During the lockdown I am spending money I don’t have! I have recently invested in a mini computer to act as a Roon core. At the moment I listen to most of my music over headphones using the Blusound Node 2i which is a wonderful piece of kit. I put this together with a Graham Slee headphone amp and pair of reference Grados and the result is "music to my ears " I use the Roon app to play my selections from Tidal. When I play my home stereo I use a Cambridge streamer ( old version ) through my Roksan amp and to Monitor Silver floor speakers. I tend to use the Cambridge connect app as the streamer (CXN) is not a Roon ready piece of kit. Again Tidal provides the tunes.
However I also listen to music whilst cooking and have for years used the big Sonos 5. This has sat in the kitchen for years and operate it via the Sonos App. It is now playing up and I have looked at replacing it. If I buy a new Sonos product I will get 30 per cent discount under the legacy replacement scheme. However I have been looking at the large Blusound speaker which I understand will fit in better with Roon. What do people think? I am also looking at a smallish speaker for the bedroom. Again do I go for a small Sonos 1 with a 30 percent reduction or one of the Blusound wireless speakers.
Do folks have any views upon this? Could I look beyond Blusound and Sonos?
Sonos is implementing hires to their speakers in the coming months. I would go Sonos if you are looking for maturity on a product.
I am not sure about their business practice which is a conversation for another day.
The Roon implementation for Sonos has limitations. Will the new Sonos OS overcome these limitations? No one knows at present. I have an older Sonos system. I use it as you do to play music outside by the pool and in the kitchen. I never use it for Roon as I consider it to be too low res to be useful. Yes, the new implementation of the new OS is supposed to be a higher res solution but the older Sonos HW will probably not be compatible. You need to do more research. There are many other solutions available. You have built a nice system. Find something that fits into your ecosystem better than Sonos.
The original Sonos HW cannot be grouped with other Roon zones for one. The other limitation is the inability to play hi res content. It’s not an issue for me but I do see lots of people complaining about not be able to group Sonos with other no Sonos zones. That’s the limitations of which I speak.
High res is coming. And the list supports almost everything with the exception of some of their VERY OLD equipment
Edit: To add more, You cant group other types of zones together… IE: Logitech Squeezebox, bridges and intermix with each other. This is a design of protocols and I understand why roon keep it away from each other.
That’s not a personal issue. It’s a real issue. I am not defending this. I quite frankly don’t care. I was just pointing out that if grouping zones is important as it is to some, then you won’t be able to do so via Sonos. And yes, my Sonos equipment is older HW. I would never use it with Roon. I just don’t care to. I’d rather reserve Roon for my better systems.
Than you are stating that roon is a design fail because this is not limited to just Sonos but for everything that is not of the same line or certification/protocol.
Thats what I am trying to state. We have to look at the bigger picture, not just “this”
Not sure why you want to pick a fight here. I really don’t care to participate. I was trying to answer the original poster’s question. Why you felt compelled to jump all over me is bewildering to me. Hope you’re day get’s better as you are obviously having a bad day.
Come on @John_Aiello, I am stating what is a fact. Not picking a fight. dont be so sensitive please. I hope your day does not get ruined by the internet
Yup, not a fan here ether… I actually had Bluesound for some time before I switch to Sonos and after a while I realize I was beta testing while paying for steep price… They had way to many bugs, I am sure they are past that now (to an extend) so I went with something that works. Honestly, This are not going to be high ends speakers, if I want high end we look elsewhere… hence why I rather have stability than “highress”.
If highress is what you looking for now as in today, Bluesound is the way to go.
I have Sonos and Bluesound all over the house. I was using Sonos with their own wireless with a bridge for many years. Recently the bridge was quite a problem. Then I started to integrate Sonos into the regular WiFi, with works now for a few month quite nice. In the beginning they could only 802.11b, which is absolute crap in a network, that uses 802.11g or 802.11n. Since they can do 802.11g it works nice.
While I had problems with my Sonos bridge, I got a few Bluesound Node 2i and Flex 2i. But then I had real problems with those devices. Even when I did use the native app.
So the only Bluesound left is a Flex 2i, but it is most of the time off.
Comparing Sonos and Bluesound, HiRes is maybe an advantage on Bluesound, but if you listen on a Flex 2i or Sonos One, forget it. AMP or Powernode, well … Reliability, that point goes definitely to Sonos.
With the new firmware coming in June, we will see. But again: HiRes or not on a One, so what.
Alternatives, B&O, B&W, Denon HEOS, but in my opinion, not really. So my vote goes to Sonos.
The integration with Roon? I do not use them for critical listening. Background Music, Radio, it is ok.
Sounds good, maybe I’m looking for the Flex one as well. How’s that one to you?