After just over 10 happy years as a Sonos user it's time to move on. Over the last few years other systems have slowly displaced Sonos in a number of rooms and I sold off my last two units, a Connect and a Connect:Amp, on the local equivalent of Craigslist this last weekend.
The living room Connect feeding the bigrig was first to go. Replaced by a Sonore microRendu to feed the Devialet. Here the lack of hi rez support was the clincher, although the endless teething problems with Devialet's Air streaming protocol granted it several stays of execution. And now Roon has replaced pretty much all my other music UIs (except vinyl) the mR fits hand-in-glove.
The kids' bedroom Connects, driving active speakers (variously AudioEngine and Adam) were next, replaced with Airport Expresses . Here the impetus was the realisation that their iPhones had become their only source of music, and while Sonos provided Spotify integration it didn't offer Youtube. Fewer clicks and (much) cheaper infrastructure, plus they get wifi repeaters in their rooms "for free" over which I can selectively exercise parental control. Mwah ha ha.
The kitchen was the last to succumb. Here we had a Connect:Amp feeding Spendor S3s built into the cavity above the wall units. A large portion of the usage here is internet radio, which the Sonos handled very well, but so do a whole bunch of iPhone apps. This evening I replaced it with an Airport Express feeding a NAD D 3020 via Audioquest Forest toslink. The Express is connected directly to my main switch (I gave up the unequal struggle to make purely wireless coverage work in my apartment, bit the bullet and cabled all the affected rooms in conjunction with a remodelling a year-or-so ago, best thing I ever did!) so acts as a roaming AP rather than a repeater.
The intended benefits were Roon integration for me and a standardized interface (Airplay) for the rest of the family. Plus improved wifi coverage in the kitchen into the bargain. But the really cool thing is the improvement in sound quality. Not a huge issue on streamed internet radio but immediately noticeable, even moreso on Tidal. Slightly surprising (given the sub-optimal placement of the speakers) and highly appreciated. The NAD really makes those Spendors sing!
The other cool thing is that the NAD ($499), Airport ($99) and cable ($24.99) cost a whisker less than I got back for my old Sonos gear - and I mean old! The units were 7 and 8 years old respectively - and yet still current!! Hell that puts them in the blue chip investment category as far as hifi goes, right up there with my Nait 2!
Anyway, plenty of nostalgia for the Sonos, of which I was a relatively early adopter. It always worked in a set-and-forget sorta way that all consumer electronics should do but so rarely does. The mesh network proved far more robust than any of my own amateur radio network planning efforts. The UI, both hw and sw, was great and just kept getting better. And the factors that made it less relevant and ultimately irrelevant for me (lack of hi res support and refusal to allow Roon integration*) are design decisions rather than weaknesses per se. Sonos is a great product and imo richly deserves its market success.
But for me it's onward and upward and a new chapter of kitchen musical enjoyment starts courtesy of the NAD. Back in my college days I shared an apartment with 4 guys 3 of whom had NAD 3020B amps. I was a black sheep with a Mission Cyrus 2. But now some 30 years down the line I have a 3020 in my life.
Not a moment too soon!
* Breaking news! I hear that is finally about to change in the next couple weeks..
After just over 10 happy years as a Sonos user it's time to move on. Over the last few years other systems have slowly displaced Sonos in a number of rooms and I sold off my last two units, a Connect and a Connect:Amp, on the local equivalent of Craigslist this last weekend.
The living room Connect feeding the bigrig was first to go. Replaced by a Sonore microRendu to feed the Devialet. Here the lack of hi rez support was the clincher, although the endless teething problems with Devialet's Air streaming protocol granted it several stays of execution. And now Roon has replaced pretty much all my other music UIs (except vinyl) the mR fits hand-in-glove.
The kids' bedroom Connects, driving active speakers (variously AudioEngine and Adam) were next, replaced with Airport Expresses . Here the impetus was the realisation that their iPhones had become their only source of music, and while Sonos provided Spotify integration it didn't offer Youtube. Fewer clicks and (much) cheaper infrastructure, plus they get wifi repeaters in their rooms "for free" over which I can selectively exercise parental control. Mwah ha ha.
The kitchen was the last to succumb. Here we had a Connect:Amp feeding Spendor S3s built into the cavity above the wall units. A large portion of the usage here is internet radio, which the Sonos handled very well, but so do a whole bunch of iPhone apps. This evening I replaced it with an Airport Express feeding a NAD D 3020 via Audioquest Forest toslink. The Express is connected directly to my main switch (I gave up the unequal struggle to make purely wireless coverage work in my apartment, bit the bullet and cabled all the affected rooms in conjunction with a remodelling a year-or-so ago, best thing I ever did!) so acts as a roaming AP rather than a repeater.
The intended benefits were Roon integration for me and a standardized interface (Airplay) for the rest of the family. Plus improved wifi coverage in the kitchen into the bargain. But the really cool thing is the improvement in sound quality. Not a huge issue on streamed internet radio but immediately noticeable, even moreso on Tidal. Slightly surprising (given the sub-optimal placement of the speakers) and highly appreciated. The NAD really makes those Spendors sing!
The other cool thing is that the NAD ($499), Airport ($99) and cable ($24.99) cost a whisker less than I got back for my old Sonos gear - and I mean old! The units were 7 and 8 years old respectively - and yet still current!! Hell that puts them in the blue chip investment category as far as hifi goes, right up there with my Nait 2!
Anyway, plenty of nostalgia for the Sonos, of which I was a relatively early adopter. It always worked in a set-and-forget sorta way that all consumer electronics should do but so rarely does. The mesh network proved far more robust than any of my own amateur radio network planning efforts. The UI, both hw and sw, was great and just kept getting better. And the factors that made it less relevant and ultimately irrelevant for me (lack of hi res support and refusal to allow Roon integration*) are design decisions rather than weaknesses per se. Sonos is a great product and imo richly deserves its market success.
But for me it's onward and upward and a new chapter of kitchen musical enjoyment starts courtesy of the NAD. Back in my college days I shared an apartment with 4 guys 3 of whom had NAD 3020B amps. I was a black sheep with a Mission Cyrus 2. But now some 30 years down the line I have a 3020 in my life.
Not a moment too soon!
* Breaking news! I hear that is finally about to change in the next couple weeks..