CONNECT:AMP and subwoofer vs Sonos SUB

[NickA]

Originally Posted by johnhs

I'd agree with control freak - buy a connect for £279 and with the £841 thats left over buy an amp and some speakers - Its going to sound better.

Absolutely - my "BIG system has a connect feeding a naim 122x/150x amp and neat motive 1 speakers ... and playing the connect though it all sounds nearly as good as playing a naim cd5x through it (if the data is good enough).

But that system is consigned to my "music" room by she who must be obeyed (and noise sensitive neighbours) so I mostly listen to what's in the kitchen, where there's no space for an amp or floorstanders!

[TexasRaptor]

I got my Martin Logan Dynamo 700W for less than the Sonos Sub will be. It has way more power than the Sonos Sub and is still wireless. It sounds awesome and is paired with B&W CM-1. It has a small transmitter that plugs into to the sub out of the connect amp but those wires can be hidden by the connect amp itself or in my case its mounted to the back of my 55" TV just above the connect amp. I'm extremly happy with the setup and would do it again.

[Kumar]

Subs are extremely difficult to integrate with the main speaker pair where music is concerned, particularly where the taste is towards well recorded acoustic/vocal music.

Subs work well for home theater applications for effects, provided by a channel dedicated to these effects at the recording stage.

For high quality audio, I would still go with a connect driven amp + 2 speaker system, with time, money and efforts spend on the speaker selection, positioning and room acoustics.

Where the room is small, and the speakers are well designed easy loads, one can do away with the amp, and use the connect amp instead, with the same attention to the speaker side of things, without a sub.

Perhaps Sonos had made the kind of breakthrough in audio engineering that negates this view, but I doubt it.

[buzz]

This document gives the SUB crossover frequencies.

[Zubenubi]

I think for the money, the Sub and Play 3's are worthy of serious consideration. The sound from this set-up is very clean & crisp, maybe too clean for some.
I have the other option of the 90 pre amp plus big amp connected to some very large Tannoy's and they do provide a rich warm sound. However the speakers are in the £5k bracket.
Have tried the 120 amp with B&W M1's and a Cambridge Audio Minx X200 sub. Yes it did sound good but you could tell there was a sub in the room.
Changed to the Play 3's and Sub and the difference is amazing. Go try, go buy, you won't be disappointed.

[Kumar]

Originally Posted by Zubenubi

Have tried the 120 amp with B&W M1's and a Cambridge Audio Minx X200 sub. Yes it did sound good but you could tell there was a sub in the room.
Changed to the Play 3's and Sub and the difference is amazing. Go try, go buy, you won't be disappointed.

Interesting. Others have also pointed out in reviews that it doesn't work so well with the connect Amp.

Given the price, it does make things tricky, if one wants to use it with a pair of play 3 units, even trickier with a play 5 pair, given that it appears that it will work best with these, and approach the sound quality of a decent hifi set up. Or will the sub, with a play 3 pair, outperform a connect amp plus 2 speakers at the same price?

I say pair, because I am not sure that working with a single 3 or 5, with the consequent lack of separation for stereo, how it will stack up against a 2 speaker audio set up.

[Zubenubi]

Originally Posted by Kumar

Interesting. Others have also pointed out in reviews that it doesn't work so well with the connect Amp.

Given the price, it does make things tricky, if one wants to use it with a pair of play 3 units, even trickier with a play 5 pair, given that it appears that it will work best with these, and approach the sound quality of a decent hifi set up. Or will the sub, with a play 3 pair, outperform a connect amp plus 2 speakers at the same price?

I say pair, because I am not sure that working with a single 3 or 5, with the consequent lack of separation for stereo, how it will stack up against a 2 speaker audio set up.

Not thought of the Sub working with just 1 x Play 3 or 5. Could be worth a try but then I think you'd have to position the Sub carefully or get a strange experience. My current set-up is the Sub is on the kitchen worktop with the Play3's equally spaced on 2 x window sills around 3 feet apart either side of the Sub. It does dominate the room a bit! I think if I removed one of the Play 3's, I would lose more than 50% of the overall sound quality.

[jgatie]

Originally Posted by Zubenubi

Not thought of the Sub working with just 1 x Play 3 or 5. Could be worth a try but then I think you'd have to position the Sub carefully or get a strange experience. My current set-up is the Sub is on the kitchen worktop with the Play3's equally spaced on 2 x window sills around 3 feet apart either side of the Sub. It does dominate the room a bit! I think if I removed one of the Play 3's, I would lose more than 50% of the overall sound quality.

Sub frequencies are non-directional, meaning you cannot locate the direction of the source by simply hearing them. This is why a multi-channel system only needs a single sub (the '.1' in 7.1, 5.1, 2.1 etc.). Given this, sub placement does not have to be between the stereo channels, you should place it for impact, not direction. Best impact is achieved by corner loading it close to the listening position, with care to avoid nulls in the fairly long wavelengths.

[Zubenubi]

Originally Posted by jgatie

Sub frequencies are non-directional, meaning you cannot locate the direction of the source by simply hearing them. This is why a multi-channel system only needs a single sub (the '.1' in 7.1, 5.1, 2.1 etc.). Given this, sub placement does not have to be between the stereo channels, you should place it for impact, not direction. Best impact is achieved by corner loading it close to the listening position, with care to avoid nulls in the fairly long wavelengths.

Yes, I am sure you are correct and idealy once I have knocked a wall down, the Sub will be re-postioned on the floor to 1 side. It is purely sited this way for ease of use, oh and the fact I cannot fit it anywhere else!