Reply With QuoteThe Play 5 has an Aux In. You can connect an Apple AirPort Express to it then use AirPlay for app audio.
You can also get Bluetooth dongles to do the same thing.
http://www.colourmyliving.com/home/e...via-bluetooth/
Being in a similar quandry of Bose vs Sonos, I found this link to an app called "SonosTube" which allows streaming of YouTube to the Sonos.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sono...124115025?mt=8
The Play 5 has an Aux In. You can connect an Apple AirPort Express to it then use AirPlay for app audio.
You can also get Bluetooth dongles to do the same thing.
http://www.colourmyliving.com/home/e...via-bluetooth/
i recently picked up a Bose Soundtouch10 (Couldn't be happier and am considering getting another) - after testing out the equivalent Sonos & Yamaha options.
FYI - Bluetooth or through the Bose app works very well.
I think it can be quite a personal thing - a lot of people like the sonos sound, I much prefer the Bose (bit "deeper" sounding to me which i like) - I'm certainly no audiophile....so might just need to test them on whatever shop you can as a starting point.
If you're thinking of going down the Sonos route, check out the Denon Heos range. All the convenience and potentiality of the Sonos system, spotify connect included, bluetooth included and a superior sound to my ears.
I think these will play Hi - res as well but I could be wrong. I've a small sonos setup of a gen 1 play 5 and a connect hooked up to my home hi fi system. Music is streamed from my NAS that is hard wired to my router. I'm pleased with it all but did start looking at the denon as I think they maybe slightly more audiophile though in reality I'd guess the differences are smallOriginally Posted by IanK
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By the way, what is a NAS? Keep seeing it mentioned in these threads.
NAS = Network Attached Storage
Basically a drive that sits on your network.
Ahh ok, so a USB stick or HDD plugged into the back of the router (mine has a USB slot, amongst others)... presumably requiring specialist software to access it in a sensible way? I will go and google this now to get the jist of it.
Sonos for ease - Bose for quality
I use an Avantree Bluetooth receiver (19.99 on Amazon) which connects to a Sonos Play 5 (I am not sure if the 3 has an input) for BT purposes.
It is handy for playing You Tube etc but mostly I use Spotify or my NAS and the radio. There is a "from this phone" option on the app now too so possibly the BT adaptor no longer needed.
I would agree with this or if you have less space then maybe the Muso-QB.
Sound quality is the best I have heard in this field especially when using hi def audio from Tidal. It also has all the connection options you need, optical, aux, Bluetooth, wifi etc and the QB is not much more than a Sonos Play 5.
Personally Sonos are great if you wish to network but a little lacking in my opinion as a stand alone speaker set up.
That make sense - I do like my Sonos system as I have the same music in the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom and can move the speakers about at will or when having a party can bring in the others too and have the same sound throughout the house.
I can easily see other systems providing more in function and it can be a nuisance to have to have the WiFi up but for a wireless whole house sound system you can add on to as and when the Sonos takes some beating.
We have a pair of Play 1's linked in stereo in our lounge and even having come from a full on hifi experience in my old house, I can't really fault the Sonos. They may be teeny but as a stereo pair they fill the room perfectly well and don't distort. Ours came with a years free Deezer subscription, which we have continued - as someone else said, it's like having access to a record shop 24 hours a day and creating playlists for different people or events is a doddle. I too have quite eclectic music taste, so to be able to cater for that on a whim is brilliant. Couldn't be more simple to set up either via the Sonos app.
Thank you gentlemen for all the helpful posts, and to the OP for starting this thread.
I now have a Sonos Play:5 and am really happy with the sound quality.
Setting it up was easy, I just need to update my iTunes library so that I could access my playlists.
I'm a convert.
Last edited by Rocket Man; 2nd January 2017 at 16:48.
I've been totally left behind in recent years, I don't own a smartphone and I've never got my head around the downloading music thing. However, I have 3 good quality hi-fi systems in the house, a large collection of CDs, and I place a high priority on sound quality.
The problem I'd like to solve is being unable to play the same music all around the house. I could do this by running miles of wires everywhere but that's not really practical. Clearly, the Sonos thing would tick some boxes, but surely the sound quality ( compared to what I have ) would nosedive? Everyone seems obsessed with playlists/itunes/wifi etc but surely this is putting the emphasis on convenience at the expense of sound quality.
I don't need to change anything yet, but there will come a time for a complete rethink at some stage, possibly if/when I move house. Unlike most of the population I don't carry a mobile phone around me 24/7 like a kid with a teddybear or a baby with a dummy; if I needed to do so I'd struggle, I'd put the damned thing down and forget where I'd left it.
Paul
I believe the sound you get is ALWAYS a compromise. If you want the same sound quality in other rooms as the one you already have, even running wires will not do as sound will suffer with that length of wiring.
I am a (very) recent convert to Sonos but I must admit that, associated to a premium music streaming service (for quality) it trumps everything in terms of convenience for the sound quality. Plus I can control what I play from my iphone or computer, rather than faffing around to find the CD. Most of mine are now in the loft after having downloaded them on my hard disks.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Paul
No real need for the quality to drop, you'd need to bare in mind that if you use sonos for this that its not a cheap solution.
Assuming your plan is to keep the existing you'd need a play:connect unit to connect to each of your existing hifi's at around £250 each.
Then again assuming you don't want to leave your computer on 24/7 you need a nas drive at £100 ish and a usb drive of the same size for backups.
You then copy the cd's to your computer and convert them to a lossless format, this reduces the size but not the quality of the recordings, then you copy the converted files to the nas and the USB backup.
As you know music is subjective so while using a lossless format means you haven't lost you still might not like the sound the sonos:play provides in the same way you might have a preference for one cd manufacture over another.
If you wanted to test before hand I'd suggest downloading iTunes and encoding a few favourite cd's as apple lossless, buy a sonos:connect from a company with a good return policy, set up and do a compare and contrast between it and your existing cd.
These
are constantly on clearance in Richer Sounds so you can pick these up pretty cheap...
Yep that's all you need, a Sonos Connect, I have one connected to my Marantz PM17KI and KEF LS50, stream my music from my NAS drive in FLAC quality.
You could, as a cheaper solution, buy Chromecast Audio x3 and stream Tune in Radio, or other music servers still a great way to listen to music.
The dinosaur say's 'thanks guys' from the depths of his cave
I`m steeped/trapped in traditional hi-fi thinking, but also realistic enough to realise that the top end of the frequency range now eludes my ageing ears. Perhaps it's time to rethink my priorities towards convenience?
A new computer may be on the shopping list for 2017 too.
Must go, Wilma says the Brontosaurus steaks are cooked and ready to rip apart.
Paul
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 2nd January 2017 at 14:41.
One thing I found was after hooking up my connect to my Roksan kandy k3 amp it did alter the sound somewhat. It sounded like a sheet had been dropped in front of the speakers. I over came this by adding a dedicated valve DAC to the system and that sorted it right out
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