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Finbow
Trending Lyricist III
March 24, 2020
Answered

anybody replaced their Connect with a Port?

Hi,  begrudgingly having to replace my connect as the connect is the beginning of my mesh network & I will not be able to separate my system.

Any forum members picked up a Port to replace their connect? 
I am running my current Connect through an Arcam Rdac into a classic NAD 3020.

Any one experienced a degradation in sound quality using the Port?

The recent ‘What Hifi’ review has made this potential  purchase even more of a quandary.

Didn't fancy shelling out the £279 before. The fact that this might actually be an inferior product to the connect makes me doubt it even more.

i don’t want to get into a ‘bun fight’ about DACs & ‘subjectivity’ only want to hear from people who have actually upgraded please 

Any input greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

 

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      FinbowAnswer
      Trending Lyricist III
      March 27, 2020

      Just to update this thread as promised.

      Received the amp today & it wasn’t for me I’m afraid.

      I found the sound to be way to bright & shrill.

      played around with the EQ but couldn’t find the right balance unfortunately. Shame as otherwise a wonderfully engineered bit of kit.

      I’m pairing with a pair of a Monitor Audio Rs1’s & a Kef sub. The Monitor Audios are a little on the bright side themselves so I’m just putting it down to bad pairing.

      I had the Nad recapped & serviced last year so its functioning as new really & just sounds really warm & much more hifi than the Sonos amp.

      interestingly the 20 watt Nad drove my speakers better than the 125w Sonos! 
       

      As an aside, absolutely no problem driving the Kef sub. So no idea why so many people are having issues with their 3rd party subs.

      just ordered the port instead. 
       

      thanks again for all of your input. 

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      109 replies

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      CliveW
      Lyricist I
      June 11, 2020

      I found this thread just after doing exactly what Finbow did - the last part, anyway. I’d never got as far as ordering a Port but I’d been wondering whether to replace my Gen1 Connect.  Through a Meridian Director DAC I’ve been very happy with the sound it makes: width, depth, bottom, scale - it just sounds convincing and involving.  And I’d read the same discouraging reviews of the Port, which made me hesitate to simply trade up, even at 30 percent off.

      I could continue with S1, which Sonos made me install last night, but the rest of my system is all S2-compatible, Then I remembered that I got this Connect as an end-of-line bargain from Richer Sounds, so I looked to see what they still had Gen2 Connects - and, well, you know the rest.  Feels like a result, in that I (should) get to keep what I enjoy in the old Connect, but still have access to the forthcoming goodies of S2 - whatever they turn out to be.

      Meanwhile, thanks for documenting your own experiences here so helpfully.

        FinbowAuthor
        Trending Lyricist III
        June 11, 2020

        You have done exactly the right thing. The Connect from Richer Sounds made me realise that I had I was simply settling for the sound from the Port. The minute I plugged in the Connect it was like welcoming back an old friend. I couldn’t pack the Port back up fast enough!! Only issue is it doesn’t look as nice perched on my bookshelf as the Port. 

        FinbowAuthor
        Trending Lyricist III
        June 11, 2020

        How are they supposed to “update” something that is already bit-perfect to the source?  

        No idea. The issue must be the coax output of the Port then. The Port is putting out a much more ‘compressed’ sound somehow. It’s just a ‘lifeless’ representation. The Connect has a more ‘real’ & ‘live feel to it. A great example is it’s harder to hear the difference between a Digital radio stream & music streamed from Apple Music on the Port. You can easily tell the difference on the Connect.  Either way. Not my problem now. I am not the first to report this issue & I’m pretty sure sure I won’t be the last.  Thankfully Sonos has a fantastic returns policy. 

        jgatie
        jgatie
        June 11, 2020

        No idea. The issue must be the coax output of the Port then. The Port is putting out a much more ‘compressed’ sound somehow. It’s just a ‘lifeless’ representation. The Connect has a more ‘real’ & ‘live feel to it. A great example is it’s harder to hear the difference between a Digital radio stream & music streamed from Apple Music on the Port. You can easily tell the difference on the Connect.  Either way. Not my problem now. I am not the first to report this issue & I’m pretty sure sure I won’t be the last.  Thankfully Sonos has a fantastic returns policy. 

