Sonos and Pi's - Possible Grouped Zones

Audio Gear Talk Sonos
1

Hi Guys,

Currently I have three zones using raspberry pi 3’s. All are hardwired and have been working flawlessly. With 1.3 I really want to add some Sonos Play 1’s to the house. I priced out some speakers, raspberry, etc etc and it’s hard to stay at the $200 mark. Not to mention all the extra cables.

Current Zones

  • Office
  • Living Room (main system)
  • Garage

Future Zones
Master Bath
Master Bedroom
Patio

My main hold up is the fact I can’t group sonos and RAAT end points together. I’ve thought about using the aux in of the connect as a work around (raspberry pi connected to the connect. the connect streams to the other sonos speakers as well as the main system.) But seems a bit messy and doubt it would sync. Any thoughts on how this can be done? List of priorities would be best SQ from main system and then ability to sync all zones when running around the house.

2

In your situation, I would save up a bit more and get a few Bluesound Pulse Flexes. RoonReady out of the box, better sounding than the Play 1 and they’ll pair with your Pi’s effortlessly.

3

Thanks Rene. Much better idea! I definitely had blinders on for Sonos. The features of the flex are perfect. Play1 is rather dated too.

4

Ordered a flex. Looking forward to trying it out. Thanks Rene!

1 Like
5

So what do you think of the Flex?

6

Really like it. Have only heard the play 1 at stores so can’t really compare. The Flex premium over the Sonos is worth it to both me and my wife. The fact the Flex works with all my other RAAT endpoints is a no brainer. It does sound great in the master bath. Will be getting a few more for sure.

7

Comparing the Flex ($299) to the Play 1 ($199) Doesn’t seem quite appropriate. The Play 3 is $299, and would seem like a more appropriate comparison. Sonos won’t group with other RAAT endpoint? That could be a deal breaker for me.

8

Sonos devices don’t use RAAT and don’t group with non-Sonos devices. This is a fundamental limitation of streaming technologies in general, they generally can’t be made to group with devices using a different protocol.

9

Hi David,

Ben at Roon answered your question and that is the reason I didn’t go with Sonos. Not sure why you think the play 3 is a better comparison other than price. The play1 and flex and similar in size. The flex does cost more but I’ll pay for the features. Sonos only works with the sonos eco system.

10

Sonos works with Roon. The point is you can’t mix and match in groupings within Roon. (I know you get that, its just the way you worded it)

Sonos (and Bluesound) support many third party streaming and local sources, not just their own ecosystem.