Re: Sonos, Bose or Philips!

["Mark Gardner" <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

+1 for SONOS from me.

Nothing else compares.

Cheers
Mark

On 5 Dec 2012, at 11:45, "Paul Gordon"
<paul_gordon@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> I can't comment on any of the Bose or Philips stuff, but I can
certainly
> chime in on the Sonos questions...
>
> Firstly, Sonos is very definitely 100% self-contained... there is no
> "server" app required anywhere for it to run.. All you need
is your internet
> connection and you have functional internet radio. Then all you need
is
> network access to your music library... Sonos integrates with iTunes,
and
> supports your iTunes library as a source.
> In my case, my music library is 100% MP3 format sitting on a NAS share
which
> I point iTunes to, but I do NOT allow iTunes to manage it... thus I
just
> point my Sonos to the same NAS share...
>
> I guess you may not need to access a local music library at all if you
use
> any of the popular online music services, as Sonos directly supports
all of
> the popular ones such as Napster/Rhapsody, Deezer, Spotify, Last FM
and so
> on. There's also a new software update just out which adds your local
> iDevice as a music source.. as you probably know Sonos have
discontinued
> their own dedicated hardware controllers in favour of apps for
> PC/MAC/Android/iDevice... now with the controller app installed on an
> iDevice, that local iDevice appears as a source which you can play on
any
> Sonos zone.
>
> AFAIK (I don't have any of the PLAY devices), all of the Sonos players
have
> a line-in to which an external device can be connected... once
connected to
> any Sonos device in your network that is available as a source on ALL
other
> devices. That much is certainly true of all of the ZP (now called
"connect")
> devices. - I have used this feature to pipe text-to-speech
announcements
> from a PC running HA software all over the house.
>
> The zone synchronisation is unparalleled in my opinion... I have 4
zones in
> a house in which I can usually hear music from more than one zone at a
time,
> and any drift in synchronisation would be very obvious... when the
zones are
> linked up that are absolutely rock-solid 100% in sync.
>
> You do NOT need the bridge in order to use the iDevices as
controllers...
> you don't need a bridge AT ALL if you can make sure at least one of
your
> Sonos devices has a wired connection to your home LAN.. - that is the
basic
> rule for a Sonos network... there *must* be a wired point of contact
between
> the Sonos network and your network... - if you only had the portable
PLAY
> devices and didn't want to plug them into a wired Ethernet cable (to
keep
> them portable), then you can use a bridge to fulfil that
requirement... I
> believe there's plenty of offers around that bundle a PLAY device with
a
> "free" bridge... - you connect the bridge to a wired
connection, then hide
> it away and forget it... then all of your zone players can be
completely
> wireless...
>
> One other point which may be worthy of mention is that the Sonos
control
> system is based on UPnP and as such is pretty standard... therefore
there
> are numerous 3rd party controllers that can be implemented to give you
the
> ability to control Sonos functions from other home automation
systems... I
> have a CBUS wall switch in the bathroom that starts/stops the player
in that
> room...
>
> I would not hesitate to wholeheartedly recommend the Sonos system...
it is
> one of those all too rare treasures that "just works" and as
such has
> extremely high WAF
>
> HTH
>
> Paul G.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Wayne Harrison
> Sent: 04 December 2012 22:47
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] Sonos, Bose or Philips!
>
> Hi All,
>
> I am looking to replace a mini hifi in the kitchen and would like to
take
> the plunge with WiFi streaming. In-house is starting the move to Apple
(i
> tunes / pads / pods / macs etc) so the library that was PC based is
going to
> be moving into iTunes at some point.
>
> All was going to be simple until a recent visit to John Lewes and the
> discovery of the new Bose AirPlay speakers ( http://bit.ly/ViRiHz ). The
> plot thickens when I also popped into a Currys Mega store to find now
that
> Philips ( http://bit.ly/UEoe0K ) has got in on the
act. (and yes - the
> assistants in there wouldn't know a Kettle could boil water without
reading
> it off the little price tags in front of them!!)
>
>
> Ideally I would like the ability for the solution to be able to still
play
> 'radio' (BBC, Heart, etc...) either as it has a tuner (looking slim)
or be
> able to get a stream from the net. Airplay (or wired ethernet)
compatibility
> would also be good - as mentioned, most of the media will be in
iTunes. Also
> the ability to not be tethered to a single computer would be a bonus
> although at some point the 'server' side of my mac's itunes library
will be
> moved to a permanently 'on' box.
>
> The only downside with Bose / airplay in general would appear to be
that you
> have to have something pushing out airplay - there is no intelligence
in
> them to go it on there own so to speak. Oh - and the biggie, there are
no
> multi streams to different zones from the same central library (as yet
> anyways).
>
> Anyways, a few questions.
> Has anyone had any experience with the Philips kit at all, as I said -
> Currys were a waste of space... the chap in there just ranted about
wifi and
> routers - and I dont think he even knew what they were! The 'stickers'
> suggested internet radio but no idea if it does this off its own back
or you
> need an 'app on a server'?
>
> With Sonos - looking at the video's there seems to be internet radio
built
> in, again, does this need an 'app on a server' or do these things
operate
> independently of a server for radio access? Same for iTunes access -
is it a
> case of setting it up with said 'app' to connect to itunes or do the
boxes
> connect directly with itunes HomeShareing?
>
> There seems to be a workaround to get airplay to work with Sonos by
using an
> airport express as a 'feed' into a line in on a 'Play 5' to which you
can
> use that as a source. Can this then be routed to any sonos or will it
only
> play on the box its plugged into?
>
> Controls for these will be via iphone or ipad so I would imaging for
Sonos
> needing the 'bridge' to get it plugged to the lan?
>
>
> I suppose most importantly - this is mainly (at this point) going to
be used
> by the Wife - so big brownie points for ease of use!
>
> If anyone has any ideas or thoughts that would be a big help.
> Hopefully this makes sense!
> Wayne.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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