[mrgrieves4]

Hello,

Before I start, I'm sorry as my question is no doubt very stupid and has been asked before many times but I still can't get my head around the answer so I'm hoping someone can help make this easy for me!

Basically I want to set up music wirelessly in my house. I have a computer upstairs but want to stream music downstairs to both my sitting room and kitchen. I want to be able to shuffle music and have the same playlist in both rooms at the same time. I have a wireless router and a PC. Ideally I'd want a NAS box at some point and to use that instead of the PC, but one thing at a time! I don't have an iphone, nor do I have a hifi. (I have a Bose thing which I can plug my ipod into but I think I'd replace it to avoid having too many units lying around)

So far it looks like a choice between Sonos and Logitech.

I think if I get 2 x Sonos ZonePlayer S5, a Sonos touch controller and a homeplug then that would do me. (I already have a home plug for my PS3 so I would think I could just add another one for this)

The alternative for Logitech I'm less sure about. Is it a Touch and 2 x boombox? Or is the boombox something else? Do I need a Duet?

Again, sorry for being a complete dimwit, I've just got myself very confused and reading the other threads is only confusing me further!

Thank you!

John

[amcluesent]

Do you have an iPod Touch or iPhone? If so, there's apps for these designed to control Sonos or Squeezebox products.

If you don't, you'd need either the Sonos Controller 200 or the Squeezebox Controller. (Plus, possibly, a Sonos Zonebridge if you only had ZonePlayer S5).

The Squeezebox Boom is, within the Squeezebox range, closest to the ZonePlayer S5. Both have in-built amps and speakers.

[mrgrieves4]

No Ipod touch/iphone sadly. Is the Squeezebox Touch just a replacement for the original controller?

If I get 2 squeezebox booms and a squeezebox touch, is that all I'd need?

Am I right in thinking that Sonos creates its own wireless network whereas the Squeezebox uses the existing one?

I'd rather use homeplugs and not have to plug anything else into the router as I'm running out of sockets!

[Peter314]

If you have two Booms (one for each room where you want to stream music) you won't need a Touch. Each Boom can be connected wirelessly or via Homeplugs (or ethernet cable if practical) to your PC that will be running Squeezebox Server (SBS).

An alternative to running SBS on your PC would be to run it on a NAS (if high-powered enough for this - not all are) or to use a Touch for this purpose when it is eventually released.

The outputs from the Booms could be controlled by a Controller or a Touch, or from the web interface via the PC/NAS, or using a remote or the Boom's own knobs and buttons.

If you are prepared to add either an amp and speakers or a pair of active speakers, you have various other options, including using a Touch instead of a Boom, or a Duet or SB Classic (aka SB3). The latter is now discontinued by Logitech but still available at very good prices if you shop around. The Classic is a lovely bit of kit. Logitech Squeezebox Classic, free your music

Some info. about the current SB range is here: http://www.logitechsqueezebox.com/product_matrix.html

[GarryPearson]

Hi John, Sonos does have its own wireless software, but each zoneplayer also has two ethernet connections so it can be wired too - or a mix of wireless and wired.

Sitting room - S5 - £349 inc VAT
Kitchen - S5 - £349 inc VAT
Computer room - wireless router (4 port?) and where you have one homeplug attached to get your PS3 online in another room via the 2nd homeplug

Directly into the additional homeplug (no.3) you can ethernet cable an Sonos S5 (every Sonos zoneplayer has two ethernet ports on the back, see an image here Sonos ZonePlayer S5. Pre-Order Now!.In Stock Nov 10th). Or, you could plug a Sonos Zonebridge - £79 inc VAT - directly into your router and the S5's will attach themselves wirelessly using the Sonosnet software. I noted you are running out of ports on the router, you could always just add a basic 8 port unmanaged 10/100 ethernet switch to your router such as a Netgear one for not very much money at all to give you more ports. At least one Sonos zoneplayer or zonebridge needs to be ethernet cabled into your router/home network to access the online music services that come with Sonos, to receive Sonos updates, and to stream the existing music you have on your PC to your S5's. You can also directly attach devices like MP3 players to the Sonos zoneplayers via the line-in jacks on the back and liberate the music on them in any room where you have Sonos.

