AlmaataKZ said:
LHC, would you do a nice one on Sonos to get it going and perhaps even setting the standard, you being very thorough?
Okay, Sonos, one of the oldest competitors in the market and (un)arguably the most successful (in 2013 they turned over more than half a billion US$), they've been going since 2002, releasing their first products, the ZP80 and ZP100 in 2005, since then the range has expanded to include the following:
Bridge (formerly ZoneBridge), 2x Ethernet (RJ45) can be used to bridge between home network and Sonos network, or to wirelessly extend Sonos network where required, £39,
Connect (formerly ZP90, replaced the ZP80), unamplified source, 2x Digital outputs (Coax,optical), 1 analogue output (RCA) and 1 analogue input (RCA), 2x Ethernet (RJ45), £279,
Connect:Amp (formerly ZP120, replaced the ZP100), self-contained amplfied unit, 2x55W Class D 4-8 Ohm speaker support, 1 analogue input (RCA), 2x Ethernet (RJ45),, £399
Play series:
Play:5 (previously S5), self-contained stereo speaker system, 5 individual drivers, 3.5mm headphone output, 3.5mm analogue input, 2x Ethernet (RJ45), stereo pair capability, £349,
Play:3, self-contained stereo (in horizontal orientation, mono when mounted vertically) speaker system, 3 individual drivers + bass radiator, 1 x Ethernet (RJ45), 5gHz wireless, 1/4" threaded mounting socket, stereo pair capability, £259,
Play:1, self contained mono speaker system, 2 drivers, 1 x Ethernet (RJ45), 5gHz wireless, 1/4" threaded mounting socket, stereo pair capability, £169,
Playbar, active soundbar, 9 speakers, 1x Digital Optical input, 2 x Ethernet (RJ45) 5gHz wireless, £599,
SUB, active wireless subwoofer, dual force-cancelling drivers, 1 x Ethernet (RJ45), 5gHz wireless, can be paired with all Play units and Connect:Amp, £599.
Discontinued products: CR100 click-wheel controller, CR200 touch screen controller, WD100 iPod dock.
The Sonos philosophy is that "normal" wireless networking is not optimised for streaming audio, particularly not to multiple rooms at once, so Sonos developed their own proprietary wireless network, Sonosnet, a mesh network with every Sonos device communicating with every other device (provided they're in range of each other), based on standard 2.4gHz wi-fi but with Sonos' own protocols. This provides a very solid wireless connection (within reason and the laws of physics, like any 2.4gHz wireless system if the surrounding environment is heavily populated with other wireless networks then interferance can and will occur) allowing for simultaneous streaming to upto 32 (Thirty-two) individual devices, either as entirely different streams or fully syncronised to the same stream (or any combination as required, bonded devices such as stereo pairs count as two devices, so a full 5.1 Playbar setup would be 6 devices, even though it is all one "zone"). Upto 32 individual controllers are supported.
Sources available to play from include any standard CIFS/SMB share, either from a PC or NAS, thousands of internet radio stations and shows (via Tunein) or any of a number of online services including Spotify, Deezer, Napster, etc etc. Following recent application updates the system can now also pull audio files from a suitable iOS (iOS6 or higher required) or Android device (only audio files however, unlike Airplay it cannot play system audio wirelessly). Additionally any source connected to the line-in on any suitably equipped Sonos device (ie Connect, Connect:Amp or Play:5) can be outputted on any other Sonos device.
Originally focussed solely on music Sonos have recently moved into the home theatre market with the launch of the Playbar and Sub, combined with either a pair of Play:3s or Play:1s as surround speakers this can provide a full, wireless 5.1 audio system (the Connect:AMP can now also be used to power a pair of speakers for surround purposes but must be wired directly to the Playbar as the Connect:Amp does not have the required 5gHz antenna to be bonded wirelessly, the same reason why the Play:5 cannot be used for surround duties).
Pros:
Supports a wide range of formats, MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA up to 16-bit, 48kHz but not DRM-protected AAC, WMA Lossless or Realaudio formats,
Extremely easy to setup and configure, often remarked (by me at least) that it takes longer to unpack the boxes than it does to get it working (particularly with the current packaging which is a PITA to get open...), I had my first two zones up and running in ten minutes,
No DLNA server required, Sonos pulls files from a network source, rather than having them pushed to it, greatly simplifies NAS configuration for example,
Choice of controller, available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android tablets and phones. Android devices have the option of connecting directly to the Sonosnet wireless network (Apple does not allow this on iOS, so these controllers must be within range of your own wireless network to function).
Extremely flexible, Play units can be paired together for full stereo, combined with the SUB and/or the Playbar and split back down into individual zones within minutes.
Perfect multi-room synchronisation, any combination of zones (or rooms) can be grouped together to play the same audio in perfect sync (although some AV receivers may introduce delays when used with the Connect due to signal processing within the receiver, this may sometimes be mitigated using Source Direct but not in every case).
Every Sonos device acts as a network switch, allowing non-Sonos devices to be plugged into the ethernet ports giving network access back to your home network (I currently have a SkyHD box wired to a Play:1 at the far end of the house allowing the Sky to use online services).
Cons:
No hi-res (24-bit) audio support, with no plans to implement it (would probably require new hardware, existing hardware uses a 24-bit output but 8-bits are used for volume control),
No Bluetooth or direct Airplay support (Airplay can be used in conjunction with an Airport Express), Sonos consider that this would be a step backwards functionally,
No controller app for Blackberry or Windows Phone, no native Windows Metro controller, no Linux controller (latest versions no longer support WINE either),
Any single controller can control EVERY available zone, no ring-fencing of controllers to specific zones is possible without creating separate Sonos systems,
Playbar supports Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo ONLY, DTS is NOT supported, only 1 optical input, no HDMI support.
Perceived to be expensive, compared to traditional multi-room audio solutions however it's actually very good value.
Requires one device to be wired to home network.
I currently have three Sonos zones, a ZP90 (Connect) attached to my AV receiver, a ZP120 (Connect:Amp) mounted internally in a 1960 Bush radiogram driving a pair of Roth Oli 2 speakers and most recently a Play:1 in the back room where the pool table is. I can't really explain just how impressive it all is. It just works. The Play:1 is particularly impressive. It's not in a big room, granted but the sound it produces from such a small unit is very good. If I can figure out where to sensibly put a second one I'll be going for a stereo pair very soon.
I can't think of much else to say, any questions?
EDIT: Oh yeah:
www.sonos.com obviously...
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