Any audiophiles? Sonos Connect opinions wanted

[ldamelio]

I enjoy my music but certainly not an audiophile. New to the world of Sonos, etc. Just got a Playbase for family room TV and happy with it.

In another part of the house, I have a home theater system circa 2002 that is sitting unused. Was great stuff in its day - Klipsch speakers (KSW 12 subwoofer, RF 3 vertical speakers,RS3 rear speakers, RC 3 center speaker), Denon AVR 3803 receiver. After moving to this house six years ago, never got around to hooking it all up as I would have had to run wires under rugs, etc. and just got lazy. Looks like I can buy a contemporary TV and a Sonos Connect and hook it all up and enjoy the system again. Thoughts? Alternatives? Pitfalls? What about ditching the receiver and using Sonos Connect Amplifier rather than the basic Connect and my Denon? I know this would limit my speakers to the towers and subwoofer. Thanks in advance.

[davids]

I'm something like you - I have an aging audiophile system and wanted to (1) add streaming for the existing stereo and (2) expand streaming to other parts of the house.

So I got a Connect that feeds its digital output to the DAC that's part of the ol' stereo on the 3rd floor, and a pair of Play:1 speakers for the first floor. Later we added another Play:1 for the kitchen. I stream mostly from Tidal, for hifi quality. But my wife uses the system for radio and podcasts with the same ease.

I love the Sonos system. The Connect sounds quite good, at least feeding my high-end DAC (I hear its own DAC is just OK...), and the stereo pair of Play:1s is way beyond acceptable for the $400 price.

I just wish the Connect came in black...

[ldamelio]

Thanks ! BTW, I've seen black covers for the Connect for sale online.

[edoz]

I have a Sonos Connect and I love it. It's hooked up to my 70s Marantz receiver in the living room, while my large digital music collection is on my gaming rig in the back room.

I will probably buy another Connect for my shop at some point, unless I can figure out a cheap, slick way to piggyback another receiver.

[rec head]

No experience with Sonos but the Google Chromecast Audio is a nice solution. They are $35 each. If your old Denon has optical input you can get an optical cable to connect it.

[sk_tle]

I too own a vintage hi-fi setup (Marantz). I don't see the point going with an expensive Sonos setup while you can just send plug a DAC with a bluetooth input to send the audio from any bluetooth compatible device, be it your computer, hdtv, tablets, phones.

I recommend the Arcam rblink or miniblink DACs. Very good quality/price ratio.

I also own a google cast thingy but it is less versatile as it only works with "compatible" apps while with bluetooth you can send the output of anything that run on your devices.

[davids]

A Bluetooth stream will not be lossless.
But it will be cheap.

[GravityAngel]

I'm something like you - I have an aging audiophile system and wanted to (1) add streaming for the existing stereo and (2) expand streaming to other parts of the house.

So I got a Connect that feeds its digital output to the DAC that's part of the ol' stereo on the 3rd floor, and a pair of Play:1 speakers for the first floor. Later we added another Play:1 for the kitchen. I stream mostly from Tidal, for hifi quality. But my wife uses the system for radio and podcasts with the same ease.

I love the Sonos system. The Connect sounds quite good, at least feeding my high-end DAC (I hear its own DAC is just OK...), and the stereo pair of Play:1s is way beyond acceptable for the $400 price.

I just wish the Connect came in black...

Nice looking setup, Thiels and what looks to be a Sota TT.

[rec head]

One drawback to bluetooth is that it is harder to stream to multiple devices at once. With Sonos and Chromecast you can stream to multiple devices around the house easily.

Chromecast is more versatile on the Android platform.

But bluetooth is the easiest and what we use to stream books and podcasts.

You mention getting a TV so I'm assuming you are planning on watching movies or TV through this setup. You can also look at streaming boxes like the Roku to see what music sources they offer that you can control from your app. You also have to remember that the old Denon doesn't have HDMI (right?) so connecting it to a bluray player or streaming box might be a pain. The TV will probably have built in streaming apps and optical audio output.

There are lots of ways this can work.

[davids]

Nice looking setup, Thiels and what looks to be a Sota TT.

VPI Jr.
It's nice.

[sk_tle]

A Bluetooth stream will not be lossless.
But it will be cheap.

Does Sonos do lossless ? Most of the sound you'd want to send from a mobile or streaming device would be compressed at the source anyway.

[davids]

Does Sonos do lossless ? Most of the sound you'd want to send from a mobile or streaming device would be compressed at the source anyway.

Yes, it streams the highest available quality by default. When I'm streaming music at home, I'm usually listening to Tidal, set to "HiFi" for a lossless signal. I've got a 100MB+ Internet connection at home, so it can handle anything that my little household asks of it.

