helenek

Hi Everyone! Thanks once again for all your input … and I beg pardon, in advance, for another long post which demonstrates my total newbie-ness! I’ve done some more reading about Sonos and about AppleTV. I guess the problem is that no one seems to have two ATV units attached to the same music server, so it is difficult to know if the ATV solution is truly viable. Jeff/machinehead has said that each ATV has its own controller, but I don’t think it’s anything like the Sonos controller, with its own integrated screen. So the question is, if you’re in a room without a TV, how can you select a particular song/track to be played using the ATV’s controller? It’s therefore beginning to look like Sonos is the most cost effective way to distribute music to each location and give the person in that location control over what is playing. I know that no system is perfect, but wappinghigh mentioned that he was “bullied off” the Sonos forums for picking on flaws. So the question is, what flaws do you see in this system and are they serious? A number of folks have advised that I wire the house with cat5e despite the fact that Sonos is a wireless solution. I have a tendency to agree with that, as being downtown, in a semi-detached house, we are very close (physically) with our neighbors on either side. Putting much of the system on wires may help to cut down on any potential interference. So, if we assume that Sonos is it, how do I actually pull all the bits and pieces together? Right now, I have high speed, wireless DSL from Bell Canada. The “modem” that attaches to the telephone line is not only wireless, it has additional ports for wired connections. Can I assume that this box can also act as a router, or do I need a separate router attached to it? If a separate router is required, do I go with an Airport Extreme or something else? Once I have the router (if required) in place, presumably I attach a NAS drive to it. I’ve been reading about the Drobo and like the fact that it appears to require no expertise to set it up and have it perform automatic RAID for back-up. Is there a better solution than the Drobo? Then, assuming I’m using Sonos, I believe I have to attach one Sonos Zone Player directly to the router. If I were going completely wireless, I think that that’s where the wiring would stop and other Sonos units simply get plugged into the AC power in each room you locate them, and they communicate wirelessly with the station that is wired to the router. If, however, I’m going wired, am I correct in assuming that the Zone Players would still be placed in each room, but they would get attached back to the router via cat5e wiring? If so, then it would probably make sense to have a cabinet/closet where the Internet modem, router, NAS drive and all the cat5e cabling from the outboard Zone Players would reside, correct? Now, in the rooms where music quality is not a concern, I would use the Sonos Zone Players that have an integrated amplifier. Anyone think that this is a bad idea? And then each of these players would be wired to ceiling or unobtrusive wall-mounted speakers (anyone have any suggestions as to which speakers to use?). In the living room, where we want high quality music, we would attach a Sonos Zone Player with no integrated amp, into my NAIM amp, which in turn is connected to my Linn Kan speakers. Presumably I would need a DAC in this set-up. Am I correct that it would go between the Sonos and the NAIM? Any recommendations for an appropriate DAC, knowing I have a NAIM amp and Linn Kan speakers? Finally, in the family room, we plan to have a large flat screen TV. All the audio shops are telling us to go for surround sound (naturally), but we want this to be another area where we can listen to high quality music. So given that, is there an audiophile surround sound system, or am I better off with two good speakers and maybe a woofer? And, assuming we do go surround, do I need an AVR? If using an AVR, presumably the Sonos Zone Player (amplified or non-amplified?) would connect to the AVR and the AVR to the speakers. Since this would also be for quality music listening, I assume I need a DAC … does it go between the Sonos and the AVR? Once again, thanks everyone for your patience … I really appreciate all the time everyone has taken to post!!!

