why the Naim way

I have no familiarity with Sonos, so you need to explain more.  Where does it get its music from? If it is finding it on your NAS or computers and playing from there, isn’t that because there are UPnP servers on those storage devices? If so it is doing the same as a Naim streamer. Sound qulaity is of course another matter - how does Sonos sound as a source compared to a Naim or other hifi streamer? (Of course, that also depends on the amp and soeakers you play it through)

Sonos works well. We have Sonos play1 speakers dotted around the house and a Connect in the lounge to interface to the main system. SQ is fine for casual listening (and party mode is very handy when all the family is over) but remember it's limited to Red book quality.

IB - For stored music, it can index a folder on a NAS (just point it to the relevant directory and it builds its own database) as AJ55 mentions, or it can render from other UPnP servers on your network.

Arnold - For ultimate quality, I'd go the Naim streamer approach and the new ND5XS2 (when it comes out) would work very well in your system. It's worth a trip to your dealer to compare and borrow one to see how it compares (on both sound and usability) to your present solution.

Sonos does what it says on the tin. Connect, stream, easy to use, sounds OK.

The Sonos will be streaming from Internet and iRadio or, playing music stored on a computer or NAS drive, using a UPnP server software.
Naim basically does the same thing.

I used to use a "Sonos Connect" plugged into my old trusty Naim Nait 3 amp but, it always felt it fell short (sonically) of the CD3.5 CD player I was hoping to replace with the relatively cheap Sonos.
I decided it was time to upgrade having owned the Naim 3 etc. for over 15 years.

I therefore bought a Naim Superuniti (now superseded by the new Uniti range) and I've never looked back. I have all of my ripped CD's (FLAC uncompressed) and store them on my NAS drive running Asset UPnP server software and also now own a couple of Naim Mu-So QB wireless speakers for kitchen and bedroom.
I feel the Naim system outperforms the Sonos by far.

If I add music to the NAS drive, the music is automatically indexed and the Naim players find it.

Unlike some members, I've had no real problems with the app, nor "finding rooms" issues.  A good, quality wifi network is strongly recommended, if not required. Wired is better but not possible (practical) with my QB's.

I do however still have a Sonos Play 3 for the guest bedroom, being too tight to buy another QB!

Blythe

I have said this before but it bears repeating. In my experience, the best wifi solution, if you can possibly do it, is to use wifi extenders and Ethernet wire to those. I have an Apple set up with AirPort Extreme as main router which is connected direct by Ethernet through a switch to my NDS. For my Superuniti and Muso I have Airport Express as wifi extenders linked to the Extreme close to the streamers and Ethernet wired. Works an absolute dream. I can stream 24/192 to the Superuniti and it never, and I mean never, buffers. My NDS did on wifi only.

I don't know why this works so well but it does.

Thanks Camlan,
However, my wifi works perfectly fine as it is; - I do not use "wifi extenders",  I simply have additional wifi access points in a couple of otherwise dead locations, hard wired by ethernet cables to my main router.
The NAS drive and Superuniti are wired through a switch to the main router.
In my setup, the wireless Mu-So QB's work just fine.

Sonos still needs to index a drive somewhere to see your library so its no different, other than it provided software of its own to run on pc or mac. Its only none disc/computer based if you stream off the content suppliers. 

Personally I would never use uPnP ever again. Having used Squeezeboxes for years and then being a convert to Roon which is the best library software, multiroom solution out there for high end IMO and it works with all the new Uniti range flawlessly.

SimonPeterArnold posted:

 

Personally I would never use uPnP ever again. Having used Squeezeboxes for years and then being a convert to Roon which is the best library software, multiroom solution out there for high end IMO and it works with all the new Uniti range flawlessly.

However, Roon doen’t suit everyone, especially if you don’t want Tidal and dislike social media type interfaces - and it doesn’t work well with collections that have poor metadata.

Each to their own but this is why it's superior in my eyes it lets me keep connected with a large collection when its easy  to forget what you have, what you recently added etc and broadens your horizons as you delve into the who and what of your favourite lp or label. 

Hi,

I have not owned a Sonos, but wwent for a Bluesound instead, mostly because it supports 24 bit streaming and no need to limit yourself to 16 bit. With a stable wireless network there are no problems with either Bluesound or qb, and no problems with upnp streaming. I wonder why upnp streaming should be especially problematic. Most problems people have are network related.

If there is a problem with the Naim way it is about software development and resources for that, but I think Naim is catching up here.

Claus