Sonos alternatives?

[Ian Roberts]

Are Sonos wireless speakers the only ones that work with a B2? What are the alternatives?

[JFBUK]

The B2 will only output  in the following ways.

1. Speakers hardwired to the B2

2. Analog line out

3. Optical Out (SPDIF/Toslink)

4. Bluetooth out (note that this is no longer officially marketed as a feature but does work for a number of Bluetooth enabled speakers)

5. Sonos

So your non-Sonos options are limited to 1 thru 4

You could connect the B2 to an external amplifier/receiver via 2 or 3 that can then output using another wifi based technology to suitable speakers e.g. Yamaha Musiccast, Denon Heos , PlayFi etc.

John

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi John,

You missed one 😁,

The B2 will also output using HDMI but when doing this all other means of output are disabled.

Fred

[JFBUK]

Thanks Fred :)

I think the last time I answered a similar post I managed to leave HDMI out that time as well !

[Ian Roberts]

Many thanks - that is clear.

Ian

[John Grimoldy]

Ian, 

If you're looking for whole-home audio systems that are alternatives to Sonos, check out this link:   Best multi-room systems 2022: wireless whole home audio | What Hi-Fi? (whathifi.com)

Of course, Sonos is the only option if you're looking for integration into the Brennan app and web interface.  However (and this is huge to me), I've found more functional integration with Sonos if I enable the NAS on the Brennan and add it to my Sonos system as a Music Library.  I simply don't use the Brennan interface.  Instead, I use the Sonos app.  This offers shuffling of songs in playlists in excess of 20 songs.  It also offers random access/scrubbing to any part of a song.  You can jump to any song in the shuffled queue.  I'm sure I'm missing several other things.  I'm not sure why anyone with a Sonos system would use the Brennan app to control.  Using as a NAS with Sonos is just better.

Having said all of that, as long as any whole-home system you get can connect to a NAS as a source, I'd expect you to be able to utilize your Brennan with.  It seems that at least two of the systems in the article I linked to can do that.

Cheers!

-jg

[Daniel Taylor]

As I understand it, the B2 will also work with wireless systems that use DLNA.  I've read that Yamaha's MusicCast system can use the B2 as a music source.  But in the DLNA universe, the B2 cannot be in control of what's played, it will only be a source, similar to NAS.

[PMB]

Hi Daniel,

You pipped me to the post on mentioning DLNA.

Paul

Brennan Support.