My first impressions were very positive. The remote is easy to use, simply install the system (I must say, I consider myself fairly computer savvy as I have technical background and I have previously responsible for maintaining a network of small companies), and I could stream my iTunes music on my stereo. Bonus: I also had access to Pandora.
I own a system within 6 months. And finally, I found the main disadvantage Duo: it is very unstable. Each time a software on your computer or on a duet downloaded update, it takes me hours of recovery (start several new and updates). This is done at regular intervals (Lees Logitech Squeezebox Duet T for the best buy price once a month). And as mentioned above, I'm pretty good understanding of computers and networks. He is also unstable in use: Duet freezes and refuses to renew. Streaming stops in the middle of the song. Duo lose connection to the iMac.
My rating: Duo not ready for prime time. I still love the concept, it's great when it works. But it's also frustrating when it does not work and if the work required to re-stabilization of the Logitech Squeezebox Duet the price system.
Now I am enough to upset the time to take in order to write a comment ... and to start looking for another solution.
In short summary:
I purchased, setup and lived with the Duet for two weeks. I then returned it.
I had three zones total (upstairs, downstairs, outside)
Duet. Two. As in two faced, when it worked, it was fine. And when it didnt it was frustrating.
I work in IT. I consider myself more than just "Tech Savvy". Even still, setup on this device was maddening. The Logitech tech support folk were very helpful and patient and after four hours we got it to work. When applying the multiple firmware upgrades / patches it kept losing settings and having to be reconfigured. Each reconfigure required a reboot of my router (D-link). Wireless setup is not so easy to do. Wired setup was only a little better.
The original plan was to have this setup over the wireless network. Whelp, that didnt work so well. 15 feet away from the router the signal would drop and the device would stutter / drop out. Is this the fault of the router? Perhaps. But on more than three occasions the Duet would need to be reboot to synch back into the network (or the router would need a reboot to allow it back in). So that plan was nixed for a wired solution. Purchased a network switch to reuse the network cable going to the Tivo.
Once it was up and running on a wire it was much more stable (the same could not be said for the two other zones). However, access over the remote had similar range issues. I could not sit outside and control the unit (25 - 30 feet away). And performance was intermittently slow (a consistent 15 -20 second delay was the deal breaker. Up to three minute delays did happen)
Lets talk synchronized music for a moment. Yes, the Duet did synch the playback - and it came very close to doing so well. But either network issues or something else got in the way (about once an hour a song would un-synch then re-synch). On a few occasions my local network was overwhelmed by the demand and crashed.
Lets talk NAS (Network Attached Storage). This is in place of having to leave your computer on all the time. For whatever reason the NAS would shutdown in the middle of a track or the Duet would not be able to access the NAS and throw an error (this happened three times, once requiring a reboot of the Duet). In all cases I was able to access my NAS from any of the computers in the network.
Performance. When the remote what in the same room as the router and network speeds were not in question, to scroll through my media library was not as easy as I would like. Not enough screen space (or perhaps poorly managed screen space). Then there was some lag time for the remote to catch up with my key entry. On several occasions I had keyed ahead too far and had to backtrack. In any case I was not able to navigate as well as I would have liked. The remote did fit very well in the hand and was physically well designed. Performance on the Duet was adequate. There were some audio artifacts (noise) in my FLAC files and MP3 files that did not return on repeat playback. Kind of like a juice harp being introduced to Led Zeppelin (along with cow bell). It was often enough to be noticed, but Logitech support could not explain it.
In the end I was not happy with the device. I fully support open source, but never felt comfortable with the basics of the machine to see what was developed by the community at large.
Hence I returned the Duet.
I next purchased, setup and am living with the Sonos system. The Sonos proprietary network has not given me any trouble. I had it setup and running within an hour of opening the box. The Sonos unit that is wired has an extra port and acts as a network switch so I did not have to run an extra line or buy additional hardware. Synchronized playback has yet to even hint at a problem. And while the remote is big (not quite clunky) it responds beautifully and was easier to operate. I am now looking for some GPL stuff for the Sonos as the manufacture does put some of their code out to the community.
Is the Sonos more expensive? Yes. Do you get what you pay for? In the case of the Sonos yes. But I sure do hope they come down in price and add some to the feature set now that there is another game in town!
Bottom Line: If you are using a wired system and just need one ?zone? to liberate your music, the Duet may just be the right answer for you. If you plan to fill your house with sound, don?t plan to do it with Duet.
For me it was between the Squeezebox and Sonos. Sonos is closed architecture and of course very expensive. Duet (which I received today) to replace my Squeezebox3. This is the perfect choice for my audio system at home. I need to replace only one hand my 200 CD changer in the Logitech Squeezebox Duet prices provide music throughout the house. This fits the bill. The user interface is large, bright and appealing. The installation was easy and I am very happy.
Duet is $ 200 less than a cheap alternative to Sonos ... Oh yes, you have to pay $ 40 extra for the Sonos charger. Add Open Source to the great plugin Logitech Squeezebox Duet Price S availabile mix, and he is a winner.
What I am more interested in the fact that it gives me a remote visual access to my music just in configuarable so what I added as a composer / ensemble / work / manager or other combinations, without the artist / album combination.
Finally, the quality of the duo leagues ahead of all other simarily price (even some expensive) Logitech Squeezebox Duet is Prices Digital Music System.