Smart speaker or smart-enable a traditional setup?

[d000hg]

I want to get music playback into a few rooms. We have a load of CDs but mostly listen to streaming or downloaded music.

Good reviews as Sonos gets, the basic unit goes for £150 and is seemingly about as big as a can of beans. Even the 3 at £250 looks small. I'm struggling to believe they are decent speakers?

Whereas for £250 I could buy a basic Cambridge Audio amp and a pair of speakers from Richer Sounds, and a Chromecast Audio. In fact with the bottom end amp and wharfdale 9s, I can get it for £150. And while those are bottom end, they're still proper separates with great reviews.

By the time I get to the cost of a play 5, or dual 3s, I could be getting some half decent kit, so is Sonos actually any good when comparing cost, for audio alone?

Then looking at a bedroom speaker, the 1 seems great but £150 is quite a lot for a bedroom speaker if you just want quiet music.

So I'm seriously considering throwing my lot in with Google... The Chromecast Audio looks like a wonderful bit of kit, and buy a network drive to centralise storage?

[Lance]

Sonos are very expensive for low grade audio quality.
You're right about cost effective separates. Get on ebay and find some right bargains.

The Chromecast has a digital output as well so could potentially be used in a proper HiFi, via a quality DAC.

You can even use it with Tidal for lossless streaming (note I've not tried this yet as I use a Mac or phone to stream Tidal). Lossless streaming is the future and Sonos do have a lead in that they have exclusive deals with some of the content providers, Chromecast isn't far behind.

[malvolio]

Amazon's Alexa will support streaming to multiple Echo devices now, so may be an option. Speaker quality isn't as good as a proper home hi-fi if you want to listen to stuff but for background is more than good enough

[SteelyDan]

Sonos are very expensive for low grade audio quality...

I wouldn't class Sonos as 'low grade audio quality' at all. Granted they're not ultra hi-end hifi separates, but am not sure they're pretending to be either.

The output from a Play 1 is very good for its size [which is bigger than a tin of beans (OP)]. They are good quality units with a decent [& surprising] weight to them. The Play 5 is the top end of the scale; a heavy weight & good sound.

As for decision making, you need to go to a store which sells them [JL for example] & have a feel/listen...or if you can't be arsed, Sonos offer something like a 100 day trial & no quibble return, https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/legal/terms#return-policy

[Lance]

I wouldn't class Sonos as 'low grade audio quality' at all. Granted they're not ultra hi-end hifi separates, but am not sure they're pretending to be either.

The output from a Play 1 is very good for its size [which is bigger than a tin of beans (OP)]. They are good quality units with a decent [& surprising] weight to them. The Play 5 is the top end of the scale; a heavy weight & good sound.

As for decision making, you need to go to a store which sells them [JL for example] & have a feel/listen...or if you can't be arsed, Sonos offer something like a 100 day trial & no quibble return, https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/legal/terms#return-policy

It's subjective really.
They're not my cup of tea (a bit like Bose).

The returns policy is a good call. Try before you buy.
Same with the Chromecast (although at £30 the return is just a pain).

[d000hg]

Maybe I just grew up thinking small speakers are awful, and things have moved on. The JBL Flip for instance was rather surprisingly good when a mate showed me his. And another mate has Sonos which sounds good... But he has probably got the fancy ones, even the soundbar.

It's how an echo speaker or a play:1 compare even to a cheap mini hifi (£80) I'm really interested in. For a main living room setup I really can't see Sonos cutting it under £500 and you can definitely get a decent separates setup for that even if audiophiles would claim otherwise.

Thanks for your thoughts

[malvolio]

For comparison I've got a proper Sony separate system in the living room, a Panasonic mini in the kitchen (about an inch deep including speakers) and an Echo. While the Sony is streets ahead if you're listening to orchestral pieces with a very wide dynamic range, for normal use they are totally interchangeable. All three have enough distortion free welly to fill the house if you crank them up. Speaker technology has improved greatly in recent years with the advent of powerful non-ferric magnets among other things.

[Fred Bloggs]

As an ex Linn/Naim system owner and ex vinyl records junkie I have recently invested in 2x Sonos 1's. They are used as a stereo pair rather than standalone units.

I use an Apple music family account which for five users is very good value.

The Sonos app integrates Apple music into itself very neatly.

I sold all my LP's off some years ago and never really seriously got into either CDs or in fact MP3 music players either. So, for three hundred quid I thought I would take a punt on a pair of Sonos 1's.

The sound? Certainly not low end at all. Recall always being impressed with the tiny Linn Kan speakers which were amazing little things back in the old Linn/Naim vinyl era. The Sonos aren't that good but I seriously doubt much is anyway. The sound though, I do find most acceptable. More than just good in fact.

Combined with Apple music streaming in the Sonos app, it has really awakened my interest in music again. Just sitting on the sofa with almost the entire world back catalogue of music at my fingertips is a fantastic experience.

If you want smart speakers you may need to consider the new Sonos 1 with Alexa and Google home integration which are GBP 199 each. The regular Sonos speakers are not really that smart in isolation and they do lack things like blue tooth and line inputs.

I'd say give it a go, but do look at alternatives too. HTH.

Bloggs.

[SteelyDan]

So, for three hundred quid I thought I would take a punt on a pair of Sonos 1's.

Agreed. Price currently £134 on Amazon & JL [non-Alexa version].

As good as they are as single units, as a stereo pair the Play 1s are even better & easily fill a decent sized room with great sound. In largest room I've grouped a stereo pair of P1s with a single P5, and sound's very good. [jfi; P5 does offer line-in so you can add a turntable for old vinyl stuff but it's pricey at c.£450 currently].

Great things about Sonos is the simplicity [plug in, connect, play; 5 mins to set up] & flexibility [you can easily move units around the house], & all NAS music content [or music on your phone] controllable from your sofa via mobile [android in my case].

[sal]

Great things about Sonos is the simplicity [plug in, connect, play; 5 mins to set up] & flexibility [you can easily move units around the house], & all NAS music content [or music on your phone] controllable from your sofa via mobile [android in my case].

This is one of the major reasons for me to like Sonos. Great support and firmware updates for older hardware too.

Also don't forget that they are wireless and scale effortlessly. Important bit if you aim at multi speaker setup.

Sure you can probably built your won setup for a bit less, but doubt it will be wireless and the question remains - Is it worth the hassle.