Upgrade the sound of my streamer ?

[Williamson]

Hello folks, a query.

I've found myself streaming more music recently. I bought a new Sonos speaker for my old Sonos Connect which I plugged back in to stream music from my music server ( and spotify etc.) round the house.

Then I connected the Sonos Connect to the back of my Rega DAC and started to also listen to spotify through my main system, which I did years ago with indifferent results ( and a different DAC ). I know the Sonos is not a high end piece of kit but through the Rega, with a decent interconnect, it sounds ok.

I've been looking at ideas to improve the sound a little bit more. Here's what I'm thinking....

1. Buy a decent power cable (£50-ish) for the Sonos Connect, I am still using the flimsy original. That's the simplest thing.
2. If possible buy an IFI power cable for the Sonos Connect. I have absolutely no idea about these devices and if this is even feasible. Does anyone have any advice on this option?
3. Buy a Wyred 4 Sound Remedy Reclocker, but this is £400, and I would need another interconnect cable, and maybe a power cable for it. Is anyone using this configuration or using the Remedy in a similar set up?

I don't want to replace the Sonos Connect, I like its ease of use with other speakers in the house and the spotify interface, plus it accesses my music server, but would like to improve the sound when using it with my proper hi-fi system. That's the issue.

 

[kernow]

I wouldn't go any of those routes tbh. 1. isn't going to do anything for a start.
Sadly I'd spend the money on upgrading that part specifically if you wanted to upgrade the sound. Better streamers out there innit

 

[shevans]

I would try another streaming service that offers CD quality, free trials are available with Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer all at better than Spotify quality and at no outlay.

Edit.
When I had a connect I did try many external Dac‘s but non had much effect and I came to the conclusion that the Connect was the bottleneck.

 

[Amber Audio]

You could pimp the SONOS with a linear power supply but as you’re using the digital out it likely won’t be very good vfm, if you were using the analogue outs it might be worth thinking about if you’re totally married to using SONOS as your Hi-Fi streamer. When I added a lpsu to an Aries Mini the digital out didn’t improve, the analogue out did audibly improve, not massively but it was there.

Spotify is not lossless, there is supposed to be a CD quality service coming, I’d go for a trial of Tidal and/or Qobuz to see if you hear an improvement., they are CD quality and also higher resolution too.

In your shoes I’d split the SONOS out as the convenient home streaming system and swap the Rega DAC for a streamer/dac, loads to choose from, something like an Auralic Altair level, you could use a digital in for the CONNECT.

SONOS is great I’ve had it since it came to the UK driving ceiling speakers throughout my house but it’s not used in my main hifi systems.

You’re very unlikely to see significant/any improvement swapping mains cables imho.

 

[Williamson]

I would try another streaming service that offers CD quality, free trials are available with Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer all at better than Spotify quality and at no outlay.

Edit.
When I had a connect I did try many external Dac‘s but non had much effect and I came to the conclusion that the Connect was the bottleneck.

I will have a look at those streaming services thanks. Trying to keep costs down, that might be the way forward.

 

[ossy]

I’ve got Sonos in the kitchen but I wouldn’t use it in the main hifi. For that, I stream Qobuz through a raspberry pi streamer via the dac in my amp.

A simpler (& v cost effective) route would be a wiim mini streaming Qobuz, tidal, etc. I think you will be surprised how much better something like Qobuz sounds through a better streamer.

 

[Williamson]

You could pimp the SONOS with a linear power supply but as you’re using the digital out it likely won’t be very good vfm, if you were using the analogue outs it might be worth thinking about if you’re totally married to using SONOS as your Hi-Fi streamer. When I added a lpsu to an Aries Mini the digital out didn’t improve, the analogue out did audibly improve, not massively but it was there.

Spotify is not lossless, there is supposed to be a CD quality service coming, I’d go for a trial of Tidal and/or Qobuz to see if you hear an improvement., they are CD quality and also higher resolution too.

In your shoes I’d split the SONOS out as the convenient home streaming system and swap the Rega DAC for a streamer/dac, loads to choose from, something like an Auralic Altair level, you could use a digital in for the CONNECT.

SONOS is great I’ve had it since it came to the UK driving ceiling speakers throughout my house but it’s not used in my main hifi systems.

You’re very unlikely to see significant/any improvement swapping mains cables imho.

I'm using the coax out on the sonos, not the digital. Trying to keep costs down and I'm rather fond of my Rega Dac, so don't want to go the whole hog and start spending bucks on new streamers, but thanks for your comments, helpful in trying to understand the issues. I'm only looking for a 5% improvement. Current set up is nearly good enough.

 

[Amber Audio]

I'm using the coax out on the sonos, not the digital. Trying to keep costs down and I'm rather fond of my Rega Dac, so don't want to go the whole hog and start spending bucks on new streamers, but thanks for your comments, helpful in trying to understand the issues. I'm only looking for a 5% improvement. Current set up is nearly good enough.

