Opinions on Bluesound vs Sonos.

@zlone I don't plan on sticking with Sonos. Too many problems for too many years. This current issue has been going on for two months and Sonos has made no commitment to fix it. That kind of disregard for their customers is the last straw.

My plans to switch could certainly fall through though. Starting over is a pain in the behind. I could get lazy.

But the Sonos system was primarily for my wife and she has less patience than I do with clunky, complicated and unreliable apps/software. She wants to push a button and hear music wherever she is.....and that IS the promise of Sonos. It just isn't the reality. She has had so many issues with the app. And to be clear...its not us...its them. The Sonos boards resonate with discontent regarding these common and ongoing issue as well as their disregard for customers.

Anyway, I've posted on this before but the Sonos Amp is better than most people are willing to give it credit for. I compared it with a beefy Bryston amp (which was huge and ugly and not permitted to stay in the living room). It was better to be sure. But not in a way that was meaningful to me. I am completely satisfied with the Sonos Amp as a component that fits a need...even with these speakers.

I have less confidence in the Bluesound amp and am not compelled to give it a try so I will be taking your advice to get a separate amp if/when I finally divest myself of Sonos.

@n80 Understood. I do not use the Sonos that much, but my wife does, and the complaints have been numerous. An amazing blunder for such a successful company and product.

Don’t touch Sonos with a ten foot pole…they recently bricked my system and 1000s of others in a half-assed “courageous “ update intended to support another, future product….

They, including the CIO, are outright lying about the current state of their product’s impairment (sound familiar? ; )  

Funny too…just read a financial article saying BUY BUY BUY Sonos stock…all while the comments sections are full of their livid customer base, saying their systems are non-functional…and there’s no realistic hope of their issues being addressed and that the stock’s probably not a good buy, after all 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I have two Moves and a Port…I loved them..the upgrade basically made them paperweights. Never ever again will I purchase Sonos equipment…and the truth is….there are thousands that have been hit harder than me…I still have my main separate system and music library. There are people that have spent tens of thousands filling their house with Sonos equipment…that are out of commission…just so the company can sell headphones nobody will want!

OP - The Node has a trigger out that I use to wake up my Crown amp so you're good to go.

If it's within budget, I would use a regular, non powered, Node in front of a new integrated amp (best option) or use the preamp out of the node into a separate amp (more economical than a full integrated amp)  to power your tower speakers.  The performance gain in your towers will be substantial vs. driving them with a power node.  The power node is really designed to drive architectural in wall speakers.  Good luck and cheers.

Not sure what your budget is but if I went to a one box solution I'd take a hard look at Hegel. Specs say they will drive speakers down to 2ohms.