Re: Multi room audio Sonos or what else?

["Ian Bird" <ian.bird@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have just bought a Sonos ZP100 and controller. I have put all my
CD's onto my NAS box and consigned them and the HiFi to the loft. I
used the HiFi speakers though to use with the Sonos kit.

First impressions were good with excellent packaging and minimalist
good looks. Plugging in was easy and setting it all up with the PC and
supplied CD was a great way of making life easier.

The scan of my music was quick and it just works every time. The
controller is probably essential unless you are using a PC to control
it all. Very nice screen and pretty good menus etc. Plenty good enough
for SWMBO who only plays rather than adds music etc. PC control of
anything is a blasphemy in this house these days. Setup is fine though.

Sound quality seems good as does volume but neither my speakers nor my
hearing are all that good these days.

It is very early days so far but first impressions are great. I
particularly like the cradle I got for the controller. It was extra
but ohh so worth it ;-)

I went for Sonos over the Squeezebox flavour purely for SWMBO reasons
and so far she likes it. I am thinking of adding rf speakers to it and
using that to supply sound to other rooms (pick them up and move them)
but am saving up still. For me the multi room side of things is not
really an issue, just a nicety. Not sure I would spend 300 quid plus
on a nicety. As a family we only play music in one place at once
anyway, just not always the same place.

Sonos are doing offers at the moment so it was 500 quid inc vat and
delivery for the setup I got.

Having multi room Sonos kit would clash with the controller I expect.
Whilst the controller can operate zones etc. no problems trying to
fight the missus for control of the controller could be messy.

All in all for us in the lounge getting rid of all the CD's and HiFi
has been a real winner. Getting access to all my MP3 stuff has been an
unexpected bonus as was internet radio.

You pays your money and you makes your choices.

There isn't a power switch on the unit IIRC so an appliance module
should work however they are designed to be always on.

Power consumption is minimal and you can even turn off the white LED
on the front. Google says 5 watts on standby for the ZP100. In winter
this is lost as heat thereby lowering your heating bill ;-)

Have fun

Ian

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "ianh1000" <ianh1000@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> My faithful HP Digital entertainment center seems to have failed
> after 8 good years work, I had been using this linked to a Kiosk and
> other PC's to be able to pay music in different rooms. It all worked
> OK for my but SWMBO found it to be unreliable and I was often
> changing interfaces etc.
>
> I am looking for a replacement and Sonos looks nice but a fair
> investment for 3 rooms or more. I am also trying to reduce the power
> that is used on a non stop basis, anyone any idea how much power the
> Sonos devices use? Also what do these small NAS devices like Buffalo
> use?
>
> I have a comfort system, could i use an X10 Appliance module with
> each Zone Player to turn them all on and off when the alarm is set? I
> assume they don't need any gracefull shutdown.
>
> Any other suggestions welcome.
>
> Thanks
> Ian
>



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