Am I wasting money in this TT+ Sonos upgrade

[ckhamar]

Hey!

I'm currently running a Rega Planar 1 Plus (with its built in pre-amp) with the standard Carbon Cartridge and a Sonos Connect I found the street (!) to play wirelessly through a Sonos Arc + Sonos Sub

Unfortunately the case of the power plug has broken for the TT and the TT itself seems to be spinning a 2-3RPM too fast which is super annoying.... so im thinking of returning the TT and upgrading to:

Rega Planar 3 + Rega Exact cartridge + Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2 pre amp to play via the Sonos Connect which beams wireless to the same Sonos Arc + Sub.

My question is, am I spending too much money on the TT + cartridge when i'm using the Sonos connect and Sonos speakers for sound? i.e. is the wireless nature of sonos such a bottleneck that the money spent 'upstream' is wasted?

The first TT set up with the built in preamp is ~£385 vs the new set up with the cartridge and pre amp will be closer to £1k.

Thanks!

 

[Ascotbilly]

Afraid so, You’re spending over £1000 on a analogue front end then vinyl at £20+ a throw and essentially hearing “Spotify”

A better suggestion for the same money would be the Rega System One.

 

[ckhamar]

Thanks for the honest response.

With the Rega System One would I get comparable or better audio than a HiFi streaming subscription or are you just suggesting that the money would be better spent there versus upgrading the front end. (but still pointless vs hifi stream sub - I have already built up a sizeable vinyl collection)

 

[gibbsy]

Thanks for the honest response.

With the Rega System One would I get comparable or better audio than a HiFi streaming subscription or are you just suggesting that the money would be better spent there versus upgrading the front end. (but still pointless vs hifi stream sub - I have already built up a sizeable vinyl collection)

Welcome to the Forum.

Hard question to answer because it really depends on what you want out of music, current or in your collection. Streaming subscriptions will offer up a lot more accessible music for you to enjoy at a reported CD quality although there are those that are just MP3 quality depending on what you're prepared to pay.

You could use the service to sample and then buy vinyl because you'll always own that vinyl whereas with a subscription should you stop or the services goes belly up then you're no longer the owner.

Personally I don't have a streamer and rather own the little silver discs but it's easy to see the upside to a subscription. I often buy new artists that get recommended by members who stream.

I'd certainly go for a good front end if it's one or the other as Sonos is easily bettered.

 

[ckhamar]

Welcome to the Forum.

Hard question to answer because it really depends on what you want out of music, current or in your collection. Streaming subscriptions will offer up a lot more accessible music for you to enjoy at a reported CD quality although there are those that are just MP3 quality depending on what you're prepared to pay.

You could use the service to sample and then buy vinyl because you'll always own that vinyl whereas with a subscription should you stop or the services goes belly up then you're no longer the owner.

Personally I don't have a streamer and rather own the little silver discs but it's easy to see the upside to a subscription. I often buy new artists that get recommended by members who stream.

I'd certainly go for a good front end if it's one or the other as Sonos is easily bettered.

Thanks this is quite similar to my approach. I have Spotify and will definitely get the hifi version when they release it.

But I also love owning the physical for so many reasons; the excitement from just seeing music produced mechanically to the artwork on the sleeves and searching for great records...

I had always assumed you need to be spending £20kish to replicate/better a lossless streaming service, but given I'm lucky enough to have some spare money just thinking where is the best place to use it, and it sounds like if I'm currently set on using Sonos (for now), maybe it isn't worth upgrading the front end until I'm using a wired set up

 

[Ignominious]

The Sonos Arc and Sub are not the best for playing music as they are primarily aimed at the AV market.

I started off playing vinyl again via the line in on a couple of Play Fives which were OK but then moved to a Sonos Amp and then used passive speakers which improved things significantly whilst still allowing me to stream to the Amp using a subscription service. Personally, I wouldn't bother upgrading the front end system of your system until you address the back end.

 

[muljao]

I would think you could do better with your 1k. I don't think your quality is as bad as previously mentioned, but you are going analogue to digital and back to analogue again with your vinyl.

It seems you play the vinyl in the room with the arc, is that so?
Do you need to stream your vinyl elsewhere?

You say you are returning the TT, is it on warranty, just get another if so, the 2-3 rpm too fast is likely a fluke.

You are talking 700 in difference between the two setups, this could buy a dedicated amp and speakers, whether they would/could fit into your setup only you know.

I'm not really into vinyl, but if I was the fact that you get a lag between putting the needle on the record and hearing it would turn me off Sonos for that purpose

 

[acgingersnaps]

Hi. I've got sonos in 2 rooms and a hifi with a turntable in another room. Previously i've had a connect attached to the hifi.
I really like sonos for kitchen duties (2x sonos 3), but my main system has always been significantly better. The connect works really well plugged into a proper amp and i'd agree that's the way to go if you need to keep multi room capacities. If it's just for tv, in one room, and vinyl's important, i'd just do speakers either side of tv with the tv plugged into the amp. Works a treat.

 

[Khazul]

Sonos Connect I found the street

Was it on the back of a truck?

 

[ckhamar]

Was it on the back of a truck?

Haha no I recently moved in a nice neighborhood in north London and its crazy the kind of things people leave out here to 'free cycle'

 

[ckhamar]

I would think you could do better with your 1k. I don't think your quality is as bad as previously mentioned, but you are going analogue to digital and back to analogue again with your vinyl.

It seems you play the vinyl in the room with the arc, is that so?
Do you need to stream your vinyl elsewhere?

You say you are returning the TT, is it on warranty, just get another if so, the 2-3 rpm too fast is likely a fluke.

You are talking 700 in difference between the two setups, this could buy a dedicated amp and speakers, whether they would/could fit into your setup only you know.

I'm not really into vinyl, but if I was the fact that you get a lag between putting the needle on the record and hearing it would turn me off Sonos for that purpose

Don't need multi room set up right now. The reason I went with Sonos in the living room is space and no need for wires. I can manage book shelf speakers which would be solely for vinyl but def not floor standing. I love the arc and sub for the tv great cinematic experience.

Im pretty happy with the current set up (aside from the speed issues), and will certainly at the least replace the Rega p1 to fix the issues. But I guess if I was to spend more to enhance the vinyl experience (and I am willing) my question was should I be spending it on front end given I'm sticking with Sonos. It seems to be that the answer is no. First improvement would be to move from Sonos to a amp+dedicated speakers

 

[Ascotbilly]

Nothing wrong with the Sonos for what it’s doing. If you wanted a “vinyl only” system there’s loads of options and as you say best do it right first time.

If it’s just a replacement TT have a look at the entry level Projects and the RP1 they’ll all sound more than adequate on your Sonos but the RP3 system would be overkill