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A few questions in one re: amps, streaming & DACs

doctorjuggles

doctorjuggles

pfm Member
Duplicating my post from another site as both places have great input from knowledgeable users. Anyway, it's a little long but please bear with me!

Bit of background - I have an HP Microserver with 32TB of space servering up all my media via Plex over a wired network throughout the flat. While I haven't been keeping up to date on the latest tech in hifi, I'm fairly comfortable learning new stuff, so feel free to go into techy detail if you think it will help. For example I'm happy to run a separate server software for music only if that's going to make things easier - server can handle plenty more stress.

Bedroom Requirements
I'll be moving my stereo system out of my bedroom and into the spare room - looking for a simple, streamlined replacement solution for the bedroom and my thinking is to either get a fully wireless system or, at most, a wired system with a single box that streams everything to attached speakers. Due to space limitations, the speakers have to be (a) very forgiving of placement and (b) not very big.
As it won't be a critical listening system and merely there for enjoyment and convenience, what are my best options?
At the moment I'm considering Sonos or Bluesound but I'm not even sure how it would work. Do I need to have a base to connect wirelessly to the speakers or are they controlled on the phone? If they can be controlled by phone but it's preferable to have the base, why is that? And how does the sound of, say, two Sonos Ones compare to having, the Sonos Amp plus two small bookshelf speakers?
Remember that the point of this system is fun and unobtrusive and above all, easy to use - so while I want good sound, it doesn't need to compete with a proper hifi. In this case, good enough is good enough (but I also don't want it to sound like a pair of Monster Beats!)
Budget isn't set but lets start at £1k and see what answers I get


Computer/Hifi Room Requirements
The stuff moving from the bedroom - I have a Resolution Audio Opus 21 CD player which I love, so that's staying, and the Totem Sttafs are staying too. I'll probably be replacing the Roskan Caspian MkII with something that has better synergy. Now the main question is whether the onboard DAC on the Opus frmo the PC is worth using, or should I be looking at something more recent too, to open up higher res audio? The Opus 21 DAC is 4 Burr Brown PCM1704 @ 32 - 96 kHz / 16 - 24 bit. Would I be better off grabbing something that can do it all (MQA/DSD etc). I have to admit that while I'm comfortable with tech, this is an area I've fallen waaaay behind the eightball on, so happy to be schooled and convinced either way here. I usually tend to err on the side of future-proofing though, so if there's something I should be looking at, I'm all ears (and I usually like the Chord DAC sound if that helps)
Again, budget is moderately flexible, let's say £1k for the amp and £500 for the DAC as a starting point. (These will all be second hand so I think we'll have plenty to play with)


Other questions
For the Computer/Hifi setup I'm also open to a one-box solution with onboard DAC if that's going to work more elegantly. I was eyeing up the Peachtree Nova but thought better of it as it doesn't have the latest Hi Res capabilities, but if there's something else I should consider, feel free to point it out. At the moment I'm considering amps from Sim Audio, Plinius, Ayre and Sugden (whatever falls within the c.£1k range second hand) so would need to compete with that sort of level, but obviously if it has onboard DAC I'd spend more (c.£1.5k) as I'd be saving on the DAC side of things. Experience tells me this is likely to be less of an option than the separates though.
 
Re bedroom/Sonos:

Yes two “ones” will sound just fine for what I read of your requirements. A Play Amp with higher end speakers might well sound better - but I suspect the elegance of the Ones might trump that.

You can connect these directly via WiFi, but you’re better to use the direct wired base thing they sell (not sure of its name nowadays) as this will likely give you a more solid connection (Sonos uses a proprietary wireless protocol they call MESH - it’s generally rock solid).

You’d control these from your phone/pad using the Sonos app.

Oh, and the Sonos software includes room EQ options - which involves waving your phone around while the app listens to test tones - quite effective actually.
 
Great, thanks Whaleblue. So a Connect plus a couple of Ones or Threes and I'm laughing? (BTW - from what I understand, the EQ options are iPhone only - is that still the case?)
Also, how does the BlueSound compare to the Sonos, or is there not much in it?
 
Some prefer the Bluesound as it plays hires (Sonos have to date eschewed anything beyond CD quality) - but that’s a whole can of worms!

Personally, all I can say is that I’ve had Sonos Play speakers and Connects (including the Amp version) throughout the house for around 15 years now, with hardly ever a hitch, and super reliability all round.

Running a Connect into a decent DAC via optical has always worked well too, I have found. Others have had different experiences and say that streamers can impact sound quality. Who am I to argue!

Seriously though, I’d recommend a pair of Ones for the bedroom (or Play 1s which are the same, but without Alexa voice control if you don’t want that functionality), and a Connect attached to a HiFi DAC in your main system as a great place to start. You can always try other options on demo to see if the extra expense is worth it.

[EDIT]

Actually, you can just try the Connect direct to your HiFi Aux input as a starting point.

Oh, as I’m also an Apple fanboy I can’t tell you if Sonos room EQ works on other platforms.
 
Good stuff, thanks for the info, really appreciated.

Just checked the Sonos website and it's iOS only, although they say they're working on an Android app. I wouldn't hold my breath there, but maybe I'd be able to get a friend with an iDevice to set up the EQ if it's a one-off thing (although obviously if it's tied to the user/app then that's a no-go)

Thanks again :)
 
The setup is a once off thing, so a friend with iPhone would work.

Sonos do a 100 day trial or return if you buy direct.

BTW, no I don’t work for them, just really like their products!
 
If you’re looking at Sonos, I would also consider Yamaha’s Music Cast stuff. I’ve found this to work very well, even over WiFi (as does Sonos, to be fair) and it has a good range of features, including Hi-Res support, Airplay, native support for Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz and others. The all-in-one boxes are not the last word in sound quality, but fine for a bedroom. A WXC-50 makes a good streamer into separate amp or (for better sound quality) DAC.
 
Someone on here was selling an Onkyo all-in-one CD/Streamer with a pair of Q Acoustics speakers and leads and stands - perfect for bedroom use I reckon.
 
So just so I understand the setup of wireless configurations, everyone seems to be suggesting I buy something for the main rig that then links to other bits and pieces around the house (the bedroom, in this instance) rather than something that sits in the room in question?
I may have misunderstood Sonos/Bluesound etc. - if this is the requirement and need to have a rethink on my options then

By the way, thanks for all input so far!
 
I'm running a stereo pair of Sonos Play 1's in the kitchen and a Sonos Connect amp with Dali speakers in the bedroom.

The play 1's sound very good for what they are and really do sound better than I had expected.

If you have one of the Sonos "things" connected via a LAN cable then the other devices will use this connection via the Sonos mesh wifi if it is faster than your own wifi connection.
 
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