Sonos Digital Music System review

Features
Both Zoneplayers included with the standard installation contain 50W amplifiers, Wi-Fi receivers and Ethernet hubs. When they're set up and switched on, the Zoneplayers form a wireless mesh network, which automatically configures itself to work best with the layout of your house. This process is completely invisible, so while it's interesting to know what the Zoneplayers are up to, you don't have to manually configure them.

Up to 32 Zoneplayers can be linked together in a single house, but unless you live in Buckingham Palace, we don't anticipate anyone needing more than two or three. A single remote can control all the players attached to your network, and you can assign different music to different rooms depending on the mood and tastes of the occupants. If you've ever wanted the chance to play God, this is it.

Alternatively, the system can be instructed to play the same track on all your Zoneplayers, and in perfect synchronisation. This is no mean feat -- Sonos is using a clever bit of engineering to make sure that regardless of the different distances between the Zoneplayers in your network, there is no perceptible lag between the music playing on each one.

The Zoneplayer sources music from any computer on your home network that has the Sonos software installed. This means the iTunes library on your Apple PowerBook in the study, an Internet radio station from the Windows PC in the playroom, and the CD in your brother's G5 are all accessible from the Zoneplayer's remote control. All the music in your house is displayed in a long list sorted by album, artist or a range of other criteria. It's important to stress that this can be set up with a few mouse clicks on each machine. Considering what the Zoneplayer system is pulling off, we found it nothing short of amazing that the software and hardware installation should function so effortlessly.

The Zoneplayer also offers the option to add tracks to a universal playlist via the software on any computer. This works like a pub jukebox. You add a new track onto the playlist and it's automatically scheduled to play in turn. Any user has the option to override the currently playing track and enforce their own -- but that would be extremely bad etiquette.

One other feature worth noting is the motion sensor in the Zoneplayer's remote. Consistent with the attention to detail elsewhere, the remote control automatically switches itself off during periods of inactivity to conserve battery power. As soon as you pick the controller up again, it senses this motion and switches itself back on. The controller charges via a standard mains adaptor, but Sonos has recently introduced a charging cradle, available separately.

Performance
To assess audio quality, we rigged one of our Zoneplayers into a pair of Sonos SP100 speakers, and the other into a pair of Denon SC-M73s. Interestingly, the SP100s compared extremely favourably to the Denon speakers -- both are weighty units that deliver a controlled low-end via rear bass-reflex apertures. The fronts of both speakers use a simple bass cone and tweeter arrangement -- our format of choice for stereo listening. Although systems with separate sub-woofers are popular with home-cinema enthusiasts, for almost all kinds of music we've had better results with a good pair of stereo speakers like these.

Auditioning Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Zoneplayers sounded taut and refined -- there was no muddying of the low end and the higher frequencies were accurate and unstrained. The song begins with a single lead guitar picking out notes; this sounded natural and crisp. At 0:10, the drums, bass and vocals kick in, revealing good definition and separation between the instruments. Even at high volume, the Zoneplayers sound like they're taking things in their stride, the speakers are driven hard, but there's no obvious clipping. Californication, the album from which this track is taken, has been mixed in the studio with strong separation between instruments, so, though it sounds great on most systems, there are some it shines on. The Zoneplayer is one of these.

Listening to alt-country badboy Ryan Adams sing Rescue Blues demonstrated the Zoneplayer's ability to deliver more subtle music. The recording sounded convincingly live and the warm tone of Ryan's guitar and whiskey-soaked vocals sounded nearly as good as they do on our 400W NAD reference system at lower volumes.

The software Sonos included with the Zoneplayer worked without a hitch. Five computers on our network were streaming music to the Zoneplayer within minutes. Whether Mac or PC, the Zoneplayer didn't care, and the software interface is identical on both platforms.

If you want access to all your music throughout your house, the Digital Music System is the best option by miles. It's not often we review products that are this gorgeous -- Sonos has dished out a treat.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Nick Hide