Sooloos vs. Sonos

Error alert: I meant to type that the Sonos is the only source I plan on using.

Are you wedded to a particular file format?

It's a 2TB 'LaCie 2big Network 2' (what a loopy name) drive, and so far so good. No latency that I can detect, no performance issues with the array (knock wood), and a very simple plug-and-play installation. It's the best of the NAS devices I've used so far.

hi Wsomers,

Thanks -- I'm enjoying it very much. I should say that my using ~2k CDP players as a benchmark isn't definitive by any means. I have little experience with more expensive CDPs, and those which I have heard have been bolted into much much more resolving systems than mine. Also, I didn't want to start a flame war by perhaps exaggerating. :-) Anyway I'll bet the results to date are at least a little better than that.

Regarding the Cullen Mod (you're correct about the all-up pricing; I only listed the cost of the mod itself in my earlier post); I was able to A/B the modded unit with another ZP90 at home and the improvement was very significant. So much so that I wondered if the DIP would yield further improvement, especially since Cullen's work improves the clock and outputs a 92kHz signal. But sure enough, the DIP yielded still more resolution - not as large a change as the Cullen, but still very audible.

I do imagine that if you threw enough money at a DAC (ie. Bryston?), you might be able to dispense with not only the DIP, but possibly the Cullen mod as well. I'd LOVE to be able to really compare that approach to mine. Another, much more-savvy, audiogon member pointed out to me early on that my path was going to reveal my DAC as the weak link, and sure enough, I believe he's correct. I am now scheming on a DAC upgrade that doesn't completely invert that situation, causing me to then need to replace every other component in the chain. I'm very interested in the Decware unit...

I should note that my situation/system is unique to me in a couple of ways...obviously, I've been taking a baby-step (or ~&1k step) approach to this. Maybe weirdly, it's the only source I plan on using - no CDP, no analog. I was also keen to NOT use a computer for this - I'd had several other computer-based systems earlier, and the keyboard/mouse/screen method of navigation, while obviously powerful, just doesn't work well in our household. ...it has a big footprint, makes a lot of noise, and any computer in our home gets co-opted for web surfing, etc. I was looking for a more elegant solution. I'm a newbie audiophile, but a long-time interface snob, and Sonos is the best game in town in that regard. It's arguably their entire business, perhaps to a fault among this crowd. And finally, I needed a multi-zone system which I could build incrementally. My two nice systems are just part of the equation - the bigger picture is really about our whole family, and our whole home.

Whoa, that went long. Sorry. Point being, if I was 'simply' going to build a single system, and if I was going to be the only user, I'd pass on the Sonos. But for us, it's unbelievably great. It works perfectly for my home and family, and it responds well to my personal tweaky quest to make a couple of zones Hi, or at least solidly Mid, -Fi.

Please post your experiences with whatever system you go with - there's still precious little information about systems like these on the web, and I know I've benefitted tremendously from being able to dialog with the membership here as I waded out into these digital waters.

Fun and much music to you,
Barry

I don't have any experience with the Squeezebox (other than fiddling with it for a grand total of maybe 15min), but anecdotally, I do have three SqB early-adopter friends who eventually abandoned SqB for Sonos systems. None of them did so for 'audiophile' reasons, though - they all migrated for the interface and overall ease of integration.

I can speak to option 2, and you're fine with FLAC there.

I went with Sonos for exactly the reasons you mention - that it's modular, expandable, and can be improved incrementally as I need to, in the zones where it matters.

In my main system, I'm using ethernet into a Cullen-modified (~$500) ZP90, into a Monarchy DIP (~$300), feeding a Cambridge DacMagic (<$500) before heading to a modest tube amp. Lossless files live on a RAID NAS so my computer doesn't need to be fired up all the time (nor is its HD jammed up with my music files).

Quality easily equals modest (~$2k) CDP's, and the convenience and freedom is simply impossible to imagine if you're still rummaging through CDs and their jewel cases. The music factor just goes through the roof - it's so much easier to explore your collection, to build playlists (or 'queues,' in Sonos parlance)...it's just absolutely and definitively a superior way to interface with and enjoy music. You'll never look back.

The Sooloos might be great, too - others will have to weigh in there. Good luck and have fun!