Sonos plus external DAC verses Cambridge NP30?

[admin_exported]

I like the flexibility of the Sonos systems but have read that in terms of sound quality if isn't as good as say a Cambridge NP30. If I bought say a Sonos NP80 or 90 and plugged it into my Cyrus 8xpdQ amp (which has a preety good DAC), would that get it to a similar level of the Cambridge? I would be really interested to have anyone's experiences on this.

 

[amcluesent]

>would that get it to a similar level of the Cambridge<

Unless you have hi-rez downloads to play, then yes. The Sonos S/PDIF output is bit-perfect. Plus the Cambridge is still (IIRC) unable to play gapless properly.

 

[Dan Turner]

Plugging my ZP90 into my amp/dac via coax, the performance is very good, and i expect you'll find the same. I've never tried an NP30, so can't comment on how it would compare.

You won't regret going for Sonos - the whole user experience is outstanding, and plugged into your amp digitally the sound quality will be good enough that you need not worry about how good the NP30 might have been.

Best thing would be to audition both though if you can

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the responses.

 

[ric71]

ZP 90 into ARCAM receiver via coax sounds as good to me as my recently sold Micromega cd transport.

Sonos is so versatile and user friendly I would not change it for the Cambridge.

 

[CustomCable]

I think that for bit perfect sonos you need to specify fixed output too. Variable output will not give you a bit perfect signal.

Regards

Phil

 

[The_Lhc]

I think that for bit perfect sonos you need to specify fixed output too. Variable output will not give you a bit perfect signal.

Regards

Phil

I understand that's only the case if you go below a certain minimum volume but unless you've got a zp90 straight into a power amp there isn't much point having variable volume switched on on the zp90 anyway.