cabby Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 (edited) My Bose dock (1st gen + 10 years old?) has a knackered speaker unit which it doesn't seem easy to replace so on the hunt for a replacement. Not worried about being able to dock but wireless connection/airplay a must. Was going through an old mac mag - mid 2012 - and saw a great review on this. 1 year on it can be had for 1/2 the original price. Gets great reviews everywhere except for what hi-fi Altec Lansing inAir 5000: Full Review. Can be had for circa £200. Another contender at around the £200 - 250 mark is the Sonos:Play 3. Richer Sounds are doing this + bridge for £249. The B&W Z2 looks good + gets great reviews but don't want to spend £300+. Considered a mini Zeppelin but they seem to have been discontinued. Anyone have experience of the above of suggestions on others to consider? Edited June 8, 2013 by cabby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 I've not listened to the others but both my mate and I ended up with Zeppelin Airs after getting a demo at the Gadget show last year, from a very foxy B&W lady. I did get mine a bit cheap though, due to 'minor cosmetic imperfections'. Not a mark on it when I opened it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted June 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 I've not listened to the others but both my mate and I ended up with Zeppelin Airs after getting a demo at the Gadget show last year, from a very foxy B&W lady. I did get mine a bit cheap though, due to 'minor cosmetic imperfections'. Not a mark on it when I opened it. They do sound good buy outside budget - even used on ebay they are up for £300 . Also wouldn't want to buy a used speaker unless I coud hear it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 We spent £500 on BOSE Sound Dock 10 and bluetooth module. The sound is excellent in my opinion but I'm no audiophile so it might be crap to others. The reason I mention it is I will never buy another BOSE product as long as I live. When Apple changed the iPhone dock adaptor on the iPhone 5 I emailed BOSE and asked if they'd be releasing an approved adaptor. They wrote back after a week and said they'd be updating customers. I have since emailed them twice and had no replies. I get all their sales emails though, surprise surprise, even after unsubscribing. I can, of course, connect via bluetooth, but I want to dock the phone for charging if I use it. I can also buy the Apple 30-pin to Lightning adaptor but it misses the point that as a customer I have asked BOSE if they'd be releasing an adaptor and they just don't give a toss. I have never bought any of their kit previously and at the time this was their top Sound Dock model, but they'll never get another penny from me again. I mean, why not just reply by saying "buy an Apple adaptor"? I'll tell you why...because they've now released Sound Docks for the iPhone 5 and they want you to buy one of those instead. I don't think so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted June 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 This may be an option Philips Fidelio SoundCurve DS8800W review from the experts at whathifi.com and is available for £110 as opposed to the £350 at launch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanG Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Sonos opens up a who different world of possibility. I am just getting to grips with the 3 I bought but the fact I can control it from my iPhone... Brilliant! Will look at the Richer Sounds site as £250 inc the bridge is a bargain. The sound is excellent too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Another vote for the Sonus. Absolutely stunning bit of kit, and amazing sound for something so small. And with the bridge, the only wire you need is the power cable. I think you can buy a plug in dock seperate if you want to charge too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted June 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 I'm pretty sure a Sonus will find itself in my house at some point but will make do with one of these for now - Philips - SoundCurve wireless speaker with AirPlay - DS8800W/10 - Docking - Home audio - Sound and vision. Picked a new one up on ebay for £95. The remote app on iphone/ipad to control itunes also works well (not sure how functionality compares to Sonus). Would also recommend the TuneIn radio app which you can play directly to an airplay speaker. Faster and easier than via itunes. Are you able to send stuff direct to a Sonus unit via airplay or similar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 Sonus has no control other than IOS device or computer. There's only volume up and down on the unit. Everything is done via the app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted June 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 This may be an option Philips Fidelio SoundCurve DS8800W review from the experts at whathifi.com and is available for £110 as opposed to the £350 at launch. Bought this in the end and very pleased with it. Bit of a bargain I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted December 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 So, 18 months old and the Philips unit now refuses to recognise the wireless network. From what I have read, seems like the only fix is to send off for repair (costing 2/3's of the purchase price) so is now, unfortunately scrap unless I can find a hardwire use for it somewhere in the house/garage. So on the look out for a replacement. Quite fancy the idea of a SONOS PLAY:1 - its mainly for a bit of background music over xmas so seems decent value. Like the idea of the PLAYBAR in that it would deal with TV as well but don't really want to spend £600 + our youngest would have it off the TV stand in a haertbeat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 B&W Zeppelin Air, sounds fab, looks lovely, superb build quality typical B&W item. Bose Soundlink Mini, sounds surprisingly good for its size, seems a tad pricey for what it is, Bose name etc. Audio Dynamix ATOM V2, sounds pretty good, cheaper than the Bose (1/2 the price) British made and good value for money imo. Little lad has ours in his room for bedtime stories, couldn't justify spending the extra on the Bose for this purpose but we take it on hols and i use in the garage too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 Just realised this isnt a new thread. Still, you get two new recommendations! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 Sonos is one of the best things I have ever bought. End of. It is amazing imo. We have got a PLAY 5, but the sound out of 2 x PLAY 1s is outstanding. I was going to do that and a get sub as a replacement for a £2k seperates system, but you honestly don't need it. Just 2 x PLAY 1 is adequate. Also if you buy a 1 and want to boost the system, you can just buy another one later and turn them into a stereo pair. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldavo69 Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 I've got a Zeppelin (non-air) and am not sure what to do; whether to sell it and go Sonos, use it with an iphone for Spotify or buy a Gramofon to make it wireless. Decisions, decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Think I'll be trying out the sonos route with a play:1. I'm sure the Zeppelin is very good but not keen on the design and it won't fit in the spot I have in mind whereas the play:1 is small and relatively unobtrusive. All sonos purchases have a 1 year Deezer* subscription at the mo too. * At this moment in time I don't have a clue what Deezer is but nothing a little 'google' won't sort it + it's 'free' so must be good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 This is what we now have in the living room in place of the old seperates system (and massive speakers). The sound out of these paired PLAY 1s is stunning for their size. All the CDs are loaded onto a NAS drive, but rarely listen to them with Tunein Radio, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 I've got a solitary One pumping out some festive Christmas Armin at the moment - they are very good units. I've a bridge thing in the living room hooked up to the separates Linn amp and that sounds great too. I'm musing extending the Sonos systems to another One and a Three in the new year. I do find the synch with iTunes a bit of a pain but that is more down to the odd way my music has indexed itself and I've since dicked around with it. I'd love t start indexing all my music again - I just can't bear the pain of copying all the CDs again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted December 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 So sonos don't see fit to allow any direct streaming i.e. from YouTube to the unit via AirPlay; everything has to go via its app. Read quite a lot of articles, blogs and forum posts on this shortcoming now and doesn't look like sonos are going to start licensing AirPlay anytime soon. With two young kids we use AirPlay a lot so this lack of functionality will probably be enough to see the unit goin back. Shame really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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