Roon End point that is neat, compact and fuss free?

Thanks for that :slight_smile: It sounds like a great solution and without sacrificing Roon usability :slight_smile:
Out of curiosity have you perhaps compared such a bedroom setup with say a sonos or bluesound speaker? If so what is the delta in SQ? I know this is subjective of course but it would be great to hear about it.
Many thanks

Sorry I am not a Sonos fan - and have none of their kit. Nor do I have any BlueSound kit. At least I know with the Roon Bridge implementations on RPi builds that I am running supported Roon software all the way through. Its rock solid and no issues.

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Yeah, can understand the drive for simplicity. The other product that has been mentioned on other threads is the Elac Z3 - https://www.elac.com/product/discovery-z3/ . I havenā€™t heard it - I did listen to a Naim Muso and was very impressed but ultimately preferred true stereo separation (and itā€™s a bit pricey) - am also a bit lost on where things are at with Naim and RAAT.

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Snap! :slight_smile: I was looking at the Z3 online just now :-). I like the looks and it might be just the thing. Bit pricey thoughā€¦

Naimā€™s Muso is a bit ā€˜confusedā€™ ā€¦ no RAAT support planned apparently. The Uniti models are fantastic Roon zones though.

Looks like I will be going the Roon way after all :-). I just popped over to a friend to test the Sonos One he recently purchased. They sound ok but once pushed slightly over 50% volume, bass distortion occurs with some tracks. It was like bass popping sound. This finding coupled with the fact that I would have to get a sonos connect to ensure multiroom sync, is dissuading me from proceeding.

It looks like the way is a Pi (or some kind of mini pc with roon bridge) + powered speaker. I had a quick look at options and there are only few that offer auto stand by power. This is important for a fuss free bedroom zone to avoid having to manually turn the thing on and off. Speakers from Audio Pro seem to offer the auto sense for aux input so definitely an option. The other option is the Dali Kubik Free which seems to tick all the boxes and also looks amazing. Finally the Elac Z3 is also a great option. I will have to raise the budget ā€¦ damn :stuck_out_tongue:

Thank you all for the great ideas and help :slight_smile:

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I would say ā€˜Yesā€™ and they are very loud past 50% in my living room. Itā€™s relative: we arenā€™t talking about Magnepans being driven by a quality amp. But they work for our living room.

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Might be worth checking out the Ruark MR1 - Iā€™ve just heard them at a show and was very impressed for the price/size.

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I just bought a Z3. I had promised to do a review in another thread but Iā€™m not quite ready to do that. I had it up and running, and listened to it for a very brief period then went away for a week, leaving it playing to fully break it in. When I returned it was making a terrible digital hash like sound. Elac CS asked me to send it back so itā€™ll be a bit before I can evaluate it properly.

My initial impression was: big. Loads of low end for such a small box, perhaps too much for my tastes? It can play loud and it sounded good driven. Worth demo-ing if it fits the budget.

Many thanks for the update Greg :slight_smile: Really appreciate it. Does the Z3 offer EQ? Can you reduce the bass you mention?
Cheers

Yes the elac app offers controls, not sure how/if it works if you are using it as a roon endpoint, as I am. I suppose there is also the possibility of dsp through roon but thats not something iā€™ve done at all.

When i get the replacement i will probably get an ihome and do a shootout. The ihome cant be used as an endpoint of course but as a casual use speaker in a bedroom who knows, maybe apple dsp magic comes oit aheadā€¦

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Lunch break update: I had a chance to try the Dali Kubik speaker at an audio dealer. Took my macbook pro (Roon Core) and connected via USB to have a listen. Impressive speaker for sure. Physically bigger than I anticipated but it could still fit the space I need it for. It has a very useful auto standby feature so it goes to standby after 5 mins of inactivity and turns on again when it senses an incoming signal. Very very useful for a fuss free roon zone.

The problem is with the bass. Just too much of it. The speaker clearly needs space around it to avoid booming. EQ could have fixed this but unfortunately no such option. I could certainly use the Roon DSP to adjust but I need to use the speaker with spotify as well as other sources (e.g. occasional tv etc.)

This is where speakers from Bluesound, Sonos and the Z3 are superior (EQ is available).

Sonos 1 is ok for the price but not great and definitely loses detail at anything above 30 or 40 percent volume. Actually I didnā€™t like its detail at any level.
I replaced my stereo paired Sonos ones with a single HomePod because the HomePod is so much clearer with better detail. The HomePod does Airplay so can be a Roon endpoint and I have grouped it with my Kef LS 50Wā€™s in a different room.

The homepod certainly sounds impressive when I listened to it at the apple store the other day. I am a bit reluctant though as it offers no eq and it sounded a bit bass heavy to my ears. I know it auto adjusts to the space but tastes will differ on sound and I would love to be able to adjust it. Also, I would love to be able to sync with the main hi fi for multiroom audio.

