a lot. This is no longer an issue since you don't need their controllers anymore. Just download the App and use your smartphone.

[FrantzM]

Echoing the sentiment about SONOS: It just works and most reliably. One small con: It has no IR remote control something that could be useful in a Wholehouse system so that it could better integrate with other brands. Yes there are work around but they defeat the utter simplicity of use and installation of the SONOS ecosystem. A great product.As for sound quality, for casual listening it is all that is needed. For the audiophiles there are mods. Haven't heard these though.

[joeinid]

I have the Wyred 4 Sound modified Sonos and have it hooked up to an external dac. It is amazing. I absolutely love it.

[JackD201]

The stock electronics are actually quite good. Ron, Steve, Jim and I had a great time with Ron's Sonos hooked up via analog outs to Steve's Alexandria 2s and Lamms. I still want Ron's library though, lots of great stuff in that NAS of his.

[Vincent Kars]

Maybe Bluesound is an alternative: http://www.bluesound.com/

[Phelonious Ponk]

I know Sonos well...used to sell it. It is very good stuff, easy to use. But if simultaneously playing different music in different zones isn't critical for you, it can easily be bested with a computer running any computer audio source through Airfoil to any iPad, iPhone, Android or Airplay compatible device (Apple TV, Airport Express, lots of 3rd party audio), getting the wireless signal to any audio system. As an example, there are very inexpensive powered monitors available that will blow away Sonos play bars for less $, receivers/integrated amps that will offer much more versatility and more power than Sonos amps, or you can hook it up to all the existing systems in your house (Less expensively than Sonos) as another source option.

Sonos is a good system and a great solution for folks who want extremely easy plug-n-play. But for not much more trouble, and, if you shop carefully, less money, you can get better quality playback.

Tim

[thedudeabides]

Thank you Tim and everyone else for the input.

My sense is that my Doc will be more than happy with the tech limitations and will love the "user friendly" aspects of the system.

GG