Sonos alternative...

[page3]

I've been a Sonos owner for years, but not particularly happy with the stagnation of their hardware products or the direction their software is going.

Just wondered if anything 'better' is out there yet. Yes, I know there are tons of alternatives, but I'm finding it difficult to see if any will meet my simple needs.

Must have:

• Apple Music support
• Integrated App for bringing together different music sources
• 'connect' equivalent, to allow me to connect to an amplifier.

Any suggestions?

[mikeiow]

Not sure - we are fairly happy SONOS owners - what is it about their s/w direction you don't like? Sounds like they will have Amazon Dot integration next year (which I think could be good), but the s/w kinda works fine to us?

I agree they have not done much to the h/w line - I think a bathroom version & an outdoor one would be useful, but otherwise I would say the Play:1 & :5 units are pretty good speakers (less enamoured with the 3, & they are all hellish expensive!) - what more would you like?

Cheers!

[belleair302]

Heos or Bluesound are worth a much closer listen.

[DeadInside]

My definition of "better" is better sound. Sonos is great but it isn't really hifi.

For that the I recommend Linn or if you have a bigger budget the Naim audio stuff. Superb sound that makes the Sonos sound like a Matsui Walkman from 1986. Apps are crap but plenty of third party ones are around. They are both good at firmware updates.

[talkssense]

I would also look at the B&O multiroom stuff which is now very, very good.

£799 for a BeoPlay A6 as the starting point, BeoSound 1 (multiroom and battery for moving around) sounds superb, as does the BeoSound 2.

BeoSound 35 and BeiPlay a9 are both also multiroom speakers. Or, a BeoSound Essence and any pair of speakers for really good sound quality.

A B&O TV also works as a zone, -and the user experience is a very clever combination of a nice app and physical controls on the devices.

[gizlaroc]

Merdian Sooloos.

Now it is a free app but you need to buy end points.

The MS200 is now £349 each.


Also, worth looking into Roon, it sort of takes it all to the next level but is $120 a year.
You need to look at what that offers to see if it works for you or not.