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Marco
08-03-2011, 20:55
Hi Guys,

I have a friend who's looking for some wireless speakers to play music from his iPhone, and he was considering the Sonos ones (shown in the link below).

As I know nothing about these things, could one of you knowledgeable chaps advise me if they're any good or if he should consider something else?

I'll then pass on the info to him - churz!

This is what he's looking at in the likes of Richer Sounds:

http://www.sonos.com/Default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=2057

Marco.
Alex_UK
08-03-2011, 22:17
I have to say, this is more than a little suspicious - a couple of weeks ago we have the revelation that Marco has signed up to Spotify, and now your "friend" wants speakers for an iphone... :lol: ;)

I don't know the Sonos, but they are certainly one of the leaders in this sort of thing, and it all looks good on paper - but can you clarify his needs? If he is looking just to play the music on his iphone, then I think he will also need a Sonos Wireless Dock (http://www.sonos.com/products/accessories/wd100/Default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=2057) (an extra £99). If, however he wants to connect the Sonos S5 to his Itunes library on his PC, and use the iphone as the controller (would be my preferred option) then looking at the specs, the S5 needs to be connected to his network with an ethernet cable - it can't just pick it up wirelessly. This will of course limit where he can place the unit, unless he buys a ZoneBridge (http://www.sonos.com/products/zonebridge/Default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=2057) (£79) which will get around that, connect to his router and then "bridge" to the S5 wirelessly.

Does that make sense?
Marco
08-03-2011, 23:09
No, not in the least, but I'll pass it on! :lol:

Churz! :cool:

Marco.
Stratmangler
08-03-2011, 23:16
Marco

The quality route would be to get a Chord bluetooth DAC, and link that to an decent amp and speaker setup.
The sky's the limit as far as the amp and speakers is concerned.

Your friend could also stream from a computer via bluetooth if he so wished too.
Marco
08-03-2011, 23:19
Cheers, Chris. I'm basically forwarding the replies onto him to make sense of, which I know he'll appreciate :)

Marco.
Stratmangler
08-03-2011, 23:36
The DACs I'm thinking of are this http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/products-info.asp?id=53 and this http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/products-info.asp?id=63
Alex_UK
10-03-2011, 10:46
Marco,

If your "friend" is wanting a more simple and possibly stylish solution, the new B & W Zeppelin Air is shortly coming out, at £499 - one of the advantages of this device will be that it will use Apple's Airplay to remotely play any device with itunes wirlessly (so he could play either from PC/Laptop or iphone straight out of the box). It's £499, but as I said, by the looks of it should do what he wants straight out of the box without any additional accessories.

http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/iPod_and_Computer_Speakers/iPod_and_Computer_Speakers/Zeppelin_Air

According to John Lewis expected delivery is in 2 weeks (and if you (sorry he) gets it from them they give a 2 year guarantee.)
Marco
10-03-2011, 22:12
LOL - this defo isn't for me, dude. It's for a guy I used to do business with who now works beside Del, so titter ye not! :eyebrows:

Marco.
Alex_UK
10-03-2011, 22:14
LOL - this defo isn't for me, dude. It's for a guy I used to do business with who now works beside Del, so titter ye not! :eyebrows:

Marco.

I'm just joshin' wiv ya - I'll stop it now! :)
Beechwoods
11-03-2011, 07:09
An Airport Express and a couple of actives is also a good way to go if he's not particularly worried about anything other than 16/44.1. If his source is an iPhone than that probably won't be a problem. It works with Airplay and you have the flexibility to use whatever speakers you like, as long as they're active or you plug the Airport Express into an amp first.