CoAx and Toslink are both digital outs - you're feeding a DAC so it has to be a digital signal.

 

[Williamson]

CoAx and Toslink are both digital outs - you're feeding a DAC so it has to be a digital signal.

Sorry yeah, thought you meant the toslink out. Not sure whether I have the inputs left on the Dac to use analogue. Will have a look at it and check. What linear power supply did you try on your streamer by the way? And wonder why that didn't work with your digital outputs? Hmmm.....

 

[Amber Audio]

Sorry yeah, thought you meant the toslink out. Not sure whether I have the inputs left on the Dac to use analogue. Will have a look at it and check. What linear power supply did you try on your streamer by the way? And wonder why that didn't work with your digital outputs? Hmmm.....

Your Rega DAC doesn't have analogue in just out. You can soon go down a rabbit hole with Streamers and DACs in my experience. You could keep your Rega DAC (it's excellent I had one for a good time in our old house connected to a Squeezebox Touch) and have a go comparing another Streamer - Raspberry Pi based ones are superb vfm, Allo DigiOne is excellent and has matching linear power supplies available from Allo, the Nirvana is the best vfm, the Shanti is a bit better but a lot more dosh and unwieldy. There are things like the Wiim units and a heap of others, lots of threads on here discuss streamers and dacs, subject comes up regularly.

Auralic do their own LPSU so it was one of theirs I tried. The analogue side of a DAC can be susceptible to noise so I reckoned it was reduction in noise that improved the analogue out but not the digital.

If you do a search on here or Google you'll get shed loads of info. LPSU abound - HDPlex, Ferrum, PliXiR, cheap Chinese ones off eBay, couple sellers:

Power Supplies Archives

Designed by Nick Gorham of Longdog Audio, the very first power supply we sold was for the Squeezebox Touch, after one was sent to HiFi Choice magazine the reviewer Patrick Cleasby (ex BBC employee) said it was one of the biggest no brainers in hifi and awarded the power supply 5 stars and a...

www.mcru.co.uk

Bespoke Linear PSUs

Bespoke Audio Grade Power Supplies with active noise cancellation "Hearing is believing" All our Power Supplies are built to the highest

www.fidelityaudio.co.uk

 

[Williamson]

Your Rega DAC doesn't have analogue in just out. You can soon go down a rabbit hole with Streamers and DACs in my experience. You could keep your Rega DAC (it's excellent I had one for a good time in our old house connected to a Squeezebox Touch) and have a go comparing another Streamer - Raspberry Pi based ones are superb vfm, Allo DigiOne is excellent and has matching linear power supplies available from All, the Nirvana is the best vfm, the Shanti is a bit better but a lot more dosh and unwieldy. There are things like the Wiim units and a heap of others, lots of threads on here discuss streamers and dacs, subject comes up regularly.

Auralic do their own LPSU so it was one of theirs I tried. The analogue side of a DAC can be susceptible to noise so I reckoned it was reduction in noise that improved the analogue out but not the digital.

If you do a search on here or Google you'll get shed loads of info. LPSU abound - HDPlex, Ferrum, PliXiR, cheap Chinese ones off eBay, couple sellers:

Power Supplies Archives

Designed by Nick Gorham of Longdog Audio, the very first power supply we sold was for the Squeezebox Touch, after one was sent to HiFi Choice magazine the reviewer Patrick Cleasby (ex BBC employee) said it was one of the biggest no brainers in hifi and awarded the power supply 5 stars and a...

www.mcru.co.uk

Bespoke Linear PSUs

Bespoke Audio Grade Power Supplies with active noise cancellation "Hearing is believing" All our Power Supplies are built to the highest

www.fidelityaudio.co.uk

Thanks, kind of leaning this way but trying to hang on to the Sonos, though yes, I could still use the Sonos for around the house and a different streamer for the hi-fi. I see where you are going. Would have to scour the used market. Can't afford big bucks at the moment. Advice appreciated, sounds like a definite option, Cheers mate.
PS I have been looking at the MCRU website.

 

[Amber Audio]

Thanks, kind of leaning this way but trying to hang on to the Sonos, though yes, I could still use the Sonos for around the house and a different streamer for the hi-fi. I see where you are going. Would have to scour the used market. Can't afford big bucks at the moment. Advice appreciated, sounds like a definite option, Cheers mate.
PS I have been looking at the MCRU website.

Take a bit of time, read up on here and ask questions, lots of helpful folk. This stuff also comes up regularly in the classifieds on here and Wam, ex demo and eBay/Gumtree/FB etc. You can save a bundle going used or a generation or two back, the Aries Mini is still one of the best sub £1K streamer/dacs but only available used now and Apple App no Android. It can take an Internal SSD and act as a Server plus there is a dedicated LPSU. I preferred it to a Naim ND5XS.

