Review on 🔌 Certified Sonos Connect Component Streaming by Troy Arnold

Like many others, I bought this unit to replace my Squeezebox infrastructure that Logitech summarily abandoned (I now have three Squeezebox -devices that collect dust). The Squeezebox platform has ALWAYS been clunky; you could never rely on it in an emergency (like a party) because you never knew if there would come another day when the device would refuse to see the LAN. Squeezebox = super squirrel. However, when it worked, the sound was excellent. That's why I stuck with it for so long. But all good things come to an end (especially with Logitech), which is why I chose the Sonos device to replace the Squeezebox. ). I pointed it at my Network Attached Storage (NAS) device and it immediately started scanning for music files (it currently contains about 65,000). In less than an hour, the job was done and everything appeared in the Sonos app. Squeezebox sometimes refused to connect to Wi-Fi when the NAS was connected and vice versa. Sonos didn't care; it made itself known online immediately and immediately recognized my NAS (Synology Diskstation 213j with two 2TB red Western Digital drives). Sound quality: Others have complained about the quality of the DAC (digital-to-analog converter) in Sonos. Can't comment on that because I bypassed it entirely with a digital connection between it and my Denon receiver. If your receiver accepts a digital input, this is definitely the way to go. The sound quality of the Sonos is the same as the Squeezebox, which is not surprising as I also used a digital connection to the Squeezebox. I can tell you that digital audio is significantly better than analog over a cheap RCA cable (or even "premium quality" audio cable). When it comes to transferring digitally encoded music from a source to a destination, abandoning analog audio entirely is definitely the way to go. Price too high. I agree with others who have pointed out that there is no reason this device should be as expensive as it is. It's a small plastic box with electronics inside. No buttons, no mechanics (apart from the three buttons on the front). Nothing really justifies the cost. Except that we continue to pay for it. The device is solid (so far), the interface is solid (so far), and it elegantly solves the problem of delivering files from local sources to your sound system. The fact that it integrates seamlessly with other music services (which Squeezebox didn't) is also a treat. Before Sonos, I used my Echo Dot connected to my receiver with an analog cable; Now I can do the same thing digitally through Sonos. Revain Music's sound is much better now. Admittedly, an expensive solution that does its job well. Definitely recommended.