There's also now Sonos Radio, which pulls off a similar trick with most of the world's leading radio stations. The Sonos app supports pretty much every streaming service known to humanity and lets you build playlists fairly seamlessly from all of them, as well as streaming music stored on your phone, or a NAS or laptop. Sound quality is really excellent, despite the absence of support for hi-res audio. With careful positioning, the Port can even pull off both its party tricks at once.
This means you can plug in a source – a turntable being the most obvious one, although you will need a pre-amp if yours isn't able to output at line level – and then stream it around the house to your network of Sonos speakers and soundbars.Īlternatively, you can plug the Port into your amplifier/soundbar/powered speaker and stream to it via Sonos or Apple AirPlay 2. It's actually a multi-purpose device, since it has an analogue input and output, as well as being able to stream to any Sonos speaker wirelessly. Sonos Port is a great little streamer, especially if you're among the millions of people who already own a Sonos speaker. You will, of course, need more compatible speakers (or streaming DACs plugged into hi-fi systems) to achieve this life goal. Many streaming DAC receivers can also be used to integrate your old kit into a wider multi-room set-up – some also with voice control support - whether that's Chromecast, Sonos or MusicCast, breathing yet more life into your antiquated audio kit. While none will match a wire for hi-res file compatibility and playback, you'll often notice the difference with a lowly MP3. Sound quality can be anything from MP3-level to better-than-CD hi-res audio, and all the convenience of Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music etc.Īll the kit we've reviewed features a DAC (or digital-to-analogue converter) that improves, to varying degrees, the sound quality of streamed music.
Best value portable cd player with speakers upgrade#
These simple plug-and-play receivers connect to a spare phono or 3.5mm input and instantly upgrade your kit.
If you've got an existing hi-fi with decent speakers, CD player and Amplifier, but crave the digital delights of wireless audio, you need a streaming DAC.
The Yamaha WXAD-10 is another superb value upgrade to your music system. It supports hi-res audio, allows the possibility of Sonos-like multi-room and is compatible with every streaming service most people could possibly want, from Spotify to Qobuz, to Apple AirPlay and even Bluetooth. If you've got a Google Home or Alexa speaker you can even have voice control of it. Just plug in your turntable and stream it to a Sonos speaker, or plug it into your amp and speakers and stream via Airplay 2 or the Sonos app. It doesn’t look much, but Sonos Port offers an extremely smooth transition from the wired to wireless world.