 

[stuwils]

As you are using a digital output on your streamer the streamer itself is just a pass through device and as such will not influence the sound quality, this would only be the case if you were using the analogue outputs as such cables and power supplies will have no effect on your digital output sound quality. lossy files could make it sound that way. Are you happy with the sound of your main system with other sources? if so as amber says get better quality streams.

Rgds
Stuart

 

[clownfish]

Is it just Spotify that doesn’t sound quite good enough ? Or is it your music server too?

And is your stored music lossless (FLAC, etc?)

I ask because I’ve had both and the Sonos Connect is pretty good and the Rega DAC is very good indeed. It’s highly likely you’ll hear much bigger improvements from streaming lossless content such as Tidal and Qobuz than swapping already good equipment.

And usually there are offers that make lossless free to try for 30 days.

Good luck!

 

[Phyztech]

If you don‘t want to change already established equipment, the biggest gains will come from 2 things: power supply improvement (transformers, psu, filters, cables, whatever) and ethernet improvement (router, switch, clock etc.). And yes, it‘s a must to go for lossless whatever service you prefer.

 

[Lurch]

Thanks, kind of leaning this way but trying to hang on to the Sonos, though yes, I could still use the Sonos for around the house and a different streamer for the hi-fi. I see where you are going. Would have to scour the used market. Can't afford big bucks at the moment. Advice appreciated, sounds like a definite option, Cheers mate.
PS I have been looking at the MCRU website.

You don't have to spend big bucks for a pretty decent budget streaming solution. As mentioned above the Wiim Mini is ~£80 and even better the Wiim Pro @ ~£150, the Pro even has an RJ45 socket so you can hardwire it to your network. The Pro also has Chromecast built in and sll Wiim devices are upnp so could potentially work with your Sonos eco-system.
I use a Pro in my 2nd system and can run it with Innuos Sense, it apso reads the SSD in my ZenITH, sounds incredible through a Beresford Caimen SEG50 (not used internal DAC) into 80s amp and speakers.

 

[Sloop John B]

I'm only looking for a 5% improvement. Current set up is nearly good enough.

Taking apart your system, plugging cables in and out a few times and a good dust before putting back together will give a 5% uplift.

Everyone here is presuming the Sonos is your bottleneck (and indeed it probably is) but if you can borrow another streamer or get someone to call round with theirs and connect it up to your DAC, you’ll soon find out. I wouldn’t go for any of your 1-3 options. I know the feeling, wanting to get an easy uplift but you’d be better off to find where the streaming bottleneck is Sonos or Spotify and put your money into correcting this.

.sjb

 

[Hazelberry]

Taking apart your system, plugging cables in and out a few times and a good dust before putting back together will give a 5% uplift.

Everyone here is presuming the Sonos is your bottleneck (and indeed it probably is) but if you can borrow another streamer or get someone to call round with theirs and connect it up to your DAC, you’ll soon find out. I wouldn’t go for any of your 1-3 options. I know the feeling, wanting to get an easy uplift but you’d be better off to find where the streaming bottleneck is Sonos or Spotify and put your money into correcting this.

.sjb

I do this as a matter of course either every few months or whenever I’m starting to feel dissatisfied with listening, whichever comes first. I also turn all pots from end to end a good number of times. Rightly or wrongly, I believe it reduces resistance caused by dirt & oxidation. I find it gives me a much better than 5% improvement.

 

[Williamson]

Is it just Spotify that doesn’t sound quite good enough ? Or is it your music server too?

And is your stored music lossless (FLAC, etc?)

I ask because I’ve had both and the Sonos Connect is pretty good and the Rega DAC is very good indeed. It’s highly likely you’ll hear much bigger improvements from streaming lossless content such as Tidal and Qobuz than swapping already good equipment.

And usually there are offers that make lossless free to try for 30 days.

Good luck!

Music server sounds fine - Innuous. Thanks for your message.

 

[musicman7988]

Hi, I may have a cost effective solution for you ? I have 2 upgraded Sonos Connect (ZP90) units one having been upgraded by Wyred 4 Sound and the other by Fidelity International at a cost of circa £700 each (I believe the Fidelity International upgrade may have cost even more than that at the time). Both upgrades resulted in a huge improvement in the sound quality compared to the stock Sonos unit - if you google Wyred4Sound Sonos ZP90 or Fidelity International Sonos ZP90 upgrade you will find lots more info. I need to keep one unit which is in use with my Sonos speakers throughout the house but on my main system I am now listening to more hi res material at 24/96 or 24/192 which the Sonos cannot stream, it is limited to 16/44 streamed material, which is it's only downside. When I took the W4S upgraded unit to P&J Hifi in Guildford connected to my Chord Hugo dac as a comparison, to demo a new Naim NDX streamer (the original mk 1 version) they were shocked that the Sonos sounded rather better than the NDX which I did not therefore purchase..! It is also the gen 1 Connect so don't bleieve it is compatible control the latest gen 2 Sonos Alex speakers. As one of the upgraded units is now surplus, I would be happy to move either on at a very reasonable price however. Please PM if interested.