dodog
Addicted Member
Your fingers can't Google?
http://www.sonos.com/shop/connect?r=1
Edit- Dave beat me to it while I was typing
Vintage Components or Sonos?
- Thread starter gillsev
- Start date
Your fingers can't Google?
http://www.sonos.com/shop/connect?r=1
Edit- Dave beat me to it while I was typing
dodog
Addicted Member
I chatted with a SONOS rep about their specs. He was very pleasant but didn't know the answer. This was the final message:
That's a hell of a deal. Full refund AND return shipping. I've bought plenty over the net and usually, even if the item is broken, the buyer is out the shipping. It doesn't even have to be broken, you just don't want it and you'll get a refund. I don't have one and am not a rep but I'd endorse them on that deal alone.
That's a hell of a deal. Full refund AND return shipping. I've bought plenty over the net and usually, even if the item is broken, the buyer is out the shipping. It doesn't even have to be broken, you just don't want it and you'll get a refund. I don't have one and am not a rep but I'd endorse them on that deal alone.
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
I wish I could agree with you, but I can't. I tried the Chromecast Audio before purchasing my second Sonos Connect. There was a noticeable difference in sound quality. So much so, that I decided it was worth the significantly higher cost. It was not just sound quality - it was also reliability and the user interface - the Chromecast is terrific - for a $35 device, but it is no Sonos killer.
That's my experience, too. I had Sonos before trying Chromecast, bought a couple of Chromecasts, tried them, and then ended up getting another Connect.
Let me put it this way: I own several Connects, a couple of CD players, a BluRay player that plays CDs, three turntables with cartridges that cost from a few hundred dollars up to a couple thousand dollars that are connected to phono stages that range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. I don't know the frequency response of any of them, nor the harmonic rate percentage (whatever that is), nor the signal to noise ratio. The Sonos units sound damn good, which I can say since I actually own them - unlike some of the posters speculating in this thread. You have no idea what I can or cannot hear, or what I'm hearing it played over. And as I only have Connects running as digital transports on the "critical" systems, a lot of the analog terminology doesn't apply - it's just bit perfect replication of a digital stream.
Again, they are just a source component, not some magical do-dad that's supposed to miraculously transform crappy music to angel's breath - a rip of a crappy CD sounds just like a crappy CD played on a CD player. And a rip of a good CD sounds just like it does played on a CD player, which is easily demonstrated - I have a couple of DACs with CD players (well, the BluRay player is hooked to one) on one input and a Sonos on another. I can play the exact same song, at the exact same point in the song, back and forth by pushing a single button.
Now feel free to tell me what I can and cannot hear again.
I recently had a Connect get bricked by a firmware update. Tech support walked me though troubleshooting to make sure it really was bricked, read the error log I sent in, and despite the Connect being years out of warranty, they replaced it for free and paid shipping both ways. Had a replacement back in less than a week, didn't cost me a dime.
Picture this....
It's 1974. One guy has just moved into his first apartment and has a great stereo, great turntable, hundreds of albums, Budweiser beer, pot whatever. It's late and each of his friends have finished their shifts at McDonald's so they come over and it's a party. After each album side has finished, each participant takes his turn selecting and putting on the next album. "The Chosen One" gets up out of his bean bag chair, lowers the volume on the receiver, takes the completed album off, puts it back in it's sleeve and leaves it on the floor because he's too lazy to put it back on the shelf where it belongs. He picks out the next album, puts it on the turntable, uses a discwasher to clean it, lowers the needle, raises the volume and sits back down as the party continues. The next day the apartment is littered with albums on the floor and it takes the host an hour to straighten up. Bummer, there are fingerprints on Abby Road and someone scratched The White Album.
Fast forward to the year 2000. Same group of guys over the same guy's place, only now it's a bigger apartment and he's added a great CD player to his already awesome stereo. Hundreds of CD's, imported beer, still some pot, maybe a little hash. After each CD finishes, it's the responsibility of "The Chosen One" to choose and put on the next CD. "That guy" gets up out of his chair, ejects the CD, puts it back in it's Jewel case and leaves it on the floor because he's too lazy to put it back on the shelf where it belongs. He picks out the next CD, puts it in the draw, presses play, sits down and the party continues. Life is so much simpler because he doesn't have to lower the volume on the integrated amp because there's no chance he'll drop the needle on the record and blow out the tweeters on his friend's great stereo like he did back in 1974. This is "The New Millennium" and he doesn't have to take special care of any CD because back in the year 2000, CD's were indestructible. Phone rings, press pause and isn't technology a wonderful thing. The Jetson's got nothing on this group. The next day the floor is littered with jewel cases and it takes the host an hour to straighten up. Bummer, someone dropped "The Beatles 1" and broke the jewel case.
