Denon - HEOS 3 Wireless Speaker - Black

I haven't played with any Sonos but given the quirks of the Denon HEOS, I don't think I really need to be hands on. The sound of the Denons are, I think, way better. They're not more impressive but more balanced. The downside is the finickiness in the initial speaker setup and the supported formats and streaming services. Basically HEOS is nowhere near as Apple friendly as Sonos. As far as I can tell HEOS does not support ALAC or AIFF. Also HEOS requires DLNA to stream music from your computer. DLNA is not a Mac thing. I can't vouch for the Sonos on this part but I can say that the HEOS has been a little bit twitchy. Losing speaker connectivity spontaneously. Losing speaker access when ungrouping rooms. None of it was insurmountable but it's a little too hands-on for me to recommend to someone not tech oriented. I have to be honest in closing: The massive price cuts made the HEOS purchase a no-brainer. Were it not for that I'd probably still be agonizing over which Sonos pairs to get.

Great sounding stand alone speaker. I am currently using it with the Amazon Echo Dot connected via a 1/8" audio cable. This is not a Bluetooth speaker, it connects to your Wi-Fi network and then you need to use HEOS app on your device to stream music. It only allows those services supported on the HEOS app or what is already on your phone/device when used wirelessly. Sound is amazing! Only reason I did not give it the 5 stars is the fact you can only use the HEOS app services.

This is packed with sound, rivals the Sonos easily; actually better. The app is continuously improving with updates. I would have originally given it a 3.5, but because it does seem to stay connected to the network better, and it keeps adding to the list of streaming services, along with an aux option, makes this a really great speaker. I now own a couple of these, a couple of the HEOS 1s and one HEOS 5. It's a solid sounding device, then again--you can't go wrong with Denon!