         

        Far more likely it is expectation bias that would disappear under proper ABX testing.  

          ratty
          ratty
          June 11, 2020

          I did experiment with a new Dac last week. It was a Beresford Caiman Seg. That really opened the sound of the port up.

          Don’t you think that points to your DAC(s) as being the source of the ‘problem’, such as it is?

           

          However the Bass was a little too tame for me.

          Again, that sounds like the DAC.

          I’m confused. One minute a DAC “opened the sound up”, the next it’s “lifeless”. 

          FinbowAuthor
          Trending Lyricist III
          June 11, 2020

          I did experiment with a new Dac last week. It was a Beresford Caiman Seg. That really opened the sound of the port up.

          Don’t you think that points to your DAC(s) as being the source of the ‘problem’, such as it is?

           

          However the Bass was a little too tame for me.

          Again, that sounds like the DAC.

          I’m confused. One minute a DAC “opened the sound up”, the next it’s “lifeless”. 
            
           

          I have no idea.  At this stage I had already sold my Connect so couldn’t compare how the Connect would have sounded with it. The Beresford is famed for throwing  a really wide soundstage. Even with the Beresford the Port still did not sound as good as the connect. I would have been spending upwards of £560 & still not be happy. 
          This thread is here to help others who may be in the same position as me. I can’t explain how two digital sources can sound so different but they most certainly do & I am not the only one saying this. All I can trust is my ears & my gear. I know confirmation Bias is a well known phenomenon but it is also a great way to silence anyone who may come here with an opinion on sound. 
          I thank you for the time you have spent helping me out here Ratty but I am now back where I started at the beginning of this thread & I couldn’t be happier. Considerably better off financially ( saving money on the Port & buying the end of line connect) & with a sound that I (be it subjectively or not) that I am really happy with. 
           

           

          jgatie
          jgatie
          June 11, 2020

          Indeed ratty.  Also, why people pay so much for a DAC that so obviously colors the sound is puzzling.  Shouldn’t a high quality DAC be transparent to the source?  And If one prefers their sound colored, wouldn’t a digital equalizer be a far more practical solution than a DAC?

          FinbowAuthor
          Trending Lyricist III
          June 11, 2020

          Indeed ratty.  Also, why people pay so much for a DAC that so obviously colors the sound is puzzling.  Shouldn’t a high quality DAC be transparent to the source?  And If one prefers their sound colored, wouldn’t a digital equalizer be a far more practical solution than a DAC?

          If you want to listen to what the Port chucks out of its analogue outs be my guest. I most certainly don’t & neither does anyone who has actually sat down & reviewed this product seriously.

          Anyone who comes on to these forums with anything negative to say about these products is instantly dismissed as some kind of audiophile purist. All I want is for the product that I am pretty much being forced to upgrade to be at least equal or better than the last. Not too much to ask when you are having to shell out £280 now is it? 

          I can see that I am not going to get anywhere in this  discussion so I am going to leave the last words to someone else. 
           

          Thanks again to all that have helped along the way. 

          prestc01
          Avid Contributor I
          June 14, 2020

          I don’t intend to be the last word in this thread, but I thought I would report that I decided to go ahead and get the Port with the 30% off.  Before upgrading to S2, I grouped the Port (through coax) and the Connect gen 1 (through optical).  When toggling between the 2, the music sounds identical.

            pwt
            pwt
            Virtuoso
            June 16, 2020

            I don’t intend to be the last word in this thread, but I thought I would report that I decided to go ahead and get the Port with the 30% off.  Before upgrading to S2, I grouped the Port (through coax) and the Connect gen 1 (through optical).  When toggling between the 2, the music sounds identical.

            I concur. I received a Port today, and its audio quality is indistinguishable from the Connect it replaces when using their respective digital outputs, as expected.

            (Already missing the front panel controls, however.)

            4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300
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