My Sonos system is finally multizone now!

[bigboss]

Ordered a couple of ZP90s from Amazon (10% discount offer) which arrived today. I've already got the S5 doing master bedroom duties & ZoneBridge.

The S5 has now moved to the 2nd bedroom. I've connected the ZP90 to my old Bose Mediamate speakers (which was lying unused in the cupboard for over 2 years now) in the master bedroom. The sound quality is surprisingly very good! [] This was meant to be a temporary measure.......but I guess I'll postpone my plan of ceiling speakers with budget amplifier for now. These computer speakers have also been connected to the bedroom TV.....sound quality is more than decent.

Just waiting for the coax cable to be delivered by Amazon.....will then connect the other ZP90 to my Yamaha receiver for the 3rd zone.

 

[Anonymous]

Funnily enough late last night I was doing the same thing. I got some Sonos stuff also using the 10% code. I connected my S5 to to the network. My ZP90 is connected to the AV amp downstairs. What a palaver that was!. The CR200 kept losing contact with the ZP90. It turned out I needed to switch channels. I must admit my first impression of the Sonos are "IT'S BRILL". Still got to connect the ZP120 to the dining room ceiling speakers. I can't decide to get another S5 or ZP120 for the second bedroom though.

 

[scene]

NSYGrinner:I can't decide to get another S5 or ZP120 for the second bedroom though.
I had that dilemma, and went down the S5 route as I felt it gave more flexibility for a smaller footprint - just pick up the S5 and move to another room if needed. Also quite liked the idea of being able to link a pair of S5s for stereo for parties in the garden... I know, you could do this with one ZP120 + a pair of speakers...

 

[Anonymous]

I fancy another S5 for the same reasons but at the moment I already have an old amp and some speakers which we use.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a ZP90 and i think ill get the S5 for the bedroom or maybe ZP120 and speakers in the wall beside the TV

Sonos is brilliant!

 

[bigboss]

NSYGrinner: I can't decide to get another S5 or ZP120 for the second bedroom though.

I can't justify the cost of the ZP120. The S5 has a built-in amplifier & speakers, & yet it costs only £349. The ZP120 should be £320 or thereabouts.

 

[Anonymous]

Having had a play around with things last night. I've decided I think the S5 is a better option in the long run. I'll see about getting one of the Zonebridge/S5 bundles at the What Hifi Show on Sunday. That way I can keep the zonebridge working full time under the stairs and just switch on some of the zones when needed. The Dining room zone will be on full time as the ZP120 is upstairs on a rack. Previously they were the 'B' speakers of the spare bedroom set up. If the other 3 zones are switchedd off when not in use it will keep the wife off my back.

I just noticed this morning that if I turn the tv on or off it causes the Sonos to pause. The tv is connected to the internet for BBC iPlayer.

I now just need to finish setting up my ReadyNAS duo. That's going to be fun. I know nothing about that type of thing. It's just meaningless abreviations to me.

 

[scene]

NSYGrinner:
I now just need to finish setting up my ReadyNAS duo. That's going to be fun. I know nothing about that type of thing. It's just meaningless abreviations to me.

Tell me about it... I thinks mine's OK now - I just turned off everything I didn't need, lots and lots of time on the internet on the ReadyNAS forums.

 

[Anonymous]

scene:NSYGrinner:

I now just need to finish setting up my ReadyNAS duo. That's going to be fun. I know nothing about that type of thing. It's just meaningless abreviations to me.

Tell me about it... I thinks mine's OK now - I just turned off everything I didn't need, lots and lots of time on the internet on the ReadyNAS forums.

No No No! You weren't suposed to write that. You meant to write "Don't worry it's a doddle. You'll have it sorted before your cuppa is cool enough to drink."

 

[brendonw]

ReadyNASDuo is pretty easy to setup

 

[The_Lhc]

You work in IT though!

 

[scene]

the_lhc:You work in IT though!
So do I

- well sort of...

Trouble is the readyNAS is really easy to set up, and you can sort it out before your cuppa is too cold... It's just having done that, I found myself going back (in non-Wizard mode) to turn off various options that were presenting my NAS in various ways and pinging my Firewall interminably. I think I've pretty much reduced it to CIFS/Samba share now.

