After much thought and time, I have decided to pull the plug on having a full-sized stereo system. Since the 1980's I have always lived with and owned stereos with big speakers and large amps. Over the years the systems have matured, but the theme was still the same, large floor standers supported by large sub woofers. Currently I have some gorgeous Monitor Audio PL200 (although they are now sold) and a pair of SVS SB2000 Pro subs. The trouble is the amount of room such a system takes up, because you need an amp and DAC to go along with the speakers so when I got down to looking at how much room it was taking up, I started to wonder if I really wanted that anymore. Truthfully, I have been spending less and less time just listening to music this last year and I don't see that changing soon if ever. People change right?
Anyway, I have built a Sonos system that is going to help smooth the transition. Sure, small active lifestyle products like the Sonos gear I have will never be able to provide that palatable feeling that bigger drivers pushing air can give you, I will miss that experience for sure. I can say that after spending some time with my new Sonos system running together for the first time this weekend, I was pretty impressed. You don't get truly low bass, you get the lowest mid bass and perhaps a tad of the upper low bass, but that is ok as I think for quite a bit of music, probably the vast majority of musical information doesn't go much lower anyway, and if in some material I miss the lowest of the low, well, I can live with that. I think anyway, at least so far.
What you do gain is pretty darn snappy sound. There is certainly plenty of good low frequency information, and because it doesn't dominate, the mids and treble feel like they have room to breathe. For those who may be curious I built the Sonos system from an Arc soundbar with a pair of Sub3 (I think of them more as good midbass extenders, they fatten up the sound from 100Hz down). I also have a pair of Fives set as surrounds and a pair of Moves. In my smallish listening space it is a pretty capable rig. I am likely going to get a second pair of Fives added into the mix. I was pretty impressed with filling the room and finally having sound around me. As much as I love 2.2 channel audio, at least in my experience, the sound is always clearly coming towards you. My Sonos rig is not of course true surround, but it certainly feels more immersive than what I had. I have given up a great deal in terms of scale of sound and power, but I find myself not really wanting to play loud music often anyway. When I do, it is playing the drums along to tunes so I still get my big sound fix.
Anyway, just thought I would start discussing my transition as I am sure some will be considering the move themselves. I know that you can go actives that are large, but I am also trying to fill a room with sound that is a little more discrete. Although in all fairness, 9 speakers is hard to hide, but smaller speakers and no large components is a step towards what I want. In the ideal world if I had the proper room and lots of money I have stuff built into the walls and ceiling, but I can't see that happening.
Anyway, I have built a Sonos system that is going to help smooth the transition. Sure, small active lifestyle products like the Sonos gear I have will never be able to provide that palatable feeling that bigger drivers pushing air can give you, I will miss that experience for sure. I can say that after spending some time with my new Sonos system running together for the first time this weekend, I was pretty impressed. You don't get truly low bass, you get the lowest mid bass and perhaps a tad of the upper low bass, but that is ok as I think for quite a bit of music, probably the vast majority of musical information doesn't go much lower anyway, and if in some material I miss the lowest of the low, well, I can live with that. I think anyway, at least so far.
What you do gain is pretty darn snappy sound. There is certainly plenty of good low frequency information, and because it doesn't dominate, the mids and treble feel like they have room to breathe. For those who may be curious I built the Sonos system from an Arc soundbar with a pair of Sub3 (I think of them more as good midbass extenders, they fatten up the sound from 100Hz down). I also have a pair of Fives set as surrounds and a pair of Moves. In my smallish listening space it is a pretty capable rig. I am likely going to get a second pair of Fives added into the mix. I was pretty impressed with filling the room and finally having sound around me. As much as I love 2.2 channel audio, at least in my experience, the sound is always clearly coming towards you. My Sonos rig is not of course true surround, but it certainly feels more immersive than what I had. I have given up a great deal in terms of scale of sound and power, but I find myself not really wanting to play loud music often anyway. When I do, it is playing the drums along to tunes so I still get my big sound fix.
Anyway, just thought I would start discussing my transition as I am sure some will be considering the move themselves. I know that you can go actives that are large, but I am also trying to fill a room with sound that is a little more discrete. Although in all fairness, 9 speakers is hard to hide, but smaller speakers and no large components is a step towards what I want. In the ideal world if I had the proper room and lots of money I have stuff built into the walls and ceiling, but I can't see that happening.
