Features
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
Entertaining Electronics. Sonos, Kaleidescape and Sky
Sonos Evaluation Update
You may remember that in April I wrote about the new Sonos system, a brilliant product which allows you to play any tracks from your music collection independently in different rooms throughout your house, garden, terrace or yacht, and it is all cable free. Well, our Sonos evaluation continues and we continue to be stunned at how simple, fast and easy this product is…
Internet Radio
We have recently implemented the Internet radio option on the Sonos system which means that, as well as being able to listen to music from your own collection, you can also tune into thousands of radio stations from around the world. I have been listening to London’s Capital Radio “Eye in the Sky” whilst having breakfast (great for appreciating the joys of “commuting” to work here in Mallorca!), and then “Drive time” from CBC Vancouver in the evening.
New ZP80
We have now also tested the new Zone Player 80 that connects to our existing PC and uses all our existing downloaded music on the PC as our “juke box”. The ZP80 is tiny at just 12cm x 12cm, and is available for only 399 Euro inc IVA. It connects to the PC with a network cable and then provides the wireless gateway to the rest of our house. It also has a line out connection which can be used to feed music to a local amp with speakers, as I have for use in the garden. This ZP80 is then set up simply on the large screen, scroll wheel controller as the “Garden”, and the party begins…
Large screen Sonos Controller found to be compulsive
The Sonos Controller has proved itself to be extremely user-friendly. Needless to say, the children have all mastered it within minutes but perhaps more surprisingly, so have all the adults! The only problem is that it becomes a bit like fighting over control of the TV remote – everyone wants to have a go. With our current three zone system, we really need two controllers. And they’re excellent value. At 459 Euro inc IVA, it knocks the socks off the 3,000 to 5,000 you would pay for individual touch screen controllers from conventional suppliers.
Simple, Affordable and Reasonable Quality Sonos is affordable technology at its best. Even some of the wealthiest yachts we know have taken to Sonos. In terms of quality, if you’re happy with iPod reproduction, then you’ll be happy with Sonos. The three room system we have costs 2,100 inc IVA excluding the PC, which most people already have. A full spec for a 53m yacht recently came in at 25,000 inc IVA
The Sonos system is an entry level, wireless, multiroom system for audio only. The current top of the range system that stores and manages not just your audio but also your DVDs is the Kaleidescape.
Kaleidescape
The Kaleidescape System simplifies the way you collect, manage and enjoy movies and music. Once your personal entertainment collection is stored on the Kaleidescape System’s fault-tolerant Disk Cartridges, the system will store and organise your movies and music. The Kaleidescape System uses high-speed cabled networking to deliver your favourite movies and music throughout your home and yacht. You can instantly access and enjoy them whenever and wherever it’s convenient for you, your family or your guests.
The Kaleidescape System is comprised of four primary components: Servers, Movie Players, Music Players, and Readers. They can be combined in any number of ways to deliver movies and music throughout the home.
The Kaleidescape Server is the heart of the Kaleidescape System. A single Kaleidescape Server can store up to 825 DVDs or 10,000 CDs. Multiple Servers can be clustered to form a single System that stores thousands of movies and albums as one single collection.
With the Kaleidescape Movie Player you can play back movies and music in a single zone and navigate your collection through a powerful and easy-to-use on-screen display.
The Movie Player is capable of delivering both HD and DVD movie content.
The Kaleidescape Music Player is designed to let you enjoy up to four fully-independent zones of music anywhere in your home. Because it has a built-in disc reader, you can also use it to import your CDs and DVDs onto your Kaleidescape System.
The Music Player connects to a Kaleidescape Server using standard Ethernet and to other A/V devices using analog and digital audio outputs.
Sky - High Definition launched
The new Sky HD service has just been officially launched after the general recall of the early set top boxes. There was no great fanfare, but Sky have now announced a price in the UK for the HD boxes at 299Euro and 10Euro per month per card on top of the current Sky Digital service. We are still not sure yet what the European prices will be, but will be keeping you informed. At present there are very few programmes being broadcast in true HD format, but it is on the increase every month.
By Roger Horner of E3 Systems
For further information on any of the above or a Sonos demo, please contact us.
email on info@e3s.com and website www.e3s.com
Tel: +34 971 404208/400738/702975