Sonos Connect Amp Review – The Perfect Gadget?

The Sonos Amp is a great product, the state of the hearts. It provides room for all cloud music hubs like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Rhapsody, etc., of which you have access to, without regarding your Operation System (iOS or Android Smartphone, MAC, Microsoft, etc.)

One of the weaknesses is that it is a line-in built to enable you to connect to DVD players and TV sets. You need to have an extended audio component like speakers, deck, etc.

This is because SONOS does not support iTunes, but connects to hard-wired Son not a component for Bridge accessories worth $49.

Sonos Connect  Amp Review

In 2012, rumors spread like a wide fire that it is likely Google set an innovation with the Google Theatre Device, hence people thought this will be a red sign against Apple TV and SONOS SYSTEM.

Unfortunately, it was not a distance close to SONOS, the stand remains.

Only if Google Theatre Device features stuff that is more innovative and of a higher standard, I don’t think Nexus Q can be beaten. SONOS Connect Amp.

From its solid build to the simplicity of the user interface it’s something that the Nexus isn’t refined. It’s compatible with nearly every online music service on the market, and can also stream your digital music collection.

For you, $300 could be expensive as  Nexus’ price despite her amazing features and functions. Connect Amp could be an alternative, although it is two-thirds more expensive.

Additionally, you have SONOS, which offers Play 3, Play 5, and the ampless SONOS  connect as an alternative.

Play 3 is $299, Play 5 for $399, and $349iss the respective price range. Yet, regardless of the price, the Sonos Connect: Amp is a full-featured digital audio system with a lot to offer both casual users and serious audio enthusiasts — especially if they’re looking to eventually build out a multiroom audio system.

SEE ALSO: Spark AMP Review for Bass

• Design

Sonos is 3.5 inches in height, 7.28 inches wide, and  8.15 inches deep, a perfect side that is bigger than most “small black box” media streamer, such as Roku or Apple TV.

It possesses an anodized precision-machined extrusion aluminum case with a two-tone colour scheme on a white plastic base. 5.1-pound in total weight makes it pretty cool, and unique from those flimsy plastic boxes available on market– connect Amp is solid and well-designed.

The front panel reduces in size as you use the  Volume Up/Down and Mute; while necessary things like the volume control, is controlled by an Amp, tablet, or Smartphone. There’s no power button since the Sonos is designed to remain in standby mode at all times.

• Features

Connect Amp, formerly known as the ZonePlayer ZP120, and was named immediately after Play 3 was created.

While the ZP120 was initially offered as part of the BU250 Bundle, although, it is currently unavailable not least because the CR200 touch-screen controller has been put to pasture.

Somos offers free control app for PC, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. In other words, nearly any smartphone or tablet — including iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, Kindle Fires, and all newer Android phones — can double as the remote.

The Connect Amp is a distinct product, it is part music streamer and part amplifier. When I say rare, I mean similar products but most are unpleasantly expensive music servers, or the aforementioned Google Nexus Q.

Whereas the Nexus Q has a 25W amplifier, the Connect: Amp features a much beefier 55W -per-channel output.

The built-in amp simply allows you to make use of any non-powered speaker of your choice. You could go for something like Dayton Audio B652s, or step up from there.

If you have an existing stereo or home theater system and you’re looking to add streaming to it, might I suggest the ampless Sonos Connect ($349). Alternatively, you can go the all-in-one route with the Play 5 and Play 3, both of which have built-in speakers.

The Sonos Connect: Amp offers a plethora of connections, including line-in.

One feature offered by the Connects and that the all-in-one Play 3 and Play 5 systems lack is audio inputs. The Connect Amp has a single stereo RCA input that can be used to connect an external audio device — perhaps a turntable or an iPod dock.

For speaker connections, the Sonos includes solid, spring-loaded speaker jacks at the back for connecting banana plugs or bare wires — though not spades.

playback, on the list of connections, is the subwoofer-out, which can be used to connect to a third-party subwoofer. Or you can opt to go with the wireless Sonos Sub instead.

One feature I kept wishing for while using the Sonos was an IR port, usually to mute the system. Instead, you’ll either need to unlock your phone and launch the Sonos app, boot up your PC, or finally — heaven forbid! — walk over and press the Mute switch.

• Just Audio

Compared to some of the renowned music streamers, Sonos is only devoted to one thing. For this reason is this product just Audio, without video.

Sonos’ tagline is “Stream All The Music On Earth” — and the company’s products are very close to that goal. The Sonos is compatible with nearly every popular music service: Mog, Pandora, Spotify, Sirius XM, Last.fm, Slacker, Rdio, Songza, TuneIn Radio, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, Wolfgang’s Vault, Aupeo, Stitcher, and — most recently — Amazon Cloud Player.

For those keeping scores, that’s nearly every cloud music service out there. And while, as mentioned above, Apple’s iTunes Match isn’t supported (thanks, as always, to Apple), the Sonos does support streaming from PCs and Macs running the iTunes software, so your home music collection is always accessible.

It also supports many NAS servers, for those who don’t want to keep their PCs powered on all the time.

For local music, nearly all popular file formats are supported: MP3, WMA, AAC+, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, and FLAC.

That said, while it will only concern a small subset of people at present (myself included), the Sonos system doesn’t playback high-resolution 24-bit files: it’s CD-quality only.