KEF speakers vs Sonos speakers
If you aspire to the very best in home surround sound – and in a money-no-object world, who wouldn’t? – you will likely have considered the offerings of various leading brands in your pursuit of aural perfection. And for many London audiophiles, the debate largely falls on the question of whether to place their trust in the speakers of Sonos or KEF.
Sonos is an American developer and manufacturer largely synonymous with the world of multi room music playback. Meanwhile, KEF has its headquarters on the other side of the Atlantic, in Maidstone, Kent, where the late electrical engineer Raymond Cooke founded the business in 1961.
So, on first inspection, the shootout between these two Hi-Fi mainstays may seem to be between British pluckiness and American brawn. But how do the solutions of these brands differ in terms of what they can do for your home sound system?
How good are Sonos speakers?
If there’s one thing you should have little doubt about when contemplating the offerings of Sonos, it is their quality. Sonos is one of the go-to premium names in home audio, with its hard-earned reputation remaining no less valid in the 2020s.
Whatever kind of sound you aspire to in your London abode, and wherever you want it, you can count on Sonos speakers delivering astounding results. That’s true whether you’re seeking a speaker with the portability of the Roam, the booming indoor and outdoor audio the weatherproof and drop-resistant Move makes possible, or perhaps the One SL, which truly fills every room with sound.
Sonos: a speaker brand suited to a broad set of listeners
With other leading products from the Sonos speaker range encompassing the likes of the Arc soundbar with Dolby Atmos for a wealth of audiovisual entertainment, as well as the Five that represents an excellent high-fidelity speaker for music streaming and spinning vinyl, the question can never really be about the quality of Sonos speakers – but instead, which one you choose.
To this day, Sonos speakers set standards for sophisticated design, up-to-the-minute technology, and satisfying, immersive sound. With the process of setting up a Sonos speaker also being straightforward even for novices, the speakers of this brand make a lot of sense for a broad audience.
The advantages of using Sonos speakers
Putting aside the individual Sonos models, investing in speakers from this American titan also enables you to look forward to such benefits as:
- Ease of setup. The process of setting up Sonos speakers in your home is really as foolproof as it gets.
- An expansive streaming library. If you’re seeking an ‘agnostic’ option as far as compatibility with streaming services is concerned, you could hardly make a better choice than Sonos.
- Sonos Radio. As its name suggests, this free, ad-supported radio streaming service – ad-free if you upgrade to the £7.99-a-month Sonos Radio HD – is exclusive to Sonos.
- Quality sound through every room of your home. As we touched on above, Sonos is especially known for the playback of remarkable-quality audio through multiple rooms.
Compatibility with smart assistants. It could hardly be easier to connect your Sonos Move or Sonos One to a Google Home or Amazon account via the Sonos app.
Going into detail about the merits of Sonos
Setting up a Sonos speaker is as straightforward a task as taking the speaker or speakers out of the box, deciding on a location for them in your home away from obstacles that could hamper the quality of sound, and downloading the free Sonos app for your Android or iOS device, from which stage you will be able to quickly complete installation.
Sonos works with the likes of Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, Audible, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and many other providers of audio streaming. Meanwhile, Sonos Radio grants you access to more than 60,000 live radio stations from around the globe and the signature Sonos Radio station, Sonos Sound System. It differs from algorithm-driven radio apps in that a team of curators, DJs and artists handpicks its line-up.
Sonos can deliver high-quality audio through various rooms of your London home by using your wireless network to connect several speakers so that they can communicate with each other and your controller. The secure mesh network created through this process is known as Sonos Net, and it allows you to exercise the ultimate control over your speakers – so that, for instance, you may have a bit of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue playing in the lounge room, but the latest Dua Lipa hit in the kitchen.
It’s becoming increasingly ‘standard’ for a virtual butler – such as Google Assistant – to be present in London homes. It’s just as well, then, that Sonos Move and Sonos One are compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, meaning that you can soon start barking voice commands while expecting the usual impeccable Sonos responsiveness and audio standards.
The advantages of using KEF speakers
Given how formidably Sonos holds its own, you might not expect the KEF brand to rival it when you’re on the lookout for home speakers. However, purchasing from the current range of KEF speakers would present you with a wide range of possible advantages including:
- Astonishing acoustic clarity, thanks to the Uni-Q driver. This is the technology innovation that separates KEF from the rest, so it should be no surprise that it is present in most of the brand’s speakers.
- Impressive options for wireless speakers, signalling KEF’s ability to provide the best solutions for the 2020s era of home audio.
- A complete range of other audiophile products, as informed and refined by five decades’ research, and the contributions of some of the most acclaimed loudspeaker designers during that time.
What more can we say about KEF speakers?
As a company, KEF has undoubtedly had its ups and downs over its decades in the business. Today, however, the brand is as strong as it has ever been, offering various loudspeakers that are as renowned for their innovation as they are for an acoustic quality that would have left even Cooke himself beaming with pride.
For a start, just look at the Uni-Q driver. The principle behind it is simple enough – not having the tweeter and midrange driver separately mounted, but instead setting the tweeter into the centre of the mid. The result, though, is audio so convincingly ‘natural’ that you’ll feel like the musicians or actors are stood in the room with you.
As well as Bluetooth desktop speakers, there are well-reviewed all-in-one streaming systems in the KEF range such as the LSX, which is a classy-looking and compact system allowing you to enjoy high-resolution stereo. The LSX consists of two speakers that can be placed apart from each other to enable you to truly feel the music.
Whether you feel your London residence’s surround sound system won’t be ‘complete’ until you’ve added that set of Hi-Fi speakers, a subwoofer, or even certain stands and accessories, our team here at Versed Automation can draw upon this range to assemble the home sound system perfectly aligned with your requirements.
Your choice of KEF speakers or Sonos speakers for your own home cinema, music room or lounge will doubtless depend on a range of factors. For this reason, we would encourage you to call our professionals at Versed Automation today, on 0203 865 6433, for suitably tailored advice and support.