Pros & Cons
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- Allows for streaming between your Sonos speakers and other home audio components.
- Uncompressed audio over Wi-Fi.
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- Expensive.
- Only comes with one RCA cable.
The $449 Sonos Port is an interesting little box. Aptly named, it not only receives audio, but sends it out as well, allowing you to, say, stream music from your turntable to your Sonos speakers, or stream anything from the Sonos app (and Apple AirPlay 2) directly to your non-Sonos stereo system. If you have a Sonos multi-room speaker setup and you'd like to use it with non-Sonos audio sources (whether it's from your TV, CD player, turntable, or elsewhere), it's not going to disappoint. The same is true if you want to connect it to a stereo receiver's output. The price might seem high, but you get higher-quality audio than Bluetooth streaming allows, and the ability to connect third-party gear adds serious versatility to your Sonos setup.
Design
Measuring 1.6 by 5.4 by 5.4 inches (HWD), the Sonos Port is a 1-pound black box that looks kind of like a much smaller version of the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, or like a larger Apple TV. The front face of the device houses a small white LED status strip that extends a bit into the top panel, in an L shape. The top panel has a Sonos logo, and the bottom has a rubberized surface to keep the box from sliding around or being pulled by cable tension.
On the back, there are two Ethernet ports (for connecting to a PC, a NAS device, or a router if your Wi-Fi signal is spotty), as well as a stereo RCA input, a stereo RCA output, a digital coaxial output, and the connection for the included AC power adapter. There's also a 3.5mm connection labeled 12-volt trigger; connecting this to your amplifier allows the Port to power it up or down along with the Port itself. Not all amplifiers will be compatible, but it's a thoughtful inclusion.
Sonos provides a single RCA cable. It can be used in a variety of ways, but it would've been nice to see more than one included. You'll need a Y adapter to connect the Port's stereo audio output to a 3.5mm computer input. Likewise, there's no coaxial cable for the digital output, and no standard 3.5mm cable for the 12-volt connection.
As for Wi-Fi support, the Port will work with any 802.11b/g/n router, however, the router must be set to 802.11b/g/n, as 802.11n-only configurations aren't supported by the Sonos ecosystem. Alternatively, you can connect any Sonos product directly to the router via Ethernet.
Once you power up the Port and update the Sonos app on your Android or iOS device, the setup process is fast and seamless—you press the link button on the back panel, and the app does the rest. In no time, we were able to stream audio from a connected receiver to a Sonos Move on the same Wi-Fi network. Since this is a two-way box, you can stream audio from your Sonos library to a connected receiver, which is also a simple process.
In addition to Sonos audio, there's support for Apple's AirPlay 2, which means you can stream any audio directly from your Apple phone, tablet, or computer to the Port via AirPlay and hear it through your connected speaker system.
Within the Sonos app, there's support for Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and a host of other sound sources. If you have an account, its library gets integrated into the Sonos app, and you can stream to your speakers from there.
Performance
If you have a turntable with a built-in preamp, you can connect it directly to the Port. (Passive turntables that require a phono amp or integrated amplifier are still game.) For our tests, we took the output of a McIntosh stereo receiver, with a Rega P3 turntable connected to it, and connected it to the RCA inputs on the Port. After that, everything is managed in the app.
It can take a second to wrap your head around the Port and how it works within the app compared with a typical Sonos speaker. You're selecting the Port, then selecting where you'd like to send the Port's audio within your setup, not simply tapping a target for receiving audio.
And, of course, the Port can also act as an output for your Sonos library, sending it to your stereo receiver. We had no issues at all connecting its output to a stereo receiver and streaming audio from our Sonos library through the system's connected, wired speakers.
The advantage of connecting an audio hub's output to the input of the Port becomes clear immediately: One connection can handle your turnable, CD player, computer audio, Blu-ray audio, or just about any other audio source, provided it's connected to the receiver. I was therefore even able to listen to rough mixes from a ProTools session on my studio computer through a Sonos Move, which was quite useful. There are multiple ways to consider setting up the Port, but using it as an extension of a stereo receiver, rather than, say, the output for a single component, seems like the best use of its abilities.
Audio quality is dependent mostly one what you are sending where. For instance, Sonos speakers can stream up to 16-bit/48kHz, and because it's over Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth, you get the benefit of uncompressed, lossless audio—provided you use the uncompressed setting in the app, and also assuming your source audio is lossless, like a WAV file. If you're streaming vinyl to the Port and then to a stereo Sonos speaker, you're essentially preserving much of the audio quality, more so than with a Bluetooth stream. If you stream from the Sonos app to the Port and to your home speakers, the audio quality will be as high as the previously mentioned bit depth/sample rate.
In testing, there was definitely something wonderful about sending turntable audio to the Move, then taking the Move around my apartment, and even outside where the Wi-Fi still reaches. (That is, until you remember you're listening to a record and need to go back inside and flip to side B.)
But perhaps the coolest thing the Port allows is for non-Sonos speakers to use Sonos technology. Technically, you can have a "Sonos system" using the Port that uses whatever speakers and stereo gear you wish to connect. It's a possibility that many audiophiles seeking the convenience of wireless audio but wishing to maintain a lossless signal might seriously consider, as it allows you to pair a lossless wireless audio stream with a speaker system that employs no digital signal processing, for example.
Conclusions
The big question here is: Is the Sonos Port worth $449? If you don't have a turntable or a stereo receiver to hook up to the Port, there are still other potential uses for it, but they become harder to justify. If you do have a stereo system that you'd like to be able to send to any zone in the house, the Port is quite useful. And as mentioned, you can simply employ Ports throughout your home to stream high-quality audio to a preexisting stereo setup without using any Sonos speakers whatsoever. That gets expensive, but for some users, the convenience may well be worth the price.
But what is the advantage over, say, a Bluetooth turntable or a Bluetooth adapter with a transmitter and receiver? First, for some users, the Port will enable you to use your hi-fi gear—if you have a top-notch turntable, you'll be able to enjoy its sonics rather than the performance of a Bluetooth turntable, which may not have the same quality level. Second, Bluetooth itself is inherently lossy, while with Sonos, you have the potential to keep things lossless through the uncompressed streaming process.
With that in mind, the Port is a great way to extend the capabilities of your Sonos system. The $449 price may be steep, but it's worth it especially for audiophiles with high-quality, non-Sonos gear.