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.

[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]

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.

[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.