Raumfeld 2Raumfeld review

It's quite a lot to get your head around, so it's a relief to discover that, in the main, the Raumfeld system is a joy to listen to and use. Indeed, if sound quality is your thing, it knocks the equivalent Sonos system (the Bundle 250) into a cocked hat.

Raumfeld developed the M speakers supplied with our test kit in collaboration with renowned studio monitor manufacturer, Adam Audio. They come equipped with ART folded ribbon tweeters and 5.5in carbon-fibre Rohacell woofers, and the sound they produce is fantastic: sweet at the top end - bright and detailed without being harsh - and succulent in the mids. They're not for bass-fiends, but the low-end notes you do get are tight, controlled and as punchy as Muhammad Ali in his pomp. These are sparkling, exciting speakers to listen to. (Note, you can cut costs by plumping for the smaller S speakers, but these are nowhere near as good.)

The controller's touchscreen is bright and responsive, and with the big silver volume knob below, it's beguilingly pleasant to use. The interface, too, is well organised, seamlessly aggregating networked and locally stored music in one list, complete with keyword search. We particularly like the ease with which the various "rooms" across your network can be linked together or split and different tracks played on each.

It isn't, however, quite a Sonos killer, at least as far as ease of use is concerned. There's a slight delay in accessing tracks on internal storage, and with networked music this is exacerbated to occasionally annoying levels. We don't like that there's no way of accessing file information on tracks (bit-rate, format and so on), so if you have lossless and low bit-rate versions of the same track in your library, you can't tell them apart.

There's no option to browse your music library by folder, and on-the-fly queuing up of tracks is limited to just one at a time. The latter is a task Sonos systems carry off with ludicrous ease in comparison. Another niggle, although one only serious audiophiles will care about, is the limitation to 96KHz audio files. If you've purchased high-resolution FLAC files from Naim Audio, for instance, you won't be able to play them here.

Sonos' proprietary mesh networking technology also wins out in terms of scalability. As you expand a Sonos system, adding ZonePlayers room by room, the range of the network grows with it. The Raumfeld system is, conversely, based on a central hub - the Base - and any expansion in range is achieved through the use of additional wireless repeaters or powerline adapters. Less elegant for use in larger properties.

Despite the irritations and limitations, however, we do like the Raumfeld system, and if you're won over by the minimalism and everything-you-need-in-one-box approach, it's a contender for your cash. The fly in the ointment, however, is more flexible opposition. Buy a couple of Sonos ZP90s, a ZoneBridge, an iPod Touch with the free Sonos control app on board, then chuck in a pair of Adam Audio A5x speakers and you get audio at least as good for less, plus a more usable, robust and scalable system. If push came to shove, we'd buy a Sonos system instead.

Author: Jonathan Bray