The Sonos 1 is very neat but it sounded a bit strange to my ears. Bass heavy for sure as you also indicate. You can adjust that down but I also found a bit of harshness in the upper range. I would not mind the Sonos 1 for the price but it needs a sonos connect if I am going to achieve multiroom audio. The connect is basically a 12 year old device and I am not sure how it will stack up against a Roon Bridge end point going into a dac.

To be honest the Pi-DigiAMP+ sounds more and more attractive :slight_smile:

It seems to include wifi so it would involve only a power cable + two small passive speakers (with cables). The Acoustic Energy compact 1 speakers could work well and the total cost would be Ā£220.
Hmmā€¦

Does anyone have any experience with the Sonos Connect as a roon end point? How does SQ stack up against other options?
Cheers

The connect is a good piece of equipment but as a roon endpoint you are paying for all the Sonos abilities and then not using them. Also, streaming to the sonos can go wrong much more than to a Pi.
I have Sonos 1, sonos connect, sonos connect amp as I started out many years ago with Sonos kit. Itā€™s USP at the time was that it had a great interface and just worked. I think roon has taken the interface and the ā€œjust worksā€ up a notch and the Pi kit is as good or better than the Sonos kit - but it isnā€™t as slick or as pretty.
I now have Pi based kit and a SMS200 streamer so am in a few of the entry to mid point camps.

Sonos- pretty, sounds OK.
Pi- DIY and not pretty, can sound great

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Ged many thanks for sharing your experience. Can I just ask, what issues (if any) do you encounter when streaming from Roon to your sonos zones?
In theory the sonos net (mesh) is better than other options. Is this benefit not carried over when using Roon with the infrastructure?

I take your point regarding neatnessā€¦ Trying to place a Pi-DigiAMP+, a PSU and two speakers plust cables on a bedside stand might be challengingā€¦

Sometimes the stream to the Sonos fails and has to be restarted, in my experience, there are a few threads mentioning this. This may well be network dependent but hard to pinpoint.The Sonos does use a mesh but it is proprietary and i think roon have done a great job including the sonos kit but it is an inclusion and join - not native.

I keep my Sonos kit as it is very convenient and i can for example stream Spotify to it via Alexa and so my wife can have her 80ā€™s music on in the kitchen :slight_smile:

I personally feel that the general tone of this forum is shifting to that of a general hifi forum - which seems to major on tiny differentials of sound with huge chains of kit correcting perceived shortfalls and this skews peopleā€™s perceptions of perfectly fine equipment.

Sometimes i just want to hear some music and want it done easily and in a domestically acceptable form and I think Sonos fit that bill. All of this stuff is a trade off and we have to decide what is important to us

In my bedroom i have a Sonos 1 as it is small discreet, sounds fine and i have added https://www.richersounds.com/wireless-streaming-multiroom-label/sonos-mounts-stands/flexson-stand-single-sonos-play-1-not-included.html to control a little of the bass transmission.

in the kitchen i have a connect driving a set of AE Aego m active speakers hidden away on top of the kitchen cabinets. probably not the best sound but good enough over the fan on the cooker and the kettle etc for a washing up boogie.

Another connect sits in the hi-fi rack for an occasional outing when we need a spotify track

Last is in my office and really doesnā€™t get used much.

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Of course you wonā€™t be able to hear the HomePod at is best in a store but it does sound really great.
The Sonos One lack of detail always bothered me and itā€™s inability to scale well at anything above moderate volume made me glad to move on from it.
I also switched from Alexa, which Sonos One currently does a pretty poor job of, to Homekit for lights etc.

Just an update folks ā€¦ while I am still undecided which way to go, I have done some good research based on all your great ideas.

I am currently borrowing my friendā€™s Sonos One to test out. Placed it on the bedside table to try out for a few days. It is compact and does the job although the sound quality is so so and needs a lot of EQ tweaking to avoid booming. It works though. Unfortunately it only syncs with other Sonos devices so whole home audio in sync is only achievable if I use sonos throughout. I would need a sonos connect for that.

IQAudio DigiAMP+ is the best solution for ensuring Roon ā€˜Harmonyā€™ :slight_smile: I love the device, it is amazing value for money and allows for best customisation. Unfortunately this end point requires a PSU for the DigiAMP+, the DigiAMP+ itself, one or two speakers and potentially an extra PSU if I went with a powered speaker.
3 - 4 ā€˜boxesā€™ and cables in total. Difficult to place this lot on a bedside table

Homepod: Sounds good actually and looks great. It does not sync with other roon zones but it is airplay controlled.

Elac Z3: Interesting option and will wait for a few more reviews.

Still undecided and for now I keep my messy setup consisting of Sonos, Bluesound as well as Linux and Windows based end points. A mess I knowā€¦

Just to show you how tight space isā€¦