Any experience of Sonos Wireless or Bose Acoustimass?

Smirky

I am lookin at using the Sonos wireless mesh system to throw music around the house, anyone bought this system and have anything good or bad to say about it?

I intend wiring in the Bose Acoustimass Jewel Cube speakers into the Sonos ZP100's in most rooms. Again, any feedback on these speakers?

I will probably purchase most of it from Ebay unless there is a particularily competitive seller here?

mossym

do some research on bose before you buy..they don't have a good reputation in audio circles..check out

www.avforums.com

Thomas_S_Hunterson

A friend of mine has the sonos system, it seems to work very well. I could find out who he bought it off if you want, send me a pm if you want the details. Not sure about how competitive the prices are though

SouperComputer

Sonos is nice, but overpriced IMO.

Have you considered silmserver\squeezebox? Although if you are REALLY hung up on the remote feature, the Sonos works out of the box.

BOSE, nice speakers, but again overpriced for what you get. Its clever marketing and branding that you are paying for.

Smirky

I've got to say I don't mind paying the extra few quid for the Sonos, it just seemes to be a well thought out system that is easy (I am not really a huge techie I just want music throughout the house which my finacee can also use easily!)

On buying it, it seems that Sonos don't allow their retailers to discount & they keep their prices the same. Can pick up good deals on ebay from the States though.

It is more the Bose I am interested in, I assumed they were reasonably good speakers (have now seen the argument in AV circles) and again don't mind paying for the look / size. I am now worried that if I wire the Jewel Cubes directly into the Sonos (effectively using it as an amp) that I may damage the speakers.

Any comments? Anyone got Bose?

mossym

my above comments on bose were based on more than reading. My uncle decided to get himslf a speaker system, and bought a bose acoustimass system...put it in his house..and was proudly displaying it to me when he noticed i wasn't too impressed..i told him i thought bose weren't worth the money, and convinced him to buy another set of speakers we wnt to pick

( i was living in california at the time, this is only 18 months ago, return policies are a lot easier over there)

so we picked up a sytem that cost around half the price, a polk set, granted they were on sale at the time, but even without the sale price would have cost nothign like the bose..

hooked them all up together in the same room..and the polk blew the bose out the door..not even close...better sound, more clarity..deeper tighter bass..it was no contest.

the bose went back...

i reckon we could have done even better than the polks for less than the bose..but he wanted smaller speakers, and the polks were a nice size..

granted everyone's ear is different..and some may find bose quite nice to listen to...but for me they just don't cut it..

Smirky

Hmmmmm anyone with direct experience of what speakers have been plugged into the Sonos & how they sound?

www.simplysonos.co.uk are reccomending the B&W range but I really know nothing about them.

Ideally I am looking for small white unobtrusive speakers that will fill big rooms and that will carry music well.

I looked into the Polks but again, not knowing a lot about this, found it hard to get info & retailers.

lafors

Smirky wrote:

I've got to say I don't mind paying the extra few quid for the Sonos, it just seemes to be a well thought out system that is easy (I am not really a huge techie I just want music throughout the house which my finacee can also use easily!)

On buying it, it seems that Sonos don't allow their retailers to discount & they keep their prices the same. Can pick up good deals on ebay from the States though.

It is more the Bose I am interested in, I assumed they were reasonably good speakers (have now seen the argument in AV circles) and again don't mind paying for the look / size. I am now worried that if I wire the Jewel Cubes directly into the Sonos (effectively using it as an amp) that I may damage the speakers.

Any comments? Anyone got Bose?

I got a bose acoustimass system as a present a couple of weeks ago. And I've to say I'm well impressed. I know people say there are better, but to my ears they're great.

I did see the prices are expensive but it depends what you're willing to spend I suppose.

The jewel speakers are mighty impressive, especially for their size.

mossym

lafors wrote:

I did see the prices are expensive but it depends what you're willing to spend I suppose.

that's the whole point..the prices are expensive and they're nto worth it..if you're willing to spend tht much there are way better. it's not jsut that they are expensive, it's that if you compare them to something else, they don't match up


to op
I have the b&w 6 series for my system (DM603's for front, lcr600 as center.)

the difference between those and bose is night and day...porsche to fiat kind of difference..they are expensive though..

where are you based? could let you listen to them if you wanted

Smirky

I am starting to come round to the B&W range. Mainly because a lot people are saying that Bose is not worth the money plus the main Sonus dealer is reccomending them.

Their lifestyle range might do the job ....

http://www.simplysonos.co.uk/acatalog/In_Room_-_B&W.html

Any Irish dealers on these or suggestions where to get a good price?

mossym

clooney audio in dublin are the only irish dealers. mine were bought in the states when i was living there. The prices are pretty similar all around. B&W don't allow web sales( as far as i know, could be wrong there, mixing them up with denon), so authorized dealers are the only way to go

their website has a list of authorized dealers anyway

you won't be disappointed, i listened to a lot before i bought my b&w's..and i love mine..bose aren't in the same league as b&W, not even close

vandermeyde

BOSE jewel speakers are designed to work with an acoustimass module, you can get an adapter on EBAY that lets you plug them into any kind of standard speaker connection but they aren't designed for this...

not a techy audiophile but its something to do ( I think ) with mid-range frequencies (which get routed thru the acoustimass module) and the way BOSE mask this by bouncing sound off the walls of your room...they look well from the point of view of the aesthetics of the room but there's a chance they'll overheat and blow if you have a normal amp pumping sound down to them...

KEF do quite nice and unobtrusive speakers....just got myself a set of SVS SBS-01's from ebay (recommended on AV Forums), small they aint but sound is superb...5.0 system for 380 sterling including delivery which aint bad at all.

steve-hosting36

Just to throw in I have the Sonos system and am a huge fan. You can connect any standard speakers to the zone players, and the remote control is excellent.

YoYOPowder

Just bought the Canton CD101 from the powerbuy on AVForums. Absolutely delighted with it. I too nearly plumped for the Bose Acoustimass 6, but was also talked out of it and the above was one of a few recommendations. It's a dinger of a system, clarity, bass, treble, its just perfect and can rock the room if need be. All up it cost €500 with delivery from AVForums.:D