On the Sonos CR200 wireless controller - £279 inc VAT - you would see 2 zones (2 x S5's). You can link these zones to play the same thing at the same time (your playlists for example) or you can operate them independently and have one playing your playlists and the other something totally different.

If budget is a challenge then hold off on the CR200 controller and install the Sonos desktop controller software on your PC or Mac instead. It ships with every zoneplayer for no extra cost.

Add the NAS drive at any point, Sonos will see it on the network just the same as it will see the music directly on your PC.

Hope this helps?.

[mrgrieves4]

Thank you so much for sparing the time to clarify these things for me - I really appreciate it!

Just to clarify, if I get 2 booms but no touch, how would I control the music? And I can have both playing from the same shuffle list can I?

Are the booms and ZonePlayer S5 virtually equivalent?

I think the mist is finally beginning to clear!! This forum is ace.

[GarryPearson]

No probs

We specialise in Sonos so others on here are better qualified than me to advise you on the SB Booms, though I can tell you they connect via your 802.11b/g wireless network or via an ethernet (RJ45) connector on the rear whereas Sonos uses its own wireless mesh software (or ethernet) to link one zoneplayer to another so isnt dependant on your wi-fi signal covering every area of your home at all.

The S5 and SB Boom are both all-in-one units in that they both include an amp and speakers. The Sonos S5 has
a 5-driver speaker system individually powered by 5 dedicated digital amplifiers - 2 tweeters, 2 mid-range drivers and 1 bass driver. All digital architecture. I think the SB Boom has a single 30w digital amp and stereo speakers but not 100% on that in case anyone wants to correct me.

In terms of Sonos, your Sonos S5's or other Sonos zoneplayers will play whatever you are streaming to them whether that be from the internet or the music on your computer/MP3 player so yes, your own shuffle list will play just fine. The CR200 controller also has a shuffle icon option, build a queue of music on the controller and then touch the shuffle icon. To play the same shuffle list on each zoneplayer you have in your house just 'group' the zones on your controller.

[amcluesent]

>Just to clarify, if I get 2 booms but no touch, how would I control the music?<

Controlling any of the Squeezebox family can done in many, many ways. This is one of the key design differences between the Sonos and Squeezebox ranges. In Squeezebox, pretty much every command is sent straight back to Squeezebox Server, which then figures out which instruction(s) to send to which player(s). So long as you can get commands to Squeezebox Server over the network, you can control players.

1) The Booms come with their own small remote controls, which you use with the in-built menu display on the Boom. You can sync and un-sync the Boom's playlists from their own menus.
2) From a Squeezebox Controller
3) Get the iPeng app for iPhone or iPod Touch
4) Use any mobile phone with a web-browser
6) IIRC one of top-end Harmony remote controls has a plug-in
7) Web-interface to the Squeezebox Server
8) From within a music catalogue application with Squeezebox Server plug-in like OrangeCD
9) From a PC application like Moose

>I think the SB Boom has a single 30w digital amp and stereo speakers but not 100% on that in case anyone wants to correct me.<

Squeezebox have published this whitepaper on the audio design of the Boom (it's biamped with class-D amps) and the signal processing you can apply. You can configure the 3.5mm output jack for headphones or to drive an external sub-woofer.

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/uploads/...dio_Design.pdf

[mrgrieves4]

Again, thank you for such detailed information. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

[GarryPearson]

Did you decide - is it to be Sonos or Squeezebox?

[mrgrieves4]

I am leaning towards the Sonos as it sounds like it is the better quality option. But I think it depends on finding enough money for it! The Squeezebox option sounds the more sensible one as I can get a controller later. But at least I know what to price up now, so I'll aim to make the decision at the weekend.

[disney_cjd]

im defo going sonos i think. looks so simple the s5, i just need to understand the nas

[mrgrieves4]

Well I finally made the plunge (thanks to some Christmas help too) and went for 2xSonos S5s (one connected via home plug) and a controller. (And a NAS box too..)

It was stupidly easy to set up - all done in under half an hour I think. It really has exceeded my expectations - what an absolutely stunning piece of kit this is. I only intended to listen to my own music with it, but the internet options are just so easy to use that I think it's going to change the way I listen to music.

Thanks very much for the help - I am so pleased I went with the Sonos!