Evening STW.

Wondering if you can help me out, as I’m not sure what to look for, or if it even exists!

We are wanting a wireless speaker system for the house (Like Sonos). Looking to put 2 or 3 speakers into the lounge, 1 in the study and 1 in the bedroom.
From this description, I think Sonos would be the best..

However, we have a large CD collection, and want to be able to play CD’s through this system.
We want the CD player to be in the lounge, which is on our top floor.
But, what we would like is to be able to control the CD player via an app, for things like Pause/Repeat/Skip.

I do realise the best option might be to rip all CD’s to a HDD system, and access it over the network. But the other half finds comfort in picking out a CD, reading the cover and then playing it. And I’m not going to argue with her!

Does anybody have any recommendations? No idea on budget, as I don’t know what will be needed. But I’m not adverse to spending money on good quality that will last.

It would also be nice to have the ability to plug in the TV&PS4 for better sound in the lounge. But that may be asking too much!

Thanks all!
J

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1091/~/using-line-in-on-sonos
Line in yes, control the device will be a device specific control, neat way would be to select the CD, and use the app to play the online content that you can then control easily and do all the radio stuff from

Well, I would say the Linn Kinect multiroom system would do a fine job of that but it’s gonna hurt. A lot…

Rachel

mikewsmith – Thats my thinking at the moment. I would just then need a wifi/app controlled CD player.. Sounds easy!!

Rachel – I’ve seen Linn kit before, its amazing stuff! I will have a bit more of a read into it.

Thanks both!

I looked at Bluetooth speakers for listening to downloaded music, am glad I went to a store to listen to the quality of the sound first though; I thought the quality was really poor on the £180 Sonos one and fairly poor on the £400 one. In the end settled on a £7 lead that lets me plug the laptop into the hifi amp; Whilst not quite CD quality, the sound was quite acceptable.

I made a line-in to Sonos using a RaspberryPi. Essentially the RPi acts as an Internet radio server which broadcasts the output of the CD Player as an Internet radio station.

Sonos then picks up the radio station. Would work with any system that can receive Internet radio though

A fully integrated system would be the least trouble to use, but I’m not sure that there’s too many suitable systems available anymore as most have gone all in for streaming.

If you treat it as two problems then it gets simpler to solve but with a bit of compromise. The audio distribution bit can be handled by sonos or any number of other systems. The CD control will require some sort of bluetooth to IR bridging tool. Something like this.

The downside of treating it as two separate problems is that you’ll have two apps, one that replaces the CD player remote and a separate app to control the streaming aspects like room controls and volume levels. This might be a faff too far.

Have a look at Bluesound as an alternative to sonos. Like chickenman I dont rate the sound quality of Sonos, you might think differently but try and make sure you get a chance to listen properly to a system before you make a purchase.

I used to have Sonos and now have a couple of Audio Pro Addon speakers instead. Much better sound quality in my opinion and have more inputs and outputs. You can plug a CD player, turntable etc straight in. You can even buy the cheaper Bluetooth speakers and a C5 or C10 will make them wireless enabled.

If you’re wanting better sound quality the Blue Sound range pretty much mirrors Sonos but costs more. Naim also do two wireless multi room speakers, but you’re looking at a couple of grand to get a few rooms up and running.

Sat here listening to a pair of 3’s in the cafe I’m in, we have the same in the office, sound quality is good enough for me but I did work in a lot of high noise environments in my youth.

You get ir remote repeaters.

Peel remote app would the controlling bit

NAIM, but like the caveat about Linn, you’ll need a comfortable bank balance. ..

The Sonos bit has been covered and will work fine not going over that.
Going by memory it’s only the 5, and the connect and connect:amp that have the line in.

If you already have the cd player or struggling to find one with an app, look at the harmony remote control system, some of the range have a option for app control and can be found on the bay for reasonable prices.

As mikewsmith has said, best bet is the line in if you really want sonos and must use a CD player.

If you’re curious about the sound from a sonos speaker, try and borrow one from someone to try the sound quality out before you buy as it looks like you want quite a few speakers and it could get costly.

