Arcam CD192 or Sonos?

[admin_exported]

Hi folks, hope you can help. The title says it all really, but I just dont know what to do if funds ever allow.

I listen to all types of music and I have always wanted an Arcam cd to go with the rest of my gear but the Sonos would be handy if I ever ripped my cd collection onto my pc in lossless format. Would the Sonos lose out in any way with my system compared to the 192 or similar cd player up to about the £500 mark,new or 2nd hand. Not really bothered about the multi room of the Sonos but I suppose it is always handy to have in the future.

Thanks for any advice you may be able to provide.

 

[The_Lhc]

It all comes down to the DAC really. I wouldn't expect the DAC in the ZP90 to compare to that in the Arcam (although I'll happily admit I don't know anything about the DACs in either of them!) but if you were to get an external DAC that was equivalent or better than the Arcam's I wouldn't have thought you'd notice much difference to be honest.

 

[Frank Harvey]

There's Arcam's off board Wolfson based DAC coming soon, maybe that is an option to add to the Sonos. My Sonos has been one of my best purchases ever - I'm listening to so much more new music now.

 

[d_a_n1979]

The Arcam CDP is superb and it'd gel well with your Arcam/QUAD system.

It's a lovely CDP with fast, taut bass and a very detailed midrange/treble. It's not mellow or laid back at all which can be said for the Alpha range of CDP's etc...

In regards to the SONOS its a personal choice IMO. I agree that if you can rip all your music to it and have a very good DAC to go along side it (i.e. like the Arcam mentioned above) it could be a win/win situation and on a similar par as the CD192!

BUT...

If you like buying CD's and like to have them in hard copy then the CD192 is a very hard CDP to beat and IMO you'd have to look at the Rega Apollo as a minimum standard and then you're along the lines of the Rega Saturn or the Cyrus 6 CDP to match it, possibly!

It's a tough call

 

[Pete Shields]

I would go for the ZP90 plus Cambridge Audio Dacmagic, wired network to your router/PC plus half decent interconnects. Plus subscription to Napster.. (with lossless rips just for your favourite CD's)....All in should be no more than £600....If you have an ipod touch/Iphone even better, but not necessary.

The quality of the lossless rips will be almost on a a par with the Arcam, and the napster connection will open a whole new avenue of listening.......

 

[Anonymous]

So I guess if I'm reading correctly that a Sonos would really need a DAC to compare to the price range of CD players I can afford, just bringing it up to the same price or even more and it wouldn't be much better if at all?

 

[The_Lhc]

d_a_n1979:The Arcam CDP is superb and it'd gel well with your Arcam/QUAD system.It's a lovely CDP with fast, taut bass and a very detailed midrange/treble. It's not mellow or laid back at all which can be said for the Alpha range of CDP's etc...In regards to the SONOS its a personal choice IMO. I agree that if you can rip all your music to it and have a very good DAC to go along side it (i.e. like the Arcam mentioned above) it could be a win/win situation and on a similar par as the CD192!BUT...If you like buying CD's and like to have them in hard copy then the CD192 is a very hard CDP to beat

I think that's a non-sequiter, if, like me, you're still buying CDs to rip for use with the Sonos then there's no difference at all. You DO have the added option of using Last FM, Napster and so forth if you want to stream stuff from the net but you don't have to.

I actually buy more CDs now I've got Sonos than I used to. I only ever listened to music in the car or whilst sat at the PC in past, so I didn't tend to buy anything, now I'm listening to music more often, so I find myself wanting to buy more.

You don't have to give up CDs just because you give up the CD player.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry posted my last reply before reading the last few posts. I'm still no where near making a decision now just more undecided lol

 

[Frank Harvey]

the_lhc:I actually buy more CDs now I've got Sonos than I used to. I only ever listened to music in the car or whilst sat at the PC in past, so I didn't tend to buy anything, now I'm listening to music more often, so I find myself wanting to buy more.

I thought I'd buy less CD too, maybe even giving them up altogether, but I also find I buy more now! The good thing is though, that I'm buying CD's that are actually good because I've already heard them through Napster, rather than buying an album based on hearing a track or two and finding out the rest of the album is tat!

 

[The_Lhc]

bigdadoo:So I guess if I'm reading correctly that a Sonos would really need a DAC to compare to the price range of CD players I can afford, just bringing it up to the same price or even more and it wouldn't be much better if at all?

That's not quite what I said. The SQ of the Sonos will depend, almost entirely, on the quality of the DAC you use with it. If you get a DAC that's equivalent to the ones in the CD players you're thinking of then it's going to sound very similar, if you want to spend more and buy a superior DAC then it should sound better.

The Sonos forum has a thread all about people who use the ZP90 with really high-end setups, one bloke has some weird piece of kit that supposedly de-jitters and reclocks all the signals before they go to his DAC, just that piece of equipment alone cost more than my entire setup I think!

I'll probably get slapped for this but:

http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=13668

 

[Anonymous]

Ok thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. Still no nearer a decision but I do like buying CDs and having a hard copy and listen to free spotify before making any rash purchases. I suppose all this indecision is the fun of upgrading! Will let you know how i get on as will go and demo a sonos hopefully on saturday. Thanks again but if you have any more tips or advice it would be much appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Well after a quick listen, I decided just to get a Sonos ZP90 and although at the moment it doesnt sound much different to my blu-ray player I am more than delighted with it especially having Napster on tap. Will just have to wait for the Arcam DAC to come out to really improve it. Quick question though in regard to using the Sonos, can you play a full album/playlist at once as at the moment it stops after one track and I have to queue all the following tracks individually, surely there must be an easier way? Thanks again for your help.

 

[The_Lhc]

bigdadoo:Well after a quick listen, I decided just to get a Sonos ZP90 and although at the moment it doesnt sound much different to my blu-ray player I am more than delighted with it especially having Napster on tap. Will just have to wait for the Arcam DAC to come out to really improve it.

You could always buy a different DAC? No telling with ARCAM when their one might turn up.

Quick question though in regard to using the Sonos, can you play a full album/playlist at once as at the moment it stops after one track and I have to queue all the following tracks individually, surely there must be an easier way? Thanks again for your help.

Err, yes, just add all the tracks to the queue at the start. When you're browsing your music collection you should have "add to queue" at the bottom of the screen (I haven't used the new controller much so I'm a bit hazy on this), go into the Artist, select the album you want and "Add to queue" and all the tracks will be queued up ready to play, they'll even play gaplessly if that's how they appear on the original album.

You do "add to queue" at almost any level, including right at the top, so you can add every track in your collection and have a mgea-shuffle session, if you'll pardon the expression...

 

[Anonymous]

Wont be getting a DAC right away as funds dont allow so will have plenty time to save up if the Arcam is any good/delayed.

Thanks for the tip as well but using an HTC Desire phone with the Andronos app which works very well for being unnofficial and found out last night that to play a complete album you only have to hold down on the album title to play all the tracks. Still very impressed with the Sonos and its ease of use and would definitely recommend it to anyone in the same position that I was.

 

[Andy H]

Save up and get yourself a dac. I have Sonos and a CD192, I put a DacMagic on my Z90 and the improvement was amazing.

When comparing the Sonos DacMagic to the CD192 it was very close in sound but IMHO the CD192 edges it sonically, BUT IT WAS VERY CLOSE.

With the functionality of the Sonos I find I hardly ever use my cd now, only on rare occasions.

My next purchase would be a better dac to improve things even more (when funds allow) and I think at that point the cd player would go.

Just my thoughts.