Squeeze Box Duet vs Sonos

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I've read great reviews by what hi fi on both these products however they've never compared the two. Can anyone shed any light on the differences? If money is no object which one would you get?

Also if I have a play station 3 which I currently use to stream music in my living room could I still use that with one of these boxes? I'd like sound in the lounge, bedroom and bathroom at the very least. Id also like ceiling speakers. Do you know of any good companies which will sell the whole lot and fit it too?
 
Hi Matt

That would be a great comparison between Sonos and squeeze box and just the one im looking for.

Re installation/ceiling speakers Sevenoaks would be a good place to start.
 
I'm also really interested in this as I am seriously thinking about the Sonos but would like to know more about the Squeeze Box.

I know there are a few owners on the forums so would really appreciate some of their views.

Aeis
 
I spend a lot of time reading about these 2 and in a nutshell..

Sonos
+ Mesh network (up to 24 devices I think, works perfectly)
+ Easy to Setup
+ Better UI (easier to use remote control, change zones etc..)
+ ZP120 has build in amp might be good for kitchen etc.. if you don't have another amp/dac combo.
- Expensive (699£ + Bridge (69£) + 250£/350£ extra for each zone)
- 'Brick' remote control
- White

Squeezebox
- Client/Server network (it multiplies amount of data that is send for each receiver.. apparently 3/4 receivers might be enough to block your WIFI)
- Needs squeezecenter to run on PC/NAS (only few NAS drives have squeezecenter preinstalled and if you want to do it yourself it's a nightmare, most NAS drives are DNLA compatile but squeezebox doesn't support it)
+ Cheap (250£ + 99£ extra for each zone)
+ Black

Apparently the sound quality is better in Sonos (via analog), but I was listening to Sonos connected to amp (via analog) vs Sonos (via digital) to DAC to amp and trust me you need a DAC because it's just rubbish without a DAC! So assuming that you will get a DAC then I would say sound quality will be the same.

I think Sonos is simply better.. but more expensive and has this big 'brick' remote control.. In the era of iphone/itouch it's just unforgivable 🙂

Hope this helped..

I think I'm going to get Squeezebox simply because it's cheaper and I need to buy NAS anyway so I can get the one with squeezecenter.
 
Hi All,
MattAdamson:
I've read great reviews by what hi fi on both these products however they've never compared the two. Can anyone shed any light on the differences? If money is no object which one would you get?

If money is no object I would get a Transporter 🙂

I heard Sonos has slightly better analog output than squeezebox duet

if you chose squeezebox they have a wireless contorller just like sonos for about 299 usd

cheers
 
MattAdamson:If money is no object I would get a Transporter 🙂

I would go even further.. One of the Linn DS systems!

I've heard the Linn Majik DS.. wow.. very very good.. But 1.7k just for the DAC... too much!

Although I have to admit it's not exactly multiroom system
emotion-4.gif
 
Sonos has a nicer interface but costs more.

SB sounds better with its internal DAC.

Both sound the same with an external DAC.

Apple solutions are very good too - perhaps better and cheaper.
 
"Both sound the same with an external DAC"

Not sure what you mean exacty here. The sonos comes with versions with or without a built in amplifier. Are you saying the Sonos with the built in amp is not as good as the squeeze box with an external amp?

Apple solutions? Which ones are there that provide similar to Sonos?

I'm on the verge of spending nearly 3000 on a Sonos system ( 3 zones with amps, 1 without, 1 bridge, 3 pairs of ceiling speakers + installation charges 500 per day for approx 2 days ) so if there are other / better options I'd like to know now
emotion-1.gif
 
Also it would be great if anyone from What Hi Fi could contribute to this thread to offer their thoughts?
 
MattAdamson:
"Both sound the same with an external DAC"

Not sure what you mean exacty here. The sonos comes with versions with or without a built in amplifier. Are you saying the Sonos with the built in amp is not as good as the squeeze box with an external amp?

Apple solutions? Which ones are there that provide similar to Sonos?

I'm on the verge of spending nearly 3000 on a Sonos system ( 3 zones with amps, 1 without, 1 bridge, 3 pairs of ceiling speakers + installation charges 500 per day for approx 2 days ) so if there are other / better options I'd like to know now
emotion-1.gif


Ouch. Depends how pretty and/or discreet you want to be. Tell me what rooms you want to pipe to, and whether they need to be hidden........
 
MattAdamson:
"Both sound the same with an external DAC"

Not sure what you mean exacty here. The sonos comes with versions with or without a built in amplifier. Are you saying the Sonos with the built in amp is not as good as the squeeze box with an external amp?

That means that if you connect SB or Sonos via digital out to external DAC+Amp they will sound the same.

If you connect them with analog out than Sonos 120/150 (the one with amp) will sound better than others, but I compared analog out + Amp with digital out + DAC + Amp and there is not much too compare.. DAC solution is just far far better.

MattAdamson:

Apple solutions? Which ones are there that provide similar to Sonos?

