Apple AirPlay so much better than Sonos

It's a fair point though. I've got two play 1s I bought on the recommendations for fiends and partly the enthusiasm of posters here for my bedroom. Sadly I don't use the, much as it turns out you can't use the iplayer listen again on it as songs haven't implemented it in their software which you must use to control them- there is no way to send music directly without interfacing with the sonos software.

Compare that to my denon amp in the kitchen or the onkyo in the lounge- I can play anything from any source of my choosing as long as it can connect to my wireless network. They are like the apple of speaker systems- expensive and good as long as you can exist in their walled garden.

Then technology is better for the AirPlay. AirPlay is much more useful and have many more capability than the Sonos to play in many rooms example.

Not sure what the others are waffling on about - great price and superb kit (technology?). Heat added.

But only supports iOS, right? For me personally, Sonos is much more useful that can stream audio in lot of formats from a variety of streaming sites including Spotify, Google Music and personal NAS

I disagree that AirPlay is better, and I'm actually a massive Apple fan. AirPlay *should* be better but often fails to work, or there is skipping / buffering... whereas Sonos is almost rock solid - it just works.

Furthermore, with AirPlay you need iTunes open, or your Music app running and within range. If you close your laptop's lid, or your phone loses charge / signal, then the AirPlay music stops suddenly. Whereas with Sonos, once you've told the speakers what to play they actually source the music themselves, so you don't need the computer/iPhone available (unless Sonos is looking for the files there...). So it's great for streaming music from Spotify, Deezer, or others.

Also the synchronisation of music between rooms is brilliant with Sonos - it just works!

So all this is just me stating I'm a big fan of Sonos... and I think it is better than AirPlay. I wish AirPlay worked as well as Sonos does!

comparing iplay to a speaker that has a function that's similar? unless iplay is a speaker what's everyone going on about.

My friend has a sonos portable speaker and I just couldn't believe how restrictive and convoluted it was getting a song to play on it. If I wanted to play music on my phone then I would first need to download the sonos app, set it all up, log in to the speaker and only then could it play music stored on my phone. I have an AirPlay speaker myself and anyone with an iPhone or iPad (which is pretty much everyone who ever comes to my house) just logs on to my network and the AirPlay button is there for them to immediately beam their music to the speaker. It's just a shame AirPlay speakers didn't take off as well as they should have done.

sonos in a multiroom setup is untouchable..denon and Yamaha are trying to play catch up but not there yet

You are right, AirPlay does not work in multiple destinations(or not on any of the speakers I've seen available anyway). But then visitors don't necessarily want to even go through the hassle of downloading and app and setting it up just to play you their favourite song. It's one step too many for most folk, getting on to the wifi is sometimes too much hassle for some (don't ask!!). But I understand that's not really the point of this system, I was just pointing out the advantages of AirPlay to Sonos in a single unit set up.

Denon piccolo amp I think it's called. I chose this over a sonos amp for the above reasons and it's also cheaper. I can interface with it from AirPlay or Bluetooth and connect to my NAS.

Onkyo i think is a 636. Very capable for the price and updated firmware to use AirPlay etc.