Discussion
YoungTom said:
Hi all,
I've got 300 pounds worth of John Lewis vouchers from work for Christmas and want to get a decent wifi speaker.
I'm thinking of the B&W A5... what are people's thoughts on this?
I have looked at Sonos but I don't plan on having more than one so is there any point?
Cheers
T
The A5 is excellent. I have a Sonos system but only use zone players now as I found the Play5 and 3 distinctly average in sound quality. Both the A5 and the zeppelin are a step up from the Sonos, much better imaging and balance than the somewhat muddy play units.I've got 300 pounds worth of John Lewis vouchers from work for Christmas and want to get a decent wifi speaker.
I'm thinking of the B&W A5... what are people's thoughts on this?
I have looked at Sonos but I don't plan on having more than one so is there any point?
Cheers
T
StuH said:
The A5 is excellent. I have a Sonos system but only use zone players now as I found the Play5 and 3 distinctly average in sound quality. Both the A5 and the zeppelin are a step up from the Sonos, much better imaging and balance than the somewhat muddy play units.
Intriguing, I've a mix of Play:5 and Play:1, and also an A7 - I prefer the output from the Sonos units.bradders said:
StuH said:
The A5 is excellent. I have a Sonos system but only use zone players now as I found the Play5 and 3 distinctly average in sound quality. Both the A5 and the zeppelin are a step up from the Sonos, much better imaging and balance than the somewhat muddy play units.
Intriguing, I've a mix of Play:5 and Play:1, and also an A7 - I prefer the output from the Sonos units.
StuH said:
The A5 is excellent. I have a Sonos system but only use zone players now as I found the Play5 and 3 distinctly average in sound quality. Both the A5 and the zeppelin are a step up from the Sonos, much better imaging and balance than the somewhat muddy play units.
True.Sonos as a system is superb, the sound quality from any of their own speakers isn't. Give me some connects or connect amps and some proper speakers and it's brilliant.
My mate has a playbar, sub, two play 5 and two play 3 in a surround setup. That's a very expensive way of getting very average sound
talkssense said:
StuH said:
The A5 is excellent. I have a Sonos system but only use zone players now as I found the Play5 and 3 distinctly average in sound quality. Both the A5 and the zeppelin are a step up from the Sonos, much better imaging and balance than the somewhat muddy play units.
True.Sonos as a system is superb, the sound quality from any of their own speakers isn't. Give me some connects or connect amps and some proper speakers and it's brilliant.
My mate has a playbar, sub, two play 5 and two play 3 in a surround setup. That's a very expensive way of getting very average sound
I'm also continually amazed by the rave reviews that they get from the press. I guess when playing Spotify it's good enough, but when a ZP90 + DAC sounds absolutely superb it's a high price you pay for the convenience of a Play: unit.
Apologies if this takes the thread off topic, but what does the Sonus system do that Apple Airplay won't? I have the Zeppelin Air, Apple TV and a couple of other Airplay stereos round the house and it plays from the iPhones, iPods, iPad and iMac all fine, with the advantage of being able to push audio from apps like Internet radio etc to them. I've never felt like I've needed anything more.
What's so great about the Sonus system in comparison?
What's so great about the Sonus system in comparison?
I can really recommend the B&W A5. I looked at loads of different units including Bose, B&W (A5, Z2 etc) and Sonos and the B&W A5 was far better than Bose or Sonos. Even Mrs Goingonholiday who generally isn't that fussed over things like this agreed - she thought the Sonos sounded terrible!
Anyway, we have a decent sized lounge, about 5m square and the A5 is able to fill the room with good quality sound!
Sonos allows you to connect multiple devises, they have an app for your phone etc. but for me the quality just isn't there especially given the prices they charge!
Anyway, we have a decent sized lounge, about 5m square and the A5 is able to fill the room with good quality sound!
Sonos allows you to connect multiple devises, they have an app for your phone etc. but for me the quality just isn't there especially given the prices they charge!
I have recently put Sonos in my lounge .. playbar and 2x play 1. I have a B & W A7 that used to sit in there (now in kitchen). As a stand alone unit the A7 is much better sound wise but I really like the simplicity of Sonos and how it works on a multi room setup. I am looking to add Sonos units around my house. I think given what you descibe I would choose the A5 over a Sonos unit as a standalone player.
