CD player to Sonos speakers?

  • 14 December 2018
  • 36 replies
  • 38904 views

Brand new to Sonos, don't own anything of the brand yet.
My wife doesn't do streaming, we have ~300 CDs, and she wants a CD Changer/Carousel. We just moved, so I have to rebuild the audio system. Good news is that they still make CD carousels. But I don't really want to invest in another old-school audio system...I'd like to integrate the CD carousel into a Sonos system.

What is the best approach? Will a Connect work for this? Or do I need a Connect: Amp? If I want stereo, are two Sonos Ones a good start?

thanks for sharing your expertise!

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

36 replies

Yes, a Connect will work. Stereo Ones is a great start and they are on sale now.

However, I just want to say that in almost every case I've seen, the CD player goes the way of the Dodo. Rip a few CD's to your local library and show the wife how much easier it is to search, play, make playlists, etc. She will also get the benefit of seeing the track information and album art on the controller. All without leaving her seat. It is just like a carousel, except even better. And it costs nothing but the time it takes to rip the CDs. No streaming service required.
Userlevel 1
Badge +2
I'll concur with jgatie, if you migrate to a digital music library you'll be entering the 21st century! Start off with a few, drop into your local library & get more CDs for your collection. Its pretty darn easy, maybe takes 2min per disc. If you're a power user over time you may want to get a NAS server to store your pictures, movies, and music (I did)
just to make certain, do I need a Connect or a Connect: Amp? (btw, completely agree...I've ripped all my CDs and use a NAS to stream them...for me. My wife? Not so much. She's allergic to tech...doesn't even use a cell phone, let alone a smart phone)
Userlevel 7
Badge +17
You could use either.
A connect to get music from cd into sonos system, then to a pair of sonos play1s.
Or a connect amp if you already have or fancy some normal HIFI speakers.
I always think a Play:5 is much better value if the Connect would be used purely for line in
Perfect! I don't have any current speakers (I had Bowers & Wilkins in the old house), so just need to pump the CD music to Sonos speakers. And John B...thanks for the tip on Play: 5s.
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
It is quite easy to build a system that incorporates a hard drive or NAS for ease of playing but also to incorporate a CD player or record player.

Whilst streaming may be the 21st Century, it is also characterless, dull and unexciting. You may like to own CDs and still want to keep them. If so, do it. Sonos allows things to be done your way.

I will always advocate owning CDs or vinyl, if thats your preferred way of listening to music.
Interesting. I’ve recently gone back to CDs are six years of streaming. I found it soulless tbh and more importantly it doesn’t support artists, labels, record stores.
I’ve bought a Rega CD player which is amazing, considering connecting it to a Connect or Play 5 now.
Alexa voice, or App, controlled streaming with access to 40 million plus tracks, or/and playing your local digitised music over several grouped Sonos stereo speakers. With accompanying light sequences, via Philips Hue (or similar) ...and the automatic changing of Album art covers and artist info. displayed on a TV screen via Apple TV/TunesMap App ... what’s not to like about that in the 21st century?

I have gently coaxed my Wife into the modern era. ? My CD's are boxed and gathering dust in the loft.
Streaming doesn't support artists? It's actually the only current model that does.
Streaming doesn't support artists? It's actually the only current model that does.
OK - I'll bite :-)
How does buying a CD not support the artist?

OK - I'll bite :-)
How does buying a CD not support the artist?


Because a CD can be ripped and file shared to hundreds of thousands of others. Not saying you would do that, but the bottom fell out of the CD sales model because hundreds of thousands of others did it.
Just curious: has this CD issue led any artistes to stop putting out their music on CDs and allow only streaming ? Other than the struggling ones that are still to make it big who may not have access to the CD route for commercial reasons.
I agree with what others have said about CD/CDP becoming obsolete at home as soon as a Sonos+NAS solution is available.

As to soulless, that is a very personal thing; there are many that prefer vinyl to CDs claiming the latter to be soulless.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
I ripped my CD collection to FLAC and put it on a NAS and haven't had the CD cabinet open in several years. It was recently banished to become a plant stand in an out of the way corner.
Most of the time I just use Napster as it has the music I listen to and I've had it forever and am used to it.

OK - I'll bite :-)
How does buying a CD not support the artist?


Because a CD can be ripped and file shared to hundreds of thousands of others. Not saying you would do that, but the bottom fell out of the CD sales model because hundreds of thousands of others did it.

