Sonos turns your house into an ipod

The last two posts capture my experience as well. Setting up a computer music server got me back INTO my music. No more shuffling through 600 CD's only to keep choosing what's on top or in the nearest open storage case. Now it is all at my finger tips. I am listening more, to more (to parts of my collection I did not even know were there) and buying more music than I have in a long time.

Thanks - glad to hear that others are having the same experience as consumers. What I think is important to this forum (and responding to the "why aren't there more audiophile discussions of systems like Sonos, Squeezebox, etc.) is that some of us are (i) getting onto the audiophile food chain by buying mid-fi equipment we otherwise would not have, and (ii) moving up the food chain and catching upgradeitis that we would never have caught had we not gotten to step i. And this has implications for the industry, and subsequently for us as consumers.

I'd humbly suggest that so-called 'serious' audio companies have never ever ever considered convenience as an important attribute. They have assumed that people would pay mega-bucks (or even kilo-bucks) based only on audio quality. Given the volume of discussion about tweaks, the preference for fewer controls on high-quality components, and the amount of system swapping A'goners do, I'd say we as a breed have historically been *against* convenience (the same way people who buy a Rolex typically get fewer features than those who buy a $20 Timex).

So here's my point - there is an emerging segment of those who are willing to buy more, better, and hence more expensive audio equipment - so long as it is as convenient as a Sonos. And my hypothesis is that that segment will grow. I'll even draw a parallel to the "gourmet stove" phenomenon - Viking ranges in home kitchens would have been unthinkable 25 years ago when they were smokier, dirtier, and harder to clean.

Everyone better pay attention - Sonos, 'serious audio' companies, retailers... At the same time as audio companies get serious about easing integration with products like Sonos (in order to draw in more consumers), companies like Sonos better take into consideration the audiophiles (as Slim Devices has by launching the Transporter which can handle 24-bit recordings etc) by creating products that can handle all the new emerging formats like SACD, DVD-audio, etc. There, I've made my point. I'll be quiet now (for a little while).

J

Don't fool yourself about Sonos not being HiFi. I tested the ZP80 against a variety of high-end transports (Wadia, Meridian, Levinson, etc.) and its coax digital output equaled or beat them all.

In my system (Meridian-based), I now listen to lossless audio streamed through a Sonos ZP80 for critical listening.

BTW - the fact that I now have the rest of my house connected to my music library and running on Sonos ZP80s and ZP100s is an added bonus!

I too believe the Zp80 is extremely good. But when I use the built in DAC of the Zp100 ,it was not true perfection. When the Zp80 was connected digitally to a good DAC, in my case Levinson 390S, there was no reduction in sound Quality. And perhaps better. What was improved was the ability to change CD's from a slick wireless remote, never Leaving my couch. I still prefer LP's to CD's and will relinquish the comfort of the remote control only when playing vinyl. Ps. most reviews compare the slim box to the sonos. What really should be done is comparing the Sono with best available DAC to the best CD transport/DAC combination. If it is equal or close then Sonos wins for ease and Cool factor. They should do the Same for Slimbox as well.

Good point... interestingly, most of the time spent in audio publications on the Sonos and Slim Devices competitors is related to the cool factor. I really would like to see a serious evaluation of the audio quality along the lines you suggest:

1) Very high caliber CD transport
2) Sonos ZP80
3) Squeezebox 3

all fed into a few very high class DACs. Then we could lay much of this "is the ZP80 a good transport" issue to rest, and focus on the cool factor without someone thinking that we're sacrificing quality for ease! This is the next generation of high end audio. Someone needs to write a manifesto...

And the next step is for the Sonos and Squeezebox to start accepting 24/96 flac streams (even if passed to DAC rather than decoded on board) so that we can actually go hi-rez without investing in more hardware to play new formats! But that's another story (and yes, I know Transporter can do it, but I do not want to add a Slim Devices device to my already very nice Sonos system).

J

PS Don't suppose anyone will ever build a truly high end LP machine that has the ease of the Sonos interface, will they? ;-)