Wireless Home Speakers

[Matthew Strongin]

I'm considering a wireless speaker system for the house. I've started doing some research and have read good reviews of Sonos, but I wanted to check with the collective vsalon brain trust. In the main part of the house the family, living, dining rooms and kitchen are all open to each other, so something that connects to the tv (but can still play music) will work for most of the house. I'd like another set of speakers for the bedroom and I want wireless to bring a speaker onto the patio when we have parties.

Any experiences with the Sonos gear or other like products?

[Chad]

My older brother recently purchased the Sonos system. He is still raving about it. Can run it from smart phone, tablet, computer, anywhere with outlet and service. I was impressed.

[funcrusher]

sonos is fantastic...integrates seamlessly with itunes...

dont overthink it

[Matthew Strongin]

Well, I guess that covers that. Thanks, folks!

[Bob Ross]

Do yourself a favor and skip the Sonos stuff with the built-in speakers, at least for your primary listening room. Instead, use one of their ZP90s (or whatever the heck they changed the name to) to feed a decent power amplifier driving respectable hi-fi speakers. Or consider a pair of Dynaudio XEO self-powered wireless speakers being fed from the Sonos rig.

Sonos really hit a home run with their music streaming concept and intuitive UI ...but their analog back end and transducers are pedestrian at best.

[Mark Kelly]

Sonos really hit a home run with their music streaming concept and intuitive UI ...but their analog back end and transducers are pedestrian at best.

Since it streams in MP3 the quality of the speakers is moot. It will always sound like shit.

[Matthew Strongin]

Since it streams in MP3 the quality of the speakers is moot. It will always sound like shit.

This is what I was thinking. Since I've gone digital, I retired the audiophile cd and record players and sold my high quality amp and speakers. That stuff wasn't making my digital rips of the Clash sound any better. I'm stepping up from playing music through my laptop speakers at this point, so I'll take convenience and decent audio for the time being. I'm not going with the full setup either, so I can always take Bob Ross' advice and expand to hi-fi gear later.

[derailer]

I don't think that streaming in MP3 renders the quality of the speakers moot. A while ago a buddy and I did some double-blind testing with mp3s and transducers of various qualities and found that we couldn't really tell a difference between mp3s above 192 kbps. I should note that we were both aspiring dance-music djs so our ears were probably shot to hell when we conducted the test. YMMV.

That said, I totally understand the wireless-speaker impulse and have gone that route myself to a limited extent. If I were in the market now, I would hold off on Sonos and wait for Spotify Connect hardware to roll out. See Spotify Makes Its Biggest Hardware Play Yet With Spotify Connect, Syncing Music At Home And Beyond | TechCrunch

Spotify Connect has a few advantages over Sonos in my view: (1) the speaker software and music software are tailored for each other, which should provide a more pleasing experience for the user and (2) Connect-compatible speakers are being developed by multiple companies, which will allow for more flexibility in mixing and matching speakers. E.g., you can use fancy bang & olufsen set up in your living room and a waterproof speaker from Pioneer by the pool.

I should note that Sonos is listed as a Spotify Connect partner. I have read nothing but good reviews of Sonos, but I don't like the idea of being tied to one brand of speakers.

[giordana93]

Have had sonos for a few years and it is still the best imo. Not sure of the new models but my players have digital out and you can stream apple lossless from the pc or even a separate nas drive. Not familiar with the other competitirs but sonos is pretty mature. If you only need a room or two, there may be better (read cheaper) options, but for total multi room integration, it is had to beat. The ability to create juke box playlists on the fly means lots of fun when entertaining. Btw, rarely if ever on sale but joints like crutchfield often throw in decent low end outdoor speakers like polk,etc, for free when you buy a couple of zones

[s_curran]

Im no audiophile, but I got these Amazon.com: Audyssey Lower East Side Media Speaker (Old Version): Electronics hooked up to an apple tv. They use an optical cable to connect the 2 and I play my music over airplay from any 3 of our apple devices. Its pretty great, when people come over anyone can take over the music (that has an iphone) and I also use them for movies. They are not the loudest though, but our living/kitchen/dining room is rather larger (~400 sq ft) with ceilings that average around 14'. Pay attention to the directional quality of the speakers, these are a little more directional than I wanted and really only work great in front of them. I got these cheap though, around $100.

Are there any new optical connecting speakers out there? you could do something similar with airport express.

Edit: I guess they have a wireless version now: http://www.amazon.com/Audyssey-AUD02...ref=pd_sim_e_5

[jitahs]

Sonos had me intrigued so I auditioned the 5 and 3 today... truly horrible.

Listening to streaming radio over nice wired Paradigms and NHTs with a musical sub now...ahhh...the way certain services have optimized their sound is remarkable.

Anyway to each their own.

[xjoex]

I have apple airport expresses all over the house. If you hook them up to nice speakers they sound great.

-Joe

Jitahs - I had Paradigm Titans for about 15 years, until I got rid of my stereo.

[jitahs]

Nice. I had an AE, great with iTunes.

Wireless adapters, tiny amps and cheap very high quality speakers exist as a Sonos alternative.

[dave1215]

This might be an attractive option --> Stanmore Black (UK Only) » Products » Marshall Headphones

[Crashburn]

This might be an attractive option --> Stanmore Black (UK Only) » Products » Marshall Headphones

I'd wait until they introduced the Lemmy signature model.