External DAC with Connect

+100!
Glad to see I'm not the only one in the world coming to these findings. However, few individuals here, love to come up with scientific theories and a couple of articles from the stoneage to prove it is all the same, no auditable difference. Although listening on itself has nothing to to with science, but is pure subjective...
One advice, don't try to convince them, but be proud you know better...

Yes, be "proud" of being gullible enough that with a little hype and a lot of snake-oil, you too can be bilked out of many thousands of dollars of hard earned cash! Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!! (not to mention objective science), LOL. :rolleyes:

I'm always amazed at the willful ignorance of the audiophools. Really doesn't take much time to educate oneself on the science of audio reproduction, there is a considerable body of research widely available thanks to the internet. Yet they choose to listen to those whose livelihood depends on advertising dollars from 'high end' marketeers. Baffling.

I'm always amazed at the willful ignorance of the audiophools.
It is a belief system, one can't argue with that. All that can be done on a forum such as this is to present the opposite view as rationally as possible, so other interested people can make informed choices.

I just tried this and found the difference to be quite dramatic

http://www.hometoys.com/emagazine/2013/10/audiocontrols-rialto-400/2191

Interesting review, but dramatic is subjective unless it is found in a level matched DBT. Comparing it with a Connect Amp also isn't fair, it delivers almost double the power, so speakers that need it will sound better with it than via the Sonos Amp. It also seems to have some signal processing onboard, which makes comparisons of SQ more difficult, since apples v apples isn't present.

Level matched DBTs are admittedly not easy to set up, but that doesn't mean there is a better way to assess any feeling of audibly superior SQ. The human brain hears what it wants to hear. It is also easily fooled, so that just a 0.2 db difference in sound levels will make it think that the louder sounds better.

I just tried this and found the difference to be quite dramatic


No doubt. The "AccuBass" appears to be bumping the bass rather dramatically. Hardly accurate.

If you have the need to drive 4-ohm speakers or need more the 55W per channel, clearly the Rialto 400 is a good fit without even looking at the DAC.

Might want to read Stereophile's review. The ZP-120 can deliver 127Wpc into 4 ohms...

No doubt. The "AccuBass" appears to be bumping the bass rather dramatically. Hardly accurate...

I didn't care for the Accubass (personal taste)

I agree with that wholeheartedly. The Sonos Connect is a relatively inexpensive device, and as such, has limitations. Its DAC is one of them. I use an external DAC, a Weiss DAC202, in one of my zones, and the difference in sound isn't subtle. I think that a lot of the luddites posting here saying that better equipment doesn't matter probably do so in part because they can't afford to find out, or are too cheap to do so, and so they sit back and sanctimoniously slag those of us who have tried better equipment and have found an improvement.

The Sonos Connect is a relatively inexpensive device, and as such, has limitations. Its DAC is one of them.

I think that a lot of the luddites posting here saying that better equipment doesn't matter probably do so in part because they can't afford to find out, or are too cheap to do so, and so they sit back and sanctimoniously slag those of us who have tried better equipment and have found an improvement.
I can't speak for others, but in my case I haven't found any difference using a USD 1500 DAC that was also much heavier than my CD player. It was well built, but had no sonic impact. Now someone might say that I need to use a USD 70k DAC for it to qualify as better equipment...
Generalising on the basis of what something costs, in the area of digital sound reproduction where modern day electronics are concerned, isn't a good idea. Based on my experience of DACs ranging from those in the Connect to the one referred. Age has its advantages perhaps, because I find no difference from even the DAC in an iPod touch playing lossless files, played in my resolving system that costs many multiples the cost of the iPod. Change the speakers or even their placement enough, I can still pick up differences in what I hear.

Kumar - In my main system, I use a Naim HDX server as my source, most of the time. When I listen to the system (not with Sonos) with the output from the HDX to my integrated amp, the sound is okay. When I listen to the digital out from the HDX connected to my EMM Labs XDS1 CD/SACD player, making use of the DAC in the unit, the sound is much better. I firmly believe that better DACs make for better sound. I have no scientific data to back this up - just my ears. By the way, I agree with you that speaker placement is important.