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help me make sonos better

you all know sonos does not serve the purity of detail/refinement market but it does do a fabulous job satisfying wife, kids, and even serious listener's who are working on "honey do" lists...

but there must be a way to make it better. read about the cullen mods and external dacs and am ready to dive into the water but for the life of me can't find the ultimate pool. can/will someone lead me to the right place? what and how much $ would be nice to know as well. many thanks....
bobf1717
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
I don't think there's a ZP100. There's a ZP90 and ZP120, both have digital outputs.

There's a BR100, which is a "zone bridge" - basically a wireless distributor. The BR100 doesn't play any music, it just sends it to the ZP's.

In any system, DACs can't connect to analog outs; only digital outs. There are some DACs that allow analog pass through, like the Benchmark DAC1 Pre, but that doesn't convert an analog signal, its basically a pre-amp with DAC.
pjohri
13 posts
 
Kbar, thanks for your response. I do have a zp100 (had Sonos since the time it came out). Looks like I will have to get a new one with digital outs...
soundgasm
152 posts
 
Pjohri, I think I'm pretty much where you want to be when you say

[I have a tube integrated Jolida and want to make my Sonos source sound at least as good as the cdp.]

Cullen mod to the Sonos, Monarchy DIP, cheap Dacmagic DAC, into an integrated Jolida. That's ~$1100 of tweakery, but it sounds wonderful with lossless files.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Sorry Pjohri. I do remember the ZP100 now. I thought they all had digital outs since the first generation. Guess you learn new things every day!
pjohri
13 posts
 
looks like it is either:

sonos-> bryston bda-1 dac -> pre/amp

OR

sonos-> (cullen mod)-> monarchy dip -> dacmagic -> pre/amp

i'll have to start with getting a zp90 with digital outs first!
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