Sonos to Amp - is simplicity better?

Without more information about the rest of your system, it's going to be impossible to tell if the rest of your system will be resolving enough to be able to tell the difference between using an internal or external DAC, or using a preamp.

My system consisted of an NAD C162 pre, Aragon 2004 amp, Emotiva XDA-1 DAC and several different speakers (Silverline Minuets, Dynaudio DM 2/6, Paradigm Studio 10s, System Audio 505s).

Using my very modest system as an example, I could definitely tell the difference between the Sonos internal DAC and the XDA-1. Using the XDA-1, the highs and lows were more extended. The bass was tighter, etc. Just about everything improved.

Still, if you like the internal DAC of the Sonos, the internal volume control of the Sonos could be a problem for you. It's volume control is within the digital domain, meaning that it cuts bits to control the volume level. At lower volume levels, the quality of the music may suffer.

Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'd suggest that you try the Sonos straight to the amp. If you like the way it sounds, then you've answered your own question. I'll also tell you that when I've had to rig up something portable, I've often run a Sonos straight into an amp. I didn't think it sounded great, but it was certainly more than good enough.

I have tried this experiment both ways and to my ears having the Sonos drive my amps was merely adequate. The best I can say is that the Sonos produced background music, nothing I could sit with and get fully engaged. To me the sound was thin, gritty, and 1 dimensional if that makes sense. There was no texture and depth. Running it through a DAC helped a lot. I intend to also add the Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh to help reduce jitter. I love the Sonos interface and ease of use though.

I've decided - without even doing the test - to do two things:

1. I'm going to buy the Emotiva XDA-2 DAC, and
2. I'm also going to send one ZP90 to Wyred-4-Sound for modification. I want the digital out on the ZP90 to upsample to 24/96.

The DAC will feed a Conrad Johnson PV-15 -> CJ MF-2500A -> Paradigm Studio 100s.

The system is coming along nicely in the design phase, and I thank the OP and everyone else in this thread for their input & findings.

Cheers,
Z

I have a similar question, I have new nad pre pro setup driving polk audio rti a9 towers, zp90 is main musical source, I have actually been given a nad d1050 dac to test as I know the rep, luckily, .. Will sonos and it's output limitations affect the final result and as the last user posted, if he had his output converted to 24/96 is this possible if the base file getting to sonos is initially limited by its software?

Depends on the component you are adding. There are many preamps that really don't sound that great but if you find the right one, then you can have magic.