I’ve written before about the Sonos system and how I eventually decided that I didn’t need one to distribute music around the house now that I’ve ordered a Mac mini. The Sonos system is rather expensive, despite some additional features, notably supporting multiple synchronised audio streams. It’s just started shipping in the US.

The Sonos Introductory Bundle costs $1199 comprising two ZonePlayers and a remote control. So here is what’s required to build a similar system based around a Mac mini. Prices are in US$ since this is the only pricing available for the Sonos at present.

• Base Mac mini, with Bluetooth and Airport, Keyboard and Mouse (although you don’t need last two items), $697
• 1 Airport Express, for the second ‘zone’, $129
• 1 Palm Zire 72 (includes Bluetooth), $299
• Sailing Clicker, $20
• 2 sets of active speakers, say $200 each including cables

Total cost is $1545

But now let’s see what you still need to add to the Sonos system in order to store and hear music:

• One thing that the Sonos requires is a computer to hold the music. This isn’t included in the costs, so in some respects the Mac mini component should be removed from the comparative costs too.
• The ZonePlayers are only receivers and amplifiers – you still need active speakers. So we can also remove the active speaker costs.

Correspondingly, removing the cost of the Mac mini (we still need the wireless connectivity at about $120) and the active speakers gives a total comparable cost of $568.

Of course, with the Sonos system you do get high quality amplifiers, and arguably you’ll get much better sound than from the Mac mini or Airport Express. But with the Mac mini you get a general purpose home entertainment system.