Hi All,
If you want the quick version, TLDR is this: What is the price differential between (a) buying a Sonos play 5 or (b) buying a completely featureless bookshelf micro hi-fi system (i.e. like those from before the digital streaming era) which has similar audio quality to the Sonos 5?
Detail is here is that we're looking at getting an audio system for the living room, starting from scratch and budget is around £400. We'd like the audio to be of decent quality for that price range and also have the ability to stream napster / spotify controlled wirelessly by android handsets.
So option number one is simply to buy a sonos play 5 + bridge and be done with it. From what I gather the sound is perfectly fine for a modestly sized living room (and baring in mind our budget). This is our clear favourite option so far.
But I get this nagging feeling that if we were planning to stop at one system rather than ever go multi-room (not 100% sure yet but let's just assume...) then it would be far better value to just buy an older hi-fi, focusing purely on sound quality rather than features and then attach an airport express (using one of the airplay android apps). Airport express costs c£80 I think so if a hi-fi of similar audio quality to the Sonos could be bought for under £150 then the total saving might be big enough that we would consider doing this instead.
To be honest, both my and my girlfriend really like the look of the Sonos. I just want to make sure I'm not being sucked in by the overall elegance of Sonos system when a far better value solution might available for only slightly more hassle.
Let me know your opinions (my knowledge of this stuff isn't great so go easy!)
Thanks.
If you want the quick version, TLDR is this: What is the price differential between (a) buying a Sonos play 5 or (b) buying a completely featureless bookshelf micro hi-fi system (i.e. like those from before the digital streaming era) which has similar audio quality to the Sonos 5?
Detail is here is that we're looking at getting an audio system for the living room, starting from scratch and budget is around £400. We'd like the audio to be of decent quality for that price range and also have the ability to stream napster / spotify controlled wirelessly by android handsets.
So option number one is simply to buy a sonos play 5 + bridge and be done with it. From what I gather the sound is perfectly fine for a modestly sized living room (and baring in mind our budget). This is our clear favourite option so far.
But I get this nagging feeling that if we were planning to stop at one system rather than ever go multi-room (not 100% sure yet but let's just assume...) then it would be far better value to just buy an older hi-fi, focusing purely on sound quality rather than features and then attach an airport express (using one of the airplay android apps). Airport express costs c£80 I think so if a hi-fi of similar audio quality to the Sonos could be bought for under £150 then the total saving might be big enough that we would consider doing this instead.
To be honest, both my and my girlfriend really like the look of the Sonos. I just want to make sure I'm not being sucked in by the overall elegance of Sonos system when a far better value solution might available for only slightly more hassle.
Let me know your opinions (my knowledge of this stuff isn't great so go easy!)
Thanks.