I think I have pretty good ears since I do have higher end speakers and amplifies for other purposes but yeah I was expecting some differences especially with hi res but just didn’t. I’m pretty happy with Tidal/Roon/Sonos AMP.
The Amp probably sounded slightly warmer but really no difference in detail that I could hear. Speakers are Revel Concerta 2 M16’s. Plus my girlfriend was aghast at the idea of not having rear speakers for movies which you an do with the Amp but not the Powernode. So that influenced my decision somewhat 
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Great feedback on the amps :-). Out of curiosity, do you hear a difference on the Sonos if you stream Tidal via airplay 2 vs Roon?
I do. Roon sounds better and I am a huge airplay fan. I also find music sounds better played through the Sonos app instead of airplay. I tried it after reading Sonos Amp reviews that said the same thing.
In general i would say music sounds more full and detailed played through Roon or the Amp.
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I’m deciding between those two amps. Currently I have denon AVR1912 connected to only two bookshelf speakers since we renovated ampartment and we just dont want full 5.1 setup anymore due to looks.
I will be using amp to connecting amp to TV via HDMI arc and to turntable, but mainly I will stream music via Tidal and Airplay 2. I’m leaning towards Sonos since speakers for other rooms are much cheaper than bluesound ones. (Sonos one ~ 200€, Symfonsik Ikea Sonos bookshelf = 100€, cheapest bluesound is 350€)
What do you guys suggest? Should I go with cheaper sonos, bluesound or maybe with sonos port and external stereo amp for best sound quality?
Thanks in advance
Gašper
Hi Gasper,
Just an opinion of course but if you like the sound of the Sonos Amp when streaming music via Airplay 2 then you are also in a position to take advantage of great ease of use. HDMI ARC switching for TV watching and then Airplay 2 for Tidal streaming all with a simple swipe from your iPhone. From an ergonomics and ease of use perspective, Roon cannot touch that. You can also use Airplay 2 for multiroom playback with Sonos One etc.
However…
If (like me) you find the combination of Airplay 2 and Sonos speakers a bit fatiguing (aggressive treble and upper midrange) then you may want to consider the other options. The Sonos port feeding an analogue amp of your choice will sound different so you can end up with a nicer sound flavour. No HDMI input there though so you will have to build a system that combines an AVR, an integrated amp and a sonos port. That will introduce a few additional remotes and switching will not be as snappy.
Lastly, worth keeping in mind that while Roon works with Sonos, grouping and un-grouping speakers will require two apps. If you group speakers using the sonos app then Roon will only see the grouping as a single end point. You would have to access the sonos app, ungroup speakers and then launch Roon to select where you want the music.
The Bluesound approach has different challenges and issues especially if you have multiple units for multiroom playback. I found that ethernet is vital for them to work well (avoid wifi).
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Very interesting that you mention that since I have the Amp and other Sonos speakers and recently found that playing music through the Sonos App or Roon sounds significantly better than through Airplay 2. Which is a bit of a bummer since Airplay 2 is easiest.
By the way BlueOS was just updated and it now allows rear speakers which is one of the reasons I returned it for the Amp. I wonder if it fixed the wifi issues.
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