I would welcome some vaguely independent advice on whether to fit out a TV room with either Sonos amp or Uniti atom/nova. Our main living room has a Nova with a sonos connect, and the ‘home office’ room has a sonos connect only (no naim) into an old Marantz unit. I’d occasionly like to have all 3 rooms multiroomed and I’m kind of swayed (by price) to have a new sonos amp in the TV room to allow all 3 rooms to be ‘synced’, as it’s the one room that hasn’t a Sonos device. The sonos connect work very well to my ears, and interface is great to use but I am concerned that one day Sonos will ditch support. Otherwise the kids could get less generous/no dosh support and I invest in two new naim units, and maybe marriage counselling. Appreciate supportive advice.
Hi. We were fortunate to buy our house prior to completion. So we had cable runs installed to the rooms to allow for a multi room sound setup. We have Sonos connected up in the main bedroom, tv room, kitchen, outside terrace and kitchen. We had B&W CCM362 speakers added to the ceilings for interior rooms and B&W AM1 speakers on the exterior areas. The Sonos system is also connected to our HiFi system via a Sonos port.
With the system we can play the HiFi and often listen in the other rooms viz: outside. It is fantastic for social occasions providing arm’s length access to the music library via Innuos Sense.
SQ is limited by the speakers in the ceiling. If played too loudly (above a level of conversation) vibration in the ceiling can become an issue. The ceiling’s are suspended with wooden slats attached to a light Aluminium structure. SQ outside is much better.
To my mind Sonos provides a practical, flexible sound system for multi rooms at a reasonable price.
I have Naim in my main listening area and Sonos throughout the house, 6 zones. As far as multi room goes Sonos is perfect, it never skips a beat. Naturally my Naim system has way better sound quality and so it should. The Sonos Appp had a major wobble 18 months or so ago but they eventually fixed it and as far as I’m concerned it’s back where it was with increased functionality. I don’t see Sonos withdrawing support for these products, but of course technology moves on as it does for all manufacturers.
In your situation I’d be tempted to explore the new Focal Hekla. I’ve not heard one — few have, it’s only just come on the market — but if it’s all it’s cracked up to be it looks ideal for what you want. It’s based on the Naim Muso, so will probably be able to multiroom with your Nova, but I’d check that out first.
Thanks for all the good suggestions, very appreciated, and made me think what I want to get out of this besides ‘party’ mode. The Naim internet radio is fab but has anyone got real life experience with BBC Sounds via Sonos? I managed to upload BBC Sounds to the Sonos app earlier and it seems to work fine for BBC stuff. Is it possible to get Radio Paradise / Classic FM via Sonos app? My TV room is a bit of dumping ground for old audio so i was thinking to reuse Dali Menuets (currently looking pretty but not hooked up) so hence my preference for an amp. But, if I sold it all it would go a good way to the Focal Hekla. Just not sure if I am man enough though to get it into the room - it’s a beast!