First, I want to thank everyone who responded for their help. I have to admit that there is a ton of information to digest, especially for someone who is not at all familiar with the Mac world (other than their highly entertaining TV commercials!). So, what I have done, to try to gain some familiarity with things is to download iTunes to my PC. Since we are “living through” the reno/construction process, our audio equipment and CDs are in storage … I could only find 2 CDs kicking around that I could experiment with, but I have to say that I found iTunes to be very cool … I ripped both CDs onto my PC’s harddrive, and iTunes grabbed the cover art, etc., and away I went. At this stage, I just let iTunes go with its default compression algorithm … time to discuss the pros and cons of the various possibilities later … and played the ripped CDs through the PC’s attached speakers. So far so good. Then I went onto the Apple website to read up on Mac Mini, Airport Express/Extreme, Apple TV and the iPod Touch. So, needless to say, I have a lot more questions. However, one of the items on my “wishlist” doesn’t seem to be addressed by any of the above Apple hardware … and Chris mentions it in his response, namely the ability to simultaneously stream two different songs residing on the server, to two different rooms in the house. So, the question is … is there any way to do this? This is what those Crestron/Elan/Niles systems manage to accomplish … maybe that’s why they are so expensive?? The only other system I have physically seen, which seems to be able to do this is the Sonos … but I believe that Sonos has its own iTunes-like software that you have to use … or can it be interfaced to iTunes in some way? I guess what I am trying to say is having several things going on at the same time, in different rooms, is an important requirement for us … I don’t want to waste everyone’s time, talking about how to put a system together, if this function is not possible. Once again, thanks everyone, for your input so far … I’m really hoping that there is a solution out there!

I don’t know if this is the appropriate forum for the following, somewhat large question, so please feel free to direct me elsewhere as appropriate. We are rebuilding our home and are at the studs/open wall stage. It is a 2200 sq. ft., 3-storey, semi-detached townhouse … the house is only 12 feet wide, but each floor ranges 65-70 feet in length. Because it is 3 floors, we’d like to have a music distribution system installed. The $64,000 question is … what music distribution system? We currently have a standalone stereo system consisting of: Linn Kan bookcase speakers, NAIM amplifier, NAD AM/FM tuner, Denon single disk CD player and Rega turntable … this system is about 18 years old. We listen to classical music and opera about 60-70% of the time, with the rest of the time being pop, jazz, rock … you name it. We do not own an iPod. We do have a Windows XP laptop computer and a high-speed Internet connection (I believe it is 5 Mbps). And we have in the neighbourhood of 300 CDs, not to mention almost as much vinyl. We are looking for a system that provides a quality listening experience in two locations (living room on main floor and family room in basement), along with decent listening in three others (main floor kitchen and two second floor bedrooms) … in other words, we want two rooms equipped with excellent but reasonably priced speakers (hopefully one of those sets can be my existing Linn Kans) … the other three can have decent ceiling or wall-mounted speakers. The idea of ripping our CDs (and if possible, our vinyl) to a central music server has a lot of appeal, given the 3-storey configuration of our home. Ideally, we would want to store the music in uncompressed or lossless format, and be able to play a minimum of two different, simultaneous streams of music from the music server, and have the ability to direct each stream to a different room in the house. We are not fans of in-wall controllers … a lot of wall real estate is going to be occupied with light switches … having more stuff in the wall just doesn’t cut it. Ideally, in the living room and bedrooms, where there is no TV, we’d want hand-held wireless devices that communicate two-way with the music system … allowing us to see what is currently playing and to select what we next want to hear via a menu … display of cover art would be a plus. In the family room and kitchen, where TV screens will be located, it would be nice not to have to squint at a 3-inch screen on a hand-held, and be able to see the menu system displayed on the TV screen. We have been to a number of audio stores in town (Toronto, Canada) and they all want to sell us systems based around Crestron, Elan or Niles. None of the stores talk about using a computer as a music server, with the exception of one dealer we encountered who has Sonos distribution systems. So, keeping in mind that we do have a budget (a $5,000 DAC is not in the cards), and that we are neither computer nor audio geeks, but appreciate an excellent sounding system, how do we get a great system put together? Can we stick with a Windows-based PC (seeing as we have absolutely no experience with Macs), or are there excellent reasons for using a Mac? Do we need some sort of wired network in the house, or can wireless support a system like the one described above without playback “glitches” … is Sonos or Logitech Squeezebox Duet the answer for distributing the music around the house? And, should we keep media separate from music? We are not DVD collectors … we tend to only watch movies once … but we want to be prepared for the day when there are no DVD (or Blueray) rental stores and everything is downloaded from the Internet. Where does that fit in? I guess what we’re asking for is not only a list of hardware and software, but how do you actually put it together? What connects to what? Any and all help/comments, etc. gratefully accepted. And, if you think a Crestron or Niles is the way to go, please let us know that as well. Thanks in advance for your help!!