Quality of Sonos Connect+ Amp (with floorstanders)

[fergus]

I'm considering a Connect+ amp to connect to a pair of cheapish floorstanders (c. £400), which will take FLAC files from a NAS as the source. Does anyone have any feedback on the sound quality of the Connect+ amp?

Are there any other alternatives working on a similar principal out there? I don't want to splash out on a Naim Unity, etc!

[Salesy]

Ive just finished an install with various sonos units and in the lounge we had a connect amp with a set of Monitor audio radius floor standers.

Sounded awesome. loud enough without distortion for the room 4M wide x 4M long

[Madness60]

I went from a Linn Classik + to a Sonos Connect:Amp hooked up to a pair of Monitor Audio S5 floor standers (about £450 7 years ago) and didn't notice a drop in sound quality. I stream from a NAS using Apple Lossless files or even some older 128bit files. The amp needs to be wound up a bit (70% or so on volume control) to get it properly loud but doesn't seem to compress even then.

My thought process at the time was that I would listen to so much more music that maybe a tiny drop in quality was not an issue.

[sparkyhx]

Sorry No direct experience

I've gone for the connect thru my old Music Fidelity A200 amp and my Mission 752 floorstanders.

At the end of the day the connect:amp is about £100 dearer than the Connect - so how good is the amp element going to be?

Talking to the shop, they were saying the connect + external amp is better, especially if you have one already. It also gives you more flexibility going forward to upgrade the amp or have an external DAC. However its not as 'pretty'.

There are many decent second hand amps available on ebay etc. Especially if you buy older highly regarded amps like NAD, Cyrus and rotel ones can be had relatively cheaply.

If you want the neatness then the amp I believe is adequate.