OK - so buying a CD supports the artist - it's ripping them off that doesn't. Can't disagree there...
Streaming is awful. Okay it’s convenient and I use it on the go. But if you’re a music lover surely you want to support the artists, shops and labels? Spotify and co are parasites, and lets be honest CD & vinyl sounds miles better. I bought my Rega CD player in October, thinking it would be nice to buy some of my favourite releases that I listen to a lot. But it has taken over, I now buy at least two albums a week and look forward to Fridays. I am enjoying listening to albums rather than playlists and feel that I am far more ‘on the pulse’ than I was when I was letting my listening be dictated by algorithms.

OK - I'll bite :-)
How does buying a CD not support the artist?


Because a CD can be ripped and file shared to hundreds of thousands of others. Not saying you would do that, but the bottom fell out of the CD sales model because hundreds of thousands of others did it.


Who on Earth does that? Disgusting behaviour..


Who on Earth does that? Disgusting behaviour..


An entire generation of music listeners who grew up in the era of Napster, and there is no putting the cork back in the bottle now. Hence why streaming services are actually the only viable model to compensate artists in the digital age (and there are problems with that model too).

And what about streaming precludes you from playing whole albums? I play whole albums all the time. And there are streaming services on Sonos that offer CD quality. Deezer is one. Tidal is another.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
My ears are shot so my opinion on what sounds better among the formats is iffy. I found a couple service's music formats, is there a list somewhere that I'm missing?

What is the bitrate that Napster streams at on Sonos?
320 kbps AAC

What bitrate and format does TIDAL use for streaming?
TIDAL HiFi - Lossless FLAC 16bit/44.1kHz.
TIDAL Premium - AAC 320kbps

What bitrate and format does Amazon Music stream in?
256 kbps AAC & MP3

What bitrate and format does Spotify stream in?
Spotify streams in 320kbps OGG format.

OK - I'll bite :-)
How does buying a CD not support the artist?


Because a CD can be ripped and file shared to hundreds of thousands of others. Not saying you would do that, but the bottom fell out of the CD sales model because hundreds of thousands of others did it.


Come on man that is a ridiculous reply ?


Who on Earth does that? Disgusting behaviour..


An entire generation of music listeners who grew up in the era of Napster, and there is no putting the cork back in the bottle now. Hence why streaming services are actually the only viable model to compensate artists in the digital age (and there are problems with that model too).

And what about streaming precludes you from playing whole albums? I play whole albums all the time. And there are streaming services on Sonos that offer CD quality. Deezer is one. Tidal is another.


I used Napster when it was illegal, I also used to buy a lot of music and still do. Sorry but your attitude stinks. If you love music buy it. End of.

Come on man that is a ridiculous reply ?


Are you saying file sharing of music doesn't exist?


I used Napster when it was illegal, I also used to buy a lot of music and still do. Sorry but your attitude stinks. If you love music buy it. End of.


Artists are finally making money from the streaming model after 2 decades of losing income from file sharing and I'm the bad guy? I don't get it.

I used Napster when it was illegal, I also used to buy a lot of music and still do. Sorry but your attitude stinks. If you love music buy it. End of.


Huh? You just said you used to steal music, but you're happy to judge others because you think they aren't paying enough for their music? Do you know how much an artist gets when you buy a CD from retail, vs directly from the artist at a show, vs ad driven free radio, vs as part of a subscription plan, vs digital streaming rights, vs buying t-shirts and such from the artist sites, vs buying tickets to a live show, vs royalties from any other way? How does how much you love an artist/song translate to how much money the artist should get? Should regular consumers factor in what cut retail and distributors get before an artist is paid?

If you like the CD format and feel like it adequately pays the artist, that's great. Not sure how that then because the standard of how others should support an artist.

As far as CDs not supporting artist because there is no DRM, I can't agree with that. Buying a CD doesn't mean you are going to illegally share it with others. It's only those who are using illegal copies of music that are hurting the artist, or perhaps using a personal license for commercial reasons, etc.

It's going off in the weeds a bit, but even illegal sharing isn't always as damaging as it may appear on the surface. In many cases, the consumer choice was not between getting an illegal copy or a legal copy, but between an illegal copy or nothing at all. I think that's rather evident in the fact that illegal sharing dropped when the price of buying a single dropped from around $3 to $1 (or maybe it was just me).

Come on man that is a ridiculous reply ?


Are you saying file sharing of music doesn't exist?


I used Napster when it was illegal, I also used to buy a lot of music and still do. Sorry but your attitude stinks. If you love music buy it. End of.


Artists are finally making money from the streaming model after 2 decades of losing income from file sharing and I'm the bad guy? I don't get it.

The only artists who profit from streaming are huge pop stars. How are young, less commercial artists supposed to forge a career in music with the streaming model? It leads to bland music.