I only raised the issue because some people care about it. If you don't, I'm not going to be upset: What's important is that you enjoy the music!

[sk_tle]

It's not that I don't care but I don't know of any streaming service that provides lossless sound. Thus I don't obsess on quality when I'm streaming music or video sound on my hifi setup. My flac lossless encoded music is played through a computer directly plugged to the DAC next to my hifi using the music player daemon server.

[Badonkadonk]

i know this might be heresy but i have a fairly reference quality 2 channel system (mac computer into wavelength tube DAC into SimAudio then Wilson / JL sub speakers) all in a dedicated room and I can tell the difference between lossless and compressed (note - well compressed, not from like 1999...) sources maybe about 10-15% of the time. On the best recordings, to me it comes across as more airy and focused in space. That's my rate of uncompressed vs. say Spotify high res. I haven't tried Tidal yet.

I won't go to vinyl yet because the very best vinyl I ever heard, again through amazing electronics and speakers was so f!$@ing good I think it would make my digital listening just annoying. For every pop or snap from the turntable, I was rewarded with organic, holographic, full, rich bass and wonderful jump.

Curse you digital audio you best worst solution. Unless you have amazing ears or a ridiculously resolving system, you don't lose much these days IMHO between best digital and really good moderately compressed digital. Anyone have a different view?

[fastupslowdown]

I enjoy my music. I can't do small speakers but live in an apartment. I avoided large speakers because of the size of the seating area realizing I couldn't place them far enough away from the walls or sit in a proper position to enjoy them. I eventually settled on a pair of Theil CS 1.6's which I've been very happy with. They're two way speakers but sound great.

[giordana93]

my sonos stuff is already probably 10 years old, so not sure of the current specs, but my stuff has a digital out and you can stream higher bit rates, so if you already have a system, the non-ampified base makes sense. not sure if it is still worth the premium, but the ease of use and ability to synchronize (or play separately, all from the same remote) is great, and now you aren't required to buy their pricey remote, so it is a tad cheaper. and compared to running wires through walls and stuff, the price is pretty cheap, plus you get to bring it with you when you move (or decide the old bedroom is the new media room, etc.). plus, I have to say that the hardware has been pretty darn robust. With the Denon, you can also have a second "free zone" using the A/B speaker output. that's what we do with our kitchen player--A speakers feed to kitchen, B out to patio. seamless transition between the two when both are on, or kill the kitchen when you need indoors quiet, vice versa when things are inside. I'm a fan. trying to resist getting one of the portable boombox units. the only thing I don't like, compared to a traditional set-up, is having to wait briefly for a system boot (after finding the remote/app) and lack of just a good old-fashioned on/off switch on the zones. it would be nice to just push a button and have instant on with whatever was last playing, but that is not a deal breaker. we still have a radio, right?

[sailor]

I know it's not what your wanting to do but I have a amazon fire tv box that goes digital out to my B&K receiver. I run spotify at high quality and it sounds quite good like 99% of a CD. If i wanted perfect sound I would look into a higher resolution setup but I can't tell the difference unless I try.

[rec head]

i know this might be heresy but i have a fairly reference quality 2 channel system (mac computer into wavelength tube DAC into SimAudio then Wilson / JL sub speakers) all in a dedicated room and I can tell the difference between lossless and compressed (note - well compressed, not from like 1999...) sources maybe about 10-15% of the time. On the best recordings, to me it comes across as more airy and focused in space. That's my rate of uncompressed vs. say Spotify high res. I haven't tried Tidal yet.

I won't go to vinyl yet because the very best vinyl I ever heard, again through amazing electronics and speakers was so f!$@ing good I think it would make my digital listening just annoying. For every pop or snap from the turntable, I was rewarded with organic, holographic, full, rich bass and wonderful jump.

Curse you digital audio you best worst solution. Unless you have amazing ears or a ridiculously resolving system, you don't lose much these days IMHO between best digital and really good moderately compressed digital. Anyone have a different view?

Not me. I'm sure my success rate at distinguishing lossy vs lossless is lower than yours. It could be all mental but I find lossy is more fatiguing after a while. I mean at proper volume not background volume.

[Badonkadonk]

and now to move from the sublime to the ridiculous: i just ordered a pair of devialet phantoms to use at a second home. cue lots of cursing in french and not-reference but stoopid fun sound

[maunahaole]

Reviving this for a friend. He wants to set up some remote speakers in other parts of the house. He will source from his existing setup, probably not have anything digitized or streaming. So, I’m thinking that he will need something to take a signal from a line out on the receiver and into something that can stream it wirelessly to some remote speakers. He can spend some money, but not a ridiculous amount. Any ideas?