I have a play 5 and think the sound is fantastic when the volume is cranked up. And I believe the new sonos one works with Alexa so you can just tell it what track or album you want to listen to.
I’ve ripped my cd’s to my nas drive and just play them from there.

Sonos Play 1’s are currently £134 but don’t have line in – keep your CD collection, go through the motions of picking one you want to play then stream it from Spotify etc – works out much cheaper than adding CD players etc to Sonos.

Oh, and if you want Spotify, get the family account where you get 6 user accounts for £15 per month.
Then get friends and family to share the cost or even STW forumites.
I’ve done this with friends and they all give me £30 for a years use of Spotify premium.

you’ll need a comfortable bank balance. ..

The man has a “study”.

Have a look at the Yamaha kit. I think it’s MusicCast.

A few other manufacturers integrate with it but their own stuff is supposed to be excellent.

I believe they have a number of CD players with it built in and the app is also supposed to be user friendly.

Get with the times grandad!

Cds, urgghh that's sooo 90s.

Get a Google home speaker in each room and a Spotify or google music subscription.

Sorted.

I think it’s with challenging this idea.

I’d day just have a really good cd based system in the lounge

Then Spotify and blue tooth in the other 2 rooms. I think the novelty of going to a different room to choose a CD might loose it’s charm.

On the days when my CD player had a remote I don’t think i ever used it

But I fully accept it’s not my money

Ok final thought. Could you have a CD player in each room. Each plugged in to a Sonos so you can drive from wherever you are

Thanks for all the replies!

A few interesting ideas, and the link to Bluesound was a good one. I’ve not heard of them before, so its another place to research..

Currently considering a Bose system –
The Wave SoundTouch IV with a few of the Soundtouch 10 wireless speakers.

I think this will do what I need it too, but I have never owned a single item from Bose. So its a trip to my closest shop to see what the quality is like..

Does anybody have any thoughts on Bose?

Edit – I fully agree with all the spotify and Nas comments, but my other half works from home and its what she has asked about. She loves the process of picking a CD and physically using it. The online solution does doesn’t work!

Why don’t you go into a Richer Sounds and ask the question? Pick a decent sized store and they’ll likely have something in stock to show you

Does anybody have any thoughts on Bose?

Yes. I think they deliberately engineer an “impressive” bass response to make their units stand out in a shop when demo’d. Outside of that context I think they sound mediocre at best. The resonance-y bass response is quite annoying

https://www.marantz.co.uk/uk/products/pages/productdetails.aspx?catid=hifi&subcatid=sacdcdplayer&productid=nd8006

Or any other CD player with a connected app will allow you to control playback. My Marantz has an app for that.

BUT, I would probably just go for a Harmony Hub remote in front of the CD player. You can then connect Alexa / Google and control playback by voice.

Cds, urgghh that’s sooo 90s.

Polycarbonate is the new vinyl…

Going by memory it’s only the 5, and the connect and connect:amp that have the line in.

The old 5 has a line in, but not the new 5. I don’t think you can use Sonos with a CD player (don’t know about the connect amp and if it is still a current product). If you really wanted to then better off ripping the CD’s to MP3 and playing via your computer or phone.

Not sure you’d want to really play a CD through a wireless system like that. If you just want multi room access to your CD collection you’re far better off ripping to MP3 anyway as it means people can play different CD’s in different rooms. If you don’t want to rip your CD’s because you want sound quality then don’t go for a wireless system, you’re much better off with a dedicated amp with multi room capability.

People who say Sonos is crap are usually people who are trying to use it for something that it is not really intended. I think Sonos is pretty good at what it does, and you’ll struggle to get better products at the same price. They’re not the only gig in town and others are just as good. To say Sonos sound quality is crap is just nonsense. I have a single Play 1 in my open plan downstairs and it sounds great. Fills the room with sound easily. Struggles if you turn the volume up, so not great for a party or anything like that, and not as good as my proper hi fi system, but sound quality is really, really good. The play 5 is awesome and I’d have one but for the price tag.

A lot of people confuse sound quality with just a subjective liking the sound. Sonos has default treble, mid and bass settings. You may not like those default settings compared to the default settings form a similar competing product. However you can change those settings. But that isn’t sound quality. Sonos sound quality is as good as anything out there at a similar price point.