I would like to know the answer for that as well

MattAdamson:

I'm on the verge of spending nearly 3000 on a Sonos system ( 3 zones with amps, 1 without, 1 bridge, 3 pairs of ceiling speakers + installation charges 500 per day for approx 2 days ) so if there are other / better options I'd like to know now
emotion-1.gif


From what I've read/heard if you have 3 or more zones and you want stutter free music experience than Sonos is your choice. I mean Sonos is just better than SB but SB is cheaper. And Sonos has it's own mesh network which is far more reliable than SB client/server via your wifi.
 
Thanks madeinstein

So are you saying then if external DAC is better should I not go for the 150 model with amp then and go for one without amp and then buy external amps for each zone? I want to do this right so appreciate the tips 🙂

If you meant go for external amp then which one. Essentially I have 3 rooms of approx 10 * 15 ft I wanted to put in ceiling speakers into.
 
madeinstein:
MattAdamson:

Apple solutions? Which ones are there that provide similar to Sonos?

I would like to know the answer for that as well

I did quite a bit of research on this, the apple solution Airport is a very good and cheap piece of kit. It does not however provide all the abilities of Sonus/Squeezebox. One of the main things i am looking for in my solution is to allow the set up of zones(which airport allows) and allow the pushing of two (or more) music feeds from a central server to two (or more) zones at once. As far as i know Airport can not do this.

If anyone has information that the airport can do this i'd be very interested in it. I love how cheap and simple the airport is if only it provided the above functionality.
 
Airport Express does not provide this functionality, no. In order to create 'zones' you need to have a library for each zone - the simplest way to do this is to have an Apple TV for each additional zone, which syncs with your central iTunes library.

Of course, this has the disadvantages of both requiring a display and being somewhat more expensive than airport express, and indeed the cheaper squeezebox classic.

As an alternative to Sonos though, it has merits, though without built-in amplification - could still be done cheaper than a Sonos bundle though as far as I can work out.
 
If it's any help, I've owned a Sonos since mid 2007, and have to say it's a great piece of kit. Main reasons are :-

1) Ease of use - for the people that just want to listen to music and aren't interested in the technology

2) Napster - stream millions of songs straight into any of your zones, either synced across a selection, or different songs into different zones.

3) When you play the same music to more than one zone it is always synced perfectly.

4) Remote may look a tad old fashioned these days but it is practically bullet proof.

5) Sonos adds features via software updates which the system downloads and installs automatically when available.ÿ

It just seems to work. My wife wasÿskepticalÿabout the system when I first got it but she now uses it more than me, and wants me to add more zones!! I'm planning on adding at least one more zone to my two in early 2009.

ÿ
 
Hi Just seen your post, the onl comment I would make regarding th etwo is that wit Sonos you cannot play music you have bought from iTunes unless you burn on to a CD first and then you lose the meta data.

Yes you can use PS3 ad a n other streaming device at the same time!!!

Jon
 
Matt

If you are spending that much to have it installed then why rely on flakey wireless?

Run some Cat5e and have a constantly stable connection.

For what it's worth I have installed 2 or 3 Sonos systems for customers but use a Squeezebox myself.

The wireless on the Sonos isn't perfect. I connected them via ethernet for stability.

The Squeezebox is the best £180 I ever spent! Sound is excellent and SoftSqueeze client means I can stream to all the PC's in the house too.

It'a a Duet for Christmas for me I think ;-)

Save your cash. The Squeezebox is as good if not better than Sonos for less money.

Wayne
 
waynefarnworth:

Matt

If you are spending that much to have it installed then why rely on flakey wireless?

Run some Cat5e and have a constantly stable connection.

For what it's worth I have installed 2 or 3 Sonos systems for customers but use a Squeezebox myself.

The wireless on the Sonos isn't perfect. I connected them via ethernet for stability.

The Squeezebox is the best £180 I ever spent! Sound is excellent and SoftSqueeze client means I can stream to all the PC's in the house too.

It'a a Duet for Christmas for me I think ;-)

Save your cash. The Squeezebox is as good if not better than Sonos for less money.

Wayne

'The Squeezebox is as good if not better than Sonos for less money.' - this is just your opinion.

I think it's relatively well established that the new Sonos 2 is an excellent wireless solution - they have improved upon its mesh network.

Personally I would hate the Squeezebox cos it requires a PC (apparently you can connect just a NAS but Logitech won't support it), whereas the Sonos does not require a PC - you can just play with a NAS after setting up.

I would definitely audition the Sonos with a decent DAC. And it's also flexible - remember if you're gonna go serious multiroom you can purchase additional, relatively inexpensive ZoneBridges to reinforce the wireless.
 
You can connect to NAS with a Squeezebox, some drives make it easier than others. The Squeezebox forums will certainly help you choose one that is easy.

The Squeezebox is super little system, I've found the classic for £135 btw.
 
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when streaming music. Use a good DAC (forget about the analogue outputs) and stream only lossless files. If you are happy with storing the music on your computer then the squeezebox is a great system. I have one and am very happy with it. The Sonos, Transporter (great unit by the way) and many others may well have other feature and benefits that appeal to you and if it's within your budget then go or it. By the way I am using my iPhone to control my squeezebox - very handy.
 

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