Sonos vs. airport express

hundreds of $$$$$.

Rbstehno's right. And:

- vastly superior dedicated remote for Sonos
- marginally worse desktop software for Sonos
- much better multi-zone support with Sonos
- ultimately, no need for a computer to administer Sonos
- actual human being tech support available for Sonos
- one's a weird little box, the other's a wall wart
- some upgrade paths (Cullen, etc) available for Sonos

Depending on your configuration and need, none or all of these may matter to you.

I've had both, and Sonos feels like a $ignificant step up in my household. YMMV.

it depends on what you have and what you want to do. if you already have a mac with itunes on it, and you want to distribute music to 1 or many rooms at the same time, and you have a touch or iphone, you don't need a sonos. if you want multisource capability for music and for audio if you own a pc or mac, then go for an apple tv. IMO, the user interface from the touch/iphone with the latest i tunes is very good. if you need more than that, there are products like airfoil that allow you to transmit xm/sirius over itunes. instead of the sonos devices with the amp built in, i just use a little jolida integrated amp in that room with the capability to change tubes and get the power i need. for a sweet little setup for the price of a sonos, get a music hall 25.2 dac, jolida 1301 integrated amp and use your mac/pc with a touch or iphone.

I would prefer the Jolida 1501 RC, and I need pre-outs or A/B speakers because I run a 2.1 system (B&W 685s and HSU VTF-1). I suppose I can use stackable banana clips on Jolida's single channel, but when the amp clips, if the integrated had pre-outs, the sub would still get a clean signal. Not sure when the 100w Jolida would clip the signal, but...
I currently run AIFF in iTunes on a 5 year old Vaio, for iPod use only. I am only concerned about one room, my listening room. I don't want to buy a new music server laptop, I don't want to buy an iPhone or iTouch. Airport Express seems to be the most affordable way to get lossless PC Audio into my stereo system, and I don't think I am losing anything, even though it is only $99.
Not sure the Apple TV makes sense because this use is audio only, plus I would need a keyboard, mouse and monitor, and space is limited on my desk. The Vaio would be the second laptop on the surface, the other being my work laptop. I know I can store the music on that unit, but I can get more storage for less $$$ in an external drive.