If you’re looking at Sonos and someone says look at the Linn system is like saying you’re after a Ford Focus and someone saying go look at a Maserati. Just doesn’t make sense.

You can ignore comments about quality – Sonos is plenty good enough for non hifi fans and you’re generally listening to 256Kbps 48Khz rips at best (Itune sPlus or the like). Doesn’t really cover off the CD part neatly though (though that Marantz is worth a look if you are REALLY wedded to the idea, but as a system it’s pretty good. Just rip the CDs or get a new One and use the Alexa skill kit to just ask for the music you want via a streaming service / your library.

The new 5 DOES have a line in.

I’m not sure about actually controlling the CD player from the SONOS app.

I’d seriously be thinking about ripping all your CDs to a NAS drive. A lot easier. That’s what I did / do.

OP have a look at audio pro. I’ve changed from Sonos to the and for the money they are truly excellent speakers. The looks are marmite, but I love them. All the awards they keep winning must mean something.

Audio Pro

Wot Kamakazie said.
Yamaha MusicCast stuff is similar to Sonos in that independent wireless streaming speakers can be linked and all controlled from an app. Crucially there are also mini systems and receivers etc, so you can have CD playback.
If you are looking to spend more then perhaps the Naim or Bluesound stuff will suit.

I’m with Ampthill. Just get a decent CD-based system for the lounge and Sonos/Bluetooth speakers in the other rooms. I’ve heard Sonos kit and it sounds good but for me it doesn’t compare to a decent pair of stereo speakers in the living room.
Artists and engineers spend a lot of time mixing their sound in stereo, it seems a shame to end up listening to it on a little mono speaker on a shelf…

The new 5 DOES have a line in.

So it does, I stand corrected. I seem to remember a bit of a furore when the new Play 5 first came out about it ‘losing the line in’ but there it is as plain as day on their website. Must have been fake news.

However if you’re after multiform capability then CD is not the best format as you can’t play two CD’s at the same time in different rooms. Why would you not want to rip onto a media server? Far more convenient and convenient.

Just a correction on a point thats been mentioned a couple of times – Sonos and their competitors are not Bluetooth, they are wireless (using your home WiFi network).

Have a look at the Yamaha kit. I think it’s MusicCast.

Just to second third this.
I’ve got a MusicCast AV receiver, HK surround sound speakers and a couple of WX010 speakers and I can vouch for how good it is.

Richer Sounds have MusicCast AV receivers from ~£250 and the MusicCast-compatible CD player (CD-NT670) is available for £299 online: I think this would be the best bet as all could be controlled via the single MusicCast app. With wired speakers in the living room and 2x WX010 (you can usually find them on eBay for ~£100 each) for the study & bedroom and you’d be up and running for well under £1000. Bonus is the MusicCast AV receivers can also mirror whatever’s playing over the wifi network to bluetooth, so you can add in all your bluetooth speakers as well.

that Marantz thing hooked up to HEOS kit. I’ve got Heos and it’s awesome.

Just to add as I’ve been looking at MusiCast stuff today, but it has Alexa support so you could add an echo dot in and control it all via that.

HEOS would do similar (though I’m unsure of the Alexa integration).

I wouldn’t touch Bose personally.

HEOS is getting Alexa integration shortly.

Can any of the Yamaha owners confirm that the musicast CD player will stream the cd as requested by the op? I’ve had a look (out of idle curiosity) but couldn’t see anything clarifying either way.

There is one particular Yamaha CD player which has MusicCast compatibility, the CD-NT670, available here for £299. The MusicCast bit is the key – the AV receiver and the CD player can be controlled from the MusicCast app, which also lets you decide which speakers or combination of speakers you want the sound from.

Other Yamaha CD players will stream over a network, but I don’t know how well they talk to MusicCast and therefore how easily they can be controlled via app.

RIP Squeezebox

I have Sonos speakers around the house and a hifi setup with CD player and turntable. The hifi amp has a Sonos connect attached so I can also stream music through my floor standers. I think the point of Sonos is streaming, not playing cd’s through them. I subscribe to Deezer Premium or Elite or whatever it’s called these days which offers cd quality bit rates. If I want to play a cd I go to the hifi. Works for me.