We have a Bose Soundlink. The sound quality is a bit 'meh' but perfectly fine for a kitchen and it's a doddle to use as you pair it with your device (iPod, iPhone, iPad, whatever) via Bluetooth. You only have to do the pairing thing once and from then on as soon as you turn it on it automatically finds and routes the audio from your paired device. Anything playing can be streamed to it so from an iOS device that gives you Internet radio as well as the stuff on your iPod.

It's also portable (comes with a rechargeable built in battery), is fairly light yet reassuringly sturdy. For £250 (we got it free via an incentive from my wife's company) its probably one of Bose's cheaper offerings!

Another vote for Sonos here; wasn't cheap, but it's been worth every penny. I have a large CD collection ripped to a NAS, but since getting a Napster subscription I find that I use that for everyday listening - instant access to their entire library for £5 / month is pretty good (although it was even better before Rhapsody took over...).

The other thing with Sonos is that their customer support is superb. I've had two issues, once when the lead from my router to the first Sonos box started playing up (not part of the Sonos system), and then when the wireless started intermittently dropping out (Solid walls / large distance between units - I ended up cabling my network). Each time I called their helpline in the States, was answered immediately (no queueing) and the problem was diagnosed accurately.

I found the sound quality of the 5 much better than the 3, the 3 is fine, but the 5 is superb. I think the extra money is well worth it.

In your lounge, you could just get a Sonos connect and hook it up directly to your amp via phono rather than getting another 5.

I've got 5's in the kitchen, office and garage and a connect in the lounge on my main system. It's a fantastically easy way of accessing your music.

I have a Sonos Play 5 in the lounge and dining room, both sound superb.

I have a connect hooked up to ceiling speaker in the kitchen and one in the bathroom too, easily fills the room.

Easiest way is a play 5 though, it would easily fill a kitchen.

The difference between putting MP3 and lossless files through a Play 5 is massive. I've a mixture of different formats saved and even my wife (a committed audiophobe) notices the changes.

A friend of mine has a Naim HDX, so I'm going to use that to rip CD's onto a drive as well as it can be done. That's a serious piece of kit, I'd have one, but the price is somewhat on the salty side!

I'll have a try of them. To be honest, using the HDX isn't a problem as it also means I can get copies of all of his vast collection of music too...

Yet another +1 for sonos - not cheap, but brilliant

I have a Pure Avanti Flow, and I find it very very good.

Plays all sorts of radio stations - FM, DAB, internet. Plus it will stream from your PC music library via wireless and also has an iPod dock.

A good £250 investment

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001RTS582/ref=asc_df_B...

No brainer - sonos + a good music streaming package. was napster - though not so good now, trying deezer.

S3 ok for kids bedrooms, but get a sonos amp (ZP100 / 120) and seperate speakers for decent sized rooms. Not tried 5 yet.

Yup - it is. I spent a good few years trying other solutions as I thought that sonos was overpriced. After a few tens of people at work told me to stop trying to replicate it and just buy it, I took the plunge and bought three players.

I think that much like gin and tonic, you need Sonos and a streaming service to get the it out of it but it really is awesome and worth the cash

- ace