Going back to what I said about my Zeppelin Air...I have a neighbour who lives on her own, she's terminally ill and never leaves the house, so I rarely play my music loud, out of respect. However, I have just noticed that she's gone out so I've cranked up the Zeppelin. Bloody hell it's loud! I forget just how good it is!
I think Sonos really wins for usability. The software is excellent and the mesh network is easy to manage and reliable. My wife and daughter love it and it's intuitive enough that if you hand a guest an iPad they are up and running withing minutes - so good for parties
However as mentioned earlier I think the Play: units are pretty poor sound quality wise, particularly given the cost, BUT the Sonos trump card is the zone player, as the quality is only really limited by the DAC and system you attach it to. Playing lossless through my main system it is absolutely superb. However if you want the convenience of standalone units and value sound quality foremost then I would definitely take the B&W units over Sonos - B&W has proper dynamics, decent stereo seperation and a midband!
However as mentioned earlier I think the Play: units are pretty poor sound quality wise, particularly given the cost, BUT the Sonos trump card is the zone player, as the quality is only really limited by the DAC and system you attach it to. Playing lossless through my main system it is absolutely superb. However if you want the convenience of standalone units and value sound quality foremost then I would definitely take the B&W units over Sonos - B&W has proper dynamics, decent stereo seperation and a midband!
main difference I think are :
- sonos doesn't hog your wifi - cos it builds its own network
- sonos is a mesh wifi so the range is much bigger (each speaker acts as a node and therefore an extender) its also more reliable than Wifi.
- sonos you can play multiple sources to different rooms - I believe Airplay can only handle one source at a time
- sonos set up is magnificently easy
- sonos has much better streaming support - radio, streaming services etc
- Airplay products are cheaper (but then they don't need to do as much)
- airplay works faultlessly with the Apple ecosystem
- Sonos you can have mutiple controllers all controlling the system at the same time - don't think apple does that but then again why would it when it can't do multiple sources.
feel free to challenge any of the above.
If you have the apple eco system and you are not bothered by separate multi room setup than Airplay will be fine.
If however your wife want to play music in your lounge from your NAS while you listen through your expensive Hifi (amp and speakers(or just speakers)) in the front room and your son and daughter stream off the internet and listen to American Death metal radio station, in their bedrooms 3 stories up in a stone house all controlled by separate phones or tablets - I think you kinda guess where I'm going with this.
the only down side is when the kids think its funny to change what you are listening to. or record wva's on the phone and and turn the system into an unofficial servant ordering system.
- oh how we laughed 
Its alright you can get your own back by sending 'wakey wakey' orders through their speakers............now that was funny
I dare say there are better quality speakers at a cheaper price but for sheer usability and flexibility Sonos have it in spades.
- sonos doesn't hog your wifi - cos it builds its own network
- sonos is a mesh wifi so the range is much bigger (each speaker acts as a node and therefore an extender) its also more reliable than Wifi.
- sonos you can play multiple sources to different rooms - I believe Airplay can only handle one source at a time
- sonos set up is magnificently easy
- sonos has much better streaming support - radio, streaming services etc
- Airplay products are cheaper (but then they don't need to do as much)
- airplay works faultlessly with the Apple ecosystem
- Sonos you can have mutiple controllers all controlling the system at the same time - don't think apple does that but then again why would it when it can't do multiple sources.
feel free to challenge any of the above.
If you have the apple eco system and you are not bothered by separate multi room setup than Airplay will be fine.
If however your wife want to play music in your lounge from your NAS while you listen through your expensive Hifi (amp and speakers(or just speakers)) in the front room and your son and daughter stream off the internet and listen to American Death metal radio station, in their bedrooms 3 stories up in a stone house all controlled by separate phones or tablets - I think you kinda guess where I'm going with this.
the only down side is when the kids think its funny to change what you are listening to. or record wva's on the phone and and turn the system into an unofficial servant ordering system.
- oh how we laughed Its alright you can get your own back by sending 'wakey wakey' orders through their speakers............now that was funny
I dare say there are better quality speakers at a cheaper price but for sheer usability and flexibility Sonos have it in spades.
Edited by sparkyhx on Wednesday 18th December 16:59
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