advice for sonos, nas, dac and speaker setup

boshk

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HI Guys,

Would like to get your opinion and advice on this:

Currently I listen to music in my Study (4x5m) and Living room (5x14m)

I recently started to rip my music to lossless format onto NAS.

Study:

PC, NAS, router, sonos:amp paired with old KEF Cresta 1

Living:

Sonos:connect digital wired to Yamaha A595a receiver and paired with KEF Cresta 2, also Sony CD XB930

To improve the quality of my music sound, should I consider a DAC for both rooms?

I've been researching a bit into Audioengine D1, arcam irdac, NAD 1050 and for speakers....Q Acoustic Concept 20s, B&W 685S2, 684 floorstander

I have to be honest, I'm a bit lost to where to even start.

I went to the B&W showroom today and listened to 685 S2 and 684 S2.....jazz music....adored it, but they were powering them with their exceptional equipment.

Currently theres a 684 (old version) for same price as new 685 S2 + stand

My thinking.....get new speakers for Living room, sonos connect--->D1 DAC----->yamaha receiver------>685S2 or 684 or Q Acoustic

Study: move my big KEF Cresta into Study and just cotinue to use the internal dac of the sonos:connect amp

thoughts?

thanks in advance

Thoughts guys?
 

sublime

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firstly, what's your budget?

if it were me i'd get a new amp and speakers for your main system. this, in my opinion will get you the biggest upgrade in sound quality

i'm no expert on external dacs but from what i can gather there is very little difference to be heard between your current dac and a budget external dac
 

matt49

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sublime said:
firstly, what's your budget?

if it were me i'd get a new amp and speakers for your main system. this, in my opinion will get you the biggest upgrade in sound quality

i'm no expert on external dacs but from what i can gather there is very little difference to be heard between your current dac and a budget external dac

Seconded.

Adding an external DAC to the Sonos Connect will bring no real benefit. Much better to spend on speakers and, if necessary, an amp to drive them.

Have you considered active speakers for the living room? A pair of actives from e.g. Adam will go really well with the Sonos Connect.

Matt
 

T1mb0

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The internal DAC in the Sonos Connect is already pretty good. I did notice a significant improvement when introducing a MF M1DAC but it was a later addition to my system (after a speaker upgrade) and I think the initial bigger bangs for buck are to be found in spending the money on speakers.
 

sublime

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T1mb0 said:
The internal DAC in the Sonos Connect is already pretty good. I did notice a significant improvement when introducing a MF M1DAC but it was a later addition to my system (after a speaker upgrade) and I think the initial bigger bangs for buck are to be found in spending the money on speakers.

mind if i ask what improvements the musical fidelity dac bought. i'm interested to hear as i've no experience with external dacs and am interested in getting into streaming
 

T1mb0

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sublime said:
T1mb0 said:
The internal DAC in the Sonos Connect is already pretty good. I did notice a significant improvement when introducing a MF M1DAC but it was a later addition to my system (after a speaker upgrade) and I think the initial bigger bangs for buck are to be found in spending the money on speakers.

mind if i ask what improvements the musical fidelity dac bought. i'm interested to hear as i've no experience with external dacs and am interested in getting into streaming

Hi Sublime

My own experience was better detail and a wider soundstage from the M1DAC vs the Sonos.

Cheers

Tim
 

boshk

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thanks guys.

Budget.......I'm thinking around under 1000 pounds atm for whatever I can get, I could always add at a later date.

Speakers I will have to get, just a choice of which ones. I have room for floorstanders or I could go with bookshelf with stand.

I never really thought about upgrading my current amp., suggestions? Rotel 12? Marantz PM6005, NAD 3020?
 

sublime

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The important thing if you are going to go down the new amp and speakers route is to get a good synergy between the amp and speakers. Certain brands play very well together - some not so much, it's all down to listener preference at the end of the day but some recommendations might help with where to start. There was a thread on system synergy recommendations on what hifi somewhere but from what I can remember it was all reasonably high end gear.

I for one can heartily recommend getting a second hand arcam alpha 9 amp ( a good one will cost just a little over 200 quid on ebay) and some monitor audio speakers. I heard some MA BX2's on the arcam and the sound was very good. Excellent rhythm, great timing and detailed without being fatiguing.
 

rainsoothe

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- if you like the B&W speakers, you can never go wrong with Rotel. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find a used Rotel RA 1062 or RA 1520. Also, for speakers at a very good price are XTZ 93.23 mk2, which sound superb imo, are pretty cheap, you can order and home demo, and send back if you don't like them - they only need pretty strong amplification - maybe Exposure 2010s2 or Naim Nait 5si (used, if you can find one).
 

boshk

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I like the sound of the 685 S2 and also the 684 demo which are on sale now for roughly same price as new 685 S2.

Dealer was powering them through Rotel 1570 and sounds great.

Anyone else using this amp? He of course was selling the new RA1570, internal DAC, intergrated amp mainly for music but very capable for home threatre, 120w/channel.

Also got to hear the Q Acoustic 2050i and Concept 20s but at a different store.

decisions.....more research needed.

maybe test the B&W with Rotel RA 12 and RA1520 and try and find dealer for NAD C356Bee, Arcam FMJA19, MarantzPM6005
 

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