I was in Audio-T the other day to have a look at the Simple Audio streaming solutions.
Apparently they were set up by a couple of ex Linn guys to try and bridge the gap between products such as Sonos and the Linn/Naim level of streamers.
The boxes are fairly small and compact. About 6" square and an inch tall and come in 2 flavours. The Roomplayer 1 which contains a built in amp and the Roomplayer 2 which is just a streamer. They cost £700 and £600 respectively.
I've been playing with streaming for a couple of years now using various squeezeboxes and whilst i do like it most of the time i sometimes feel myself wanting something a little more polished and whilst i love Ipeng for the Ipad, there isn't an equivalent for the Android platform.
One very big plus point for the Simple Audio was the ability to have different user accounts which could display different libraries. One big complaint in our household is that my wife is fed up having to scroll through thousands of albums of mine and just likes to play music she likes on shuffle (which is why she uses her phone via an Airport Express). Setting up her own user account would get around this and be a big bonus. It also has a tie in with Deezer for streaming music.
The apps were very responsive aswell, pressing play seemed to be instant sound rather than a slight delay (networks may vary I know!). They had also been designed to fit into the Apple design ethos, this meant everything was very simple and easy to navigate (it’ll be interesting to see how they design the upcoming Android apps).
Now I’ve no experience of Sonos I’ll admit but this seemed to be a bit of a winner. Whilst it’s not cheap in the slightest. Especially when you factor that I’d need 3 of them! There’s also the concern that the company may not take off and the products end up obsolete however they’re recently been bought by Corsair.
At the moment I have 3 “zones” in the house
1 – Bedroom
This consists of a set of Aurousal A1 speakers, a modified T amp, project cd player, Airport Express and a Squeezebox receiver.
2 – Kitchen/Backroom
This is similar to the above, but with a Denon DM38 mini hifi, ceiling speakers and then an Airport Express and Squeezeboc Receiver
3 – Front Room
The main hifi, Item Audio Stereo 60, Densen B410 cd player, Cambridge Audio Dac Magic plus and a squeezebox touch.
If I went ahead and invested in the Roomplayers, I’d probably get all Amp based ones as the cost difference is minimal, the quality was also pretty decent from a very short demo in the store. I’d then get rid of everything from the Bedroom and Kitchen set up bar speakers which would probably bring in a couple hundred along with massively simplifying everything. I’d then also use the pre outs to connect it to my Item Audio amp and sell the SB Touch.
I know the alternatives are to either stick as I am or buy a couple of Sonos things which would work very similar but with about half the cost. For the people that use them. Can you set up multiple user profiles? Do they also have built in Airplay?
Apparently they were set up by a couple of ex Linn guys to try and bridge the gap between products such as Sonos and the Linn/Naim level of streamers.
The boxes are fairly small and compact. About 6" square and an inch tall and come in 2 flavours. The Roomplayer 1 which contains a built in amp and the Roomplayer 2 which is just a streamer. They cost £700 and £600 respectively.
I've been playing with streaming for a couple of years now using various squeezeboxes and whilst i do like it most of the time i sometimes feel myself wanting something a little more polished and whilst i love Ipeng for the Ipad, there isn't an equivalent for the Android platform.
One very big plus point for the Simple Audio was the ability to have different user accounts which could display different libraries. One big complaint in our household is that my wife is fed up having to scroll through thousands of albums of mine and just likes to play music she likes on shuffle (which is why she uses her phone via an Airport Express). Setting up her own user account would get around this and be a big bonus. It also has a tie in with Deezer for streaming music.
The apps were very responsive aswell, pressing play seemed to be instant sound rather than a slight delay (networks may vary I know!). They had also been designed to fit into the Apple design ethos, this meant everything was very simple and easy to navigate (it’ll be interesting to see how they design the upcoming Android apps).
Now I’ve no experience of Sonos I’ll admit but this seemed to be a bit of a winner. Whilst it’s not cheap in the slightest. Especially when you factor that I’d need 3 of them! There’s also the concern that the company may not take off and the products end up obsolete however they’re recently been bought by Corsair.
At the moment I have 3 “zones” in the house
1 – Bedroom
This consists of a set of Aurousal A1 speakers, a modified T amp, project cd player, Airport Express and a Squeezebox receiver.
2 – Kitchen/Backroom
This is similar to the above, but with a Denon DM38 mini hifi, ceiling speakers and then an Airport Express and Squeezeboc Receiver
3 – Front Room
The main hifi, Item Audio Stereo 60, Densen B410 cd player, Cambridge Audio Dac Magic plus and a squeezebox touch.
If I went ahead and invested in the Roomplayers, I’d probably get all Amp based ones as the cost difference is minimal, the quality was also pretty decent from a very short demo in the store. I’d then get rid of everything from the Bedroom and Kitchen set up bar speakers which would probably bring in a couple hundred along with massively simplifying everything. I’d then also use the pre outs to connect it to my Item Audio amp and sell the SB Touch.
I know the alternatives are to either stick as I am or buy a couple of Sonos things which would work very similar but with about half the cost. For the people that use them. Can you set up multiple user profiles? Do they also have built in Airplay?