Fast forward to 2016. Same bunch of guys are sitting around the same guy's awesome stereo in his single family house. Single malt scotch, Vicodin for that herniated disk, maybe even some pot if they live in Colorado. The room is without clutter and even the seats have been upgraded to recliners. There are no CD's on the shelf, no broken jewel box covers on the floor because instead of thousands of CD's, Mister "I got an awesome stereo" has ripped his entire CD collection to his NAS and has a Sonos Connect hooked up to his awesome preamp. He uses a decent but not esoteric external DAC because he thinks it sounds better than the Connect's built in DAC. Of course every guy in the group has a smartphone and since they're all proven "Party Pro's", each guy has the Sonos App loaded on his smartphone. "Mr Awesome Stereo" has graciously shared the password to his Sonos Connect with this group. They each take turns choosing the next CD without ever having to get out of their chair. Sometimes they feel like hearing only one song, and collectively they create and save a playlist they agree to call "This is how deep we roll in 2016!" There are no barriers because Sonos has an app for both the IPhone and Android platforms. No snobs at this party. No one can say "My IPhone does something your Android can not"
These guys are animals, they decide to take the party outside, to the barbecue, to the pool, to the garage and even to the bathroom. They can do this because their host has placed an inexpensive Sonos Play Speaker in each of those locations. Everything over the WIFI, these guys are finally untethered. This is the easiest it has ever been and it's not even expensive because the infrastructure has been in place for years, right under their noses. It's called home networking with WIFI and it doesn't take a geek to figure out.
In my opinion, Sonos is a great concept, right up there with the network printer. It's inexpensive, sounds great, doesn't threaten to replace vinyl and as far as I can tell the easiest way to access the broadest spectrum of music from all over the world while doing so in a high fidelity manner.
It's a no brainer in my book. If you have a computer, it makes more sense to buy a Sonos than a CD player.
PS: Funny story about a guy who put down "Geeks".
He was reminded "that when the **** went down on Gilligan's Island, who did everyone turn to? The Professor, a Geek!"
It's 1974. One guy has just moved into his first apartment and has a great stereo, great turntable, hundreds of albums, Budweiser beer, pot whatever. It's late and each of his friends have finished their shifts at McDonald's so they come over and it's a party. After each album side has finished, each participant takes his turn selecting and putting on the next album. "The Chosen One" gets up out of his bean bag chair, lowers the volume on the receiver, takes the completed album off, puts it back in it's sleeve and leaves it on the floor because he's too lazy to put it back on the shelf where it belongs. He picks out the next album, puts it on the turntable, uses a discwasher to clean it, lowers the needle, raises the volume and sits back down as the party continues. The next day the apartment is littered with albums on the floor and it takes the host an hour to straighten up. Bummer, there are fingerprints on Abby Road and someone scratched The White Album.
Fast forward to the year 2000. Same group of guys over the same guy's place, only now it's a bigger apartment and he's added a great CD player to his already awesome stereo. Hundreds of CD's, imported beer, still some pot, maybe a little hash. After each CD finishes, it's the responsibility of "The Chosen One" to choose and put on the next CD. "That guy" gets up out of his chair, ejects the CD, puts it back in it's Jewel case and leaves it on the floor because he's too lazy to put it back on the shelf where it belongs. He picks out the next CD, puts it in the draw, presses play, sits down and the party continues. Life is so much simpler because he doesn't have to lower the volume on the integrated amp because there's no chance he'll drop the needle on the record and blow out the tweeters on his friend's great stereo like he did back in 1974. This is "The New Millennium" and he doesn't have to take special care of any CD because back in the year 2000, CD's were indestructible. Phone rings, press pause and isn't technology a wonderful thing. The Jetson's got nothing on this group. The next day the floor is littered with jewel cases and it takes the host an hour to straighten up. Bummer, someone dropped "The Beatles 1" and broke the jewel case.
Fast forward to 2016. Same bunch of guys are sitting around the same guy's awesome stereo in his single family house. Single malt scotch, Vicodin for that herniated disk, maybe even some pot if they live in Colorado. The room is without clutter and even the seats have been upgraded to recliners. There are no CD's on the shelf, no broken jewel box covers on the floor because instead of thousands of CD's, Mister "I got an awesome stereo" has ripped his entire CD collection to his NAS and has a Sonos Connect hooked up to his awesome preamp. He uses a decent but not esoteric external DAC because he thinks it sounds better than the Connect's built in DAC. Of course every guy in the group has a smartphone and since they're all proven "Party Pro's", each guy has the Sonos App loaded on his smartphone. "Mr Awesome Stereo" has graciously shared the password to his Sonos Connect with this group. They each take turns choosing the next CD without ever having to get out of their chair. Sometimes they feel like hearing only one song, and collectively they create and save a playlist they agree to call "This is how deep we roll in 2016!" There are no barriers because Sonos has an app for both the IPhone and Android platforms. No snobs at this party. No one can say "My IPhone does something your Android can not"
These guys are animals, they decide to take the party outside, to the barbecue, to the pool, to the garage and even to the bathroom. They can do this because their host has placed an inexpensive Sonos Play Speaker in each of those locations. Everything over the WIFI, these guys are finally untethered. This is the easiest it has ever been and it's not even expensive because the infrastructure has been in place for years, right under their noses. It's called home networking with WIFI and it doesn't take a geek to figure out.
In my opinion, Sonos is a great concept, right up there with the network printer. It's inexpensive, sounds great, doesn't threaten to replace vinyl and as far as I can tell the easiest way to access the broadest spectrum of music from all over the world while doing so in a high fidelity manner.
It's a no brainer in my book. If you have a computer, it makes more sense to buy a Sonos than a CD player.
PS: Funny story about a guy who put down "Geeks".
He was reminded "that when the **** went down on Gilligan's Island, who did everyone turn to? The Professor, a Geek!"