Sex in a Square Box Plonked firmly at the top end of the multi room price ladder is the Sonos modular multi-room system. With prices starting around £1149 for a two room setup it might not be cheap but take a closer look with us and we think you'll agree it's money well spent...
ZP100 Zone Player - £379 each
Like the Sony, the Sonos has no onboard storage of its own and must therefore be connected to your existing PC network to capture files for streaming. This is a relatively simple affair and just requires you to plug it into your PC network via a network cable and then all of the other ZP100 Zoneplayers can be added wirelessly with the touch of a button. Once this process is complete you can concentrate on the fun part, listening to the music and playing with the little joy device that is the full colour display remote controller.
Remote Control Me Nothing sums up the amount of polish that has gone into the design of the Sonos system than the remote control. The control system looks like a cross between an iPod and Windows Media Centre. Each Sonos you have connected to the system can be given a name and location, e.g. Bedroom, Living Room, Patio, etc. The remote lets you control the playlists for each player, as well as the audio settings for each zone so if you want to have the bass turned up in the living room but down in the bedroom, the controller does it all for you.
If you're thinking that that LCD screen looks cool but must eat batteries, you'd be wrong. The cradle it comes in recharges the unit and the remote turns itself off when not in use. Motion sensors in the Sonos remote just turn it back on automatically when you pick it up. To avoid any arguments over who has the remote, you can have as many as 32 of them connected to the network and by using the wireless network rather than infra red you don't need to be in the same room as the unit you're controlling. If the missus is playing her Anastacia too loud in the kitchen, you can turn her Zoneplayer off without even getting up from watching the footie, cool.
They Don't have the Range, Darling With compatibility for MP3, WMA, MPEG4 (AAC), Ogg Vorbis and firmware support for future audio formats, we doubt you'll be short of things to play through any of the Zoneplayers as Sonos calls them. You'll also be hard pushed to outfox the Sonos when it comes to playing all of those formats at once... the Sonos system is capable of either playing the same tune to up to 32 ZP100's or 32 different songs to 32 different players at the same time. Add in support for Windows playlists, iTunes and Rhapsody and there's not shortage of ways to get at your music with this thing. Sonos have even catered for those of us still in the ice age, connect normal a CD player to any Sonos and any other Sonos on the network can play the CD for you. If you have one of your Zoneplayers connected to the internet via your network, they Sonos can also oblige you by streaming net radio stations into any of your zones. If there's something it can't do, we're not sure it 's worth doing.
Conclusion Although it does carry a price premium over the other the Sony and the Philips, the Sonos has so many more features that it's almost unfair to compare them. In terms of ultimate expandability, flexibility and just outright technological sexiness, the Sonos has them whipped. The biggest problem we think you'll have is trying to find enough rooms so you can feed your Zoneplayer addiction. Remember, "Cupboard under the stairs" isn't a real zone...