HEOS, Sonos or something else?

[Steviepunk]

I’ve been looking at some new options for playing music. For the last 25 years (give or take) I’ve been using the same Technics separates combined with some large Wharfdale speakers (just an Amp and a CD player now, decided to get rid of the tape desk a few years ago!), the sound was great, however I’ve recently moved house and I just don’t have room for separates and the big speaks in my new home office.
I have a NAS and Plex is setup with all my music and for the last couple of years I’ve also been using Chromecast to stream music to the living room, kitchen and bedroom.

To replace the separates, I want something that still provides good quality, but has a much smaller footprint, while also provides network functionality to potentially remove the need for separate Chromecast devices. However, I would also like to still have a CD player as I have a large CD collection. I don’t use any music streaming services, so not concerned about that side of things.
I also don’t want anything with an always listening microphone (so I believe that rules out Amazon and Google devices)

I’ve been looking at Sonos and the Denon HEOS system – both seem like very good options, with the “5” versions of each seeming to offer good quality sound, while the “1” or “3” models would then be suitable to spread around the house – however there doesn’t seem to be any easy (or at least in-expensive) option to get a CD player added in to the mix
For the HEOS side, it looks like they have the CEOL CD players that work with HEOS, though I’m not sure to what extent and is quite expensive (£400+) just to add CD support.

Does anyone have other ideas I should be looking at?
Is it possible to ‘cast’ directly to Sonis or HEOS when I’m in the Plex app on my phone?

 

[lucid]

Sonos Play 5 has a line input (3.5mm stereo jack), and the signal going to that socket can also be broadcast around any/some/all of the other Sonos devices in your home. All you need is a stereo-RCA-to-3.5mm-jack cable of appropriate length.

Job done.

 

[a1ex2001]

Don’t bother with the CD player it offers no sound quality improvement over a lossless Rio and is just hassle! Once you get used to streaming you will never go back.

 

[Steviepunk]

Don’t bother with the CD player it offers no sound quality improvement over a lossless Rio and is just hassle! Once you get used to streaming you will never go back.

That would make it really hard to play any of my hundreds of CDs

I use streaming for the rest of the house, but I do like to pick up and play a CD, so definitely want that option. However, as the Sonos 5 (and HEOS 5 as far as I can see) has the 3.5mm input then it shouldn't be an issue

 

[a1ex2001]

That would make it really hard to play any of my hundreds of CDs

I use streaming for the rest of the house, but I do like to pick up and play a CD, so definitely want that option. However, as the Sonos 5 (and HEOS 5 as far as I can see) has the 3.5mm input then it shouldn't be an issue

I thought like that and when my CD player had gathered dust for 6 months I boxed it along with all the cd’s and put them in storage saved loads of space and that was through a separated system. I really can't see why you would want to play a cd deck through a sonos speaker to play an album you already have available digitally!

 

[tom_nieto]

I thought like that and when my CD player had gathered dust for 6 months I boxed it along with all the cd’s and put them in storage saved loads of space and that was through a separated system. I really can't see why you would want to play a cd deck through a sonos speaker to play an album you already have available digitally!

My CDs are well and truly in the attic now. I thought I’d try Spotify and see how it went. That was 8 years ago and I’ve not bought a CD since. Shame really, but the convenience is great and I’m enjoying discovering new things all the time. For those who bemoan the loss of independent record stores, it seems a shame, but I had been using Amazon for as long as I could remember for buying CDs so I never got the whole hang out in a record shop experience.

Perhaps one day I’ll get them all out for nostalgia’s sake!

EDIT: I’ve actually properly disconnected my CD player as of a couple of months ago after re-wiring the front room to take advantage of streaming.

 

[Steviepunk]

I ended up getting a HEOS 7 on a deal and I'm quite impressed with it. Still getting the hang of the software, certainly could be better, but I'm getting used to it.
Was actually easy to setup (didn't need to the 3.5mm cable for setup, it just got connected on my network).

Now looking at what other speakers to get to cover other rooms of the house (though not looked into a CD player yet... will give it a while to see if I do miss it or not)

Thanks for the info