Oh yes - one hint: Don't turn on network time sync (ntp) - it seems to be a real resource hog on the readyNAS

 

[Anonymous]

I sort of had it up and running last night. It appears as a network drive on windows explorer. I also added a 'share' using RAIDar for the Sonos to see and thats it. I tried to put a usb stick into the front port to trasnfer some music but it came up with an error saying I didn't have administrator rights.

At the moment it's all just an expensive internet radio system

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm thats odd. Try logging in via windows explorer using your account and password and do it from there. I found though that its just as fast to transfer all my music from the pc via gigabit cable to the NAS rather than copying from my USB drive connected directly to the NAS.

I do have the Netgear Stora though. Not as advanced but got it cheap.

 

[scene]

NSYGrinner:
I sort of had it up and running last night. It appears as a network drive on windows explorer. I also added a 'share' using RAIDar for the Sonos to see and thats it. I tried to put a usb stick into the front port to trasnfer some music but it came up with an error saying I didn't have administrator rights.

At the moment it's all just an expensive internet radio system

Have you got a firewall running on your PC like Kaspersky? If so, you might want to check that your local network (on which your PC and NAS reside) is identified as local and/or trusted on the firewall, rather than Public. The Sonos forums have step-by-step instructions for sorting this out. Which is nice. And useful - as I had this problem.

 

[bigboss]

Ok, I have a problem connecting my ZP90 to the Yamaha RX-V1900.

I first connected the ZP90 via coax to coaxial 'CD' (orange)............nothing happened. I then connected it to coaxial 'DVR'....again nothing happened. But then I increased the volume up to -7dB (usually I watch TV with volume -37dB) & Sonos volume to a little less than half, to get a decent sound. Surely I'm missing something here.

 

[The_Lhc]

BB did you turn the Sonos volume up or down to half? If you're going to use the amp volume you might as well set the zp90 to fixed volume, that should give maximum output level from the zp90.

 

[scene]

OK, have you got your ZP90's line out level set to "Variable" or "Fixed"?
If it's on Variable, you can use the Sonos Controller (app) to set the volume, if on fixed you use your yammy's remote. With it set to fixed, it basically seems to put out at full volume from the ZP90.

I found with my Arcam, that if using "Variable" I needed the volume set on my ZP90 to about half-way or above to get decent levels.

 

[bigboss]

I had to bring my Sonos volume up to half as well. Sonos volume for the bedroom zone is around a third (although the bedroom is smaller than the living room admittedly). My only worry is, when I switch from Sonos to TV, the volume will suddenly be very high (I think).

 

[The_Lhc]

bigboss:I had to bring my Sonos volume up to half as well. Sonos volume for the bedroom zone is around a third (although the bedroom is smaller than the living room admittedly). My only worry is, when I switch from Sonos to TV, the volume will suddenly be very high (I think).

Half way is pretty quiet on a zp90 I find, I'd definitely set it to fixed output, having the volume that low will be affecting the sound quality as well as it'll be altering the digital signal to get that low.

 

[bigboss]

scene:OK, have you got your ZP90's line out level set to "Variable" or "Fixed"? If it's on Variable, you can use the Sonos Controller (app) to set the volume, if on fixed you use your yammy's remote. With it set to fixed, it basically seems to put out at full volume from the ZP90.
I found with my Arcam, that if using "Variable" I needed the volume set on my ZP90 to about half-way or above to get decent levels.

Thanks a million!! All sorted now

 

[bigboss]

the_lhc:bigboss:I had to bring my Sonos volume up to half as well. Sonos volume for the bedroom zone is around a third (although the bedroom is smaller than the living room admittedly). My only worry is, when I switch from Sonos to TV, the volume will suddenly be very high (I think). Half way is pretty quiet on a zp90 I find, I'd definitely set it to fixed output, having the volume that low will be affecting the sound quality as well as it'll be altering the digital signal to get that low.

Thanks!

Still learning the ropes with Sonos....

 

[bigboss]

Wow!! That's a HUGE step up in sound quality after I set the ZP90 line-out to fixed!!

 

[scene]

That's what I found - I tend to use it in Fixed mode for music listening. I set it to variable, for convenience, when I link multiple zones, so that I can adjust the volume of all the music. You just have to remember to set the volume of the ZP90 higher than the other linked zones...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the info. I've been looking at some of the other threads and gathered plenty of info. I just need an evening where laddo is in bed early and wife out to have a bit of peace.

Scene: I've got Kasperski internet protection nad have made a note of your link you posted in one of the other threads. Thanks