Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 2Oct 11, 2014 9:18 pm Northern Adelaide, Format Homes '16-'17 after failed Bondor OB Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 8Jun 26, 2016 10:46 am Lorri, if sonos is too expensive, sound quality on what you can afford will be comparable. The only time a wired and component system will sound better than a sonos to the average consumers ears is if the components are good. Good components are drastically more expensive than sonos. Unless you or your partner are audiophiles, and the music you have stored on your devices isn't MP3, sonos or similar are your best bet for ease of use and quality. As to NAS, there Re many diagrams online that should explain the connections etc Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 9Jun 29, 2016 6:58 am I think we will use the Sonos, it sounds great to me when we saw them in a store over here and could try them out, some people might be able to tell the difference between them and high priced /quality ones but we can't so I guess we will save money lol .we will wait until we are back in Australia before buying them though as I don't fancy shipping them from here. Will have to look into the NAS , but it sounds a good idea. Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 10Jun 29, 2016 8:55 am Lorri I think we will use the Sonos, it sounds great to me when we saw them in a store over here and could try them out, some people might be able to tell the difference between them and high priced /quality ones but we can't so I guess we will save money lol .we will wait until we are back in Australia before buying them though as I don't fancy shipping them from here. Will have to look into the NAS , but it sounds a good idea. Where are you now? They might be cheaper where you are. Sonos has a very wide retail price range across the world. Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 11Jun 29, 2016 9:05 am A fellow Mac head friend of mine has just upgraded all his stuff from a bunch of external drives to a Synology NAS which links to some Sonos gear through his house. He can use his iPad or iPhone to control it. https://www.synology.com/en-global/solution/Apple although like most good NAS components they are pretty much agnostic and don't care what controls it iPad, Andoid phone etc It sounded pretty simple to set up. The hardest part ( read longest amount of time ) was transferring all his music, photos, videos etc onto the NAS using iTunes. Most of the speakers are hard wired but he has a few that are wireless. Most of the software to do this sort of thing is freely available. Stewie Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 12Jun 29, 2016 9:19 am I've been using Sonos around the house for a few years now, and control it through my Android phone and tablet. I did have a Sonos Amp die on me within 12 months, but since I had bought it from overseas, the local distributor wouldn't touch it, and all they could offer what a replacement at a very discounted price. I have a Play 1 in my alfresco area, but will get a second for there later, a Connect and a Connect Amp I have in my garage/workshop area. Whilst there are now several other manufacturer producing their own equivalent gear, I think I'd be mad to mix with other stuff now, but from what I've seen so far, the other stuff isn't any cheaper to bother with. Start your system up with a couple of the Play 1's , as they are very portable, as they just need somewhere to plug them in. Just add more later. I store all my music on a Synology DS2411+ NAS, but you won't need anything near that. Just a computer that's always on will get your started, and even then you won't need that because you can get your music from one of many of the hundreds streaming 'radio' stations. Play the same on all, or have them all play totally different stuff, the choice is yours. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 13Jul 12, 2016 7:41 am I think we will stay with getting Sonos gear, sounds like it works well for you and is the best output we have heard playing music with the ease of setup and use, so in a few months we will be getting them, will get a play 5 and 1 to start off then see how we go! Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 14Jul 12, 2016 10:29 am Lorri I think we will stay with getting Sonos gear, sounds like it works well for you and is the best output we have heard playing music with the ease of setup and use, so in a few months we will be getting them, will get a play 5 and 1 to start off then see how we go! You hit the nail on the head. Ease of use is a big part in this type of set up, and Sonos have that sorted hands down better than any other wireless networked sound system. The expandability also lets you get what you need and add stuff as you find more uses or areas you want services without moving things around. A wired system can be superior for sound, but the outlay (for a system worth hardwiring - eg not Sony or pioneer rubbish) and planning/forethought required for the set up can be daunting if money is a factor. So ons seems expensive, but out of the box the benefits are worth it. We have four play 5's, four play 3's and a sub and it just works seamlessly. Took less than an hour to unbox, set up and be listening to music. In the man cave however, where the studio gear is, is where the dynaudio gear is. It's where I'll listen to first play through a of stuff I buy before it ends up on the network for Sonos access. My wife doesn't hear the difference. Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 15Jul 12, 2016 4:56 pm Where do you have your Sonos, , just sitting on tops of cupboards, on stands or wall hung? Does it make any difference? We are in the UK still so I am keeping an eye out in case there are any really good specials. Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 16Jul 12, 2016 9:24 pm On bookshelves, TV unit, sideboards etc. not too fussed on placement for optimum stereo field as there all over the place. Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Re: How to set up a cheap house sound system? 17Aug 07, 2016 7:11 pm Our Sonos installations, bar one, are all hidden, as I'm using the equivalent of 1 x Connect, 4 x Connect:Amp and 1 x Play:5 (the only visible one). I've hidden them in cupboards with other media equipment (most equipment use BT or WiFi via apps, although I have an IR Blaster for others). Only one is connected to wired Ethernet, the other work via the mesh wireless network. For those audiophile, you can use the Connect, and feed it to your DAC and Amp; only reason I use one is I already have a Home Theatre amp, so don't need the Amp. As for storage, I use a Synology NAS, and have my stored music in lossless FLAC format, but most off the shelf NAS would work. You don't actually need a NAS, and I started without one, but it's nice not to always have your PC on. Thank you so much. This has been very helpful. We definitely wish to settle and get these people out of our life. 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