Yep. But are subject to the same environmental “ hair on fire” arguments people are attacking Sonos over. And they weren’t heavily discounted at first, when I entered the ecosystem.
No, but it’s still a pretty good system for folks who don’t like to wrestle with complexity.
We’ve used Sonos for 10 years. I always thought it good value for money, especially how long it lasted. I’m now being offered 40% of what I paid for my Play5 about 10 years ago as a credit against a Play Move. The latter is portable, waterproof and I can use it with my Roon app as it has Airplay2. Will cost £280. Sounds like a good deal and has had good reviews in the UK - basically they say it’s expensive but worth it. Certainly not c**p.
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That…and they make for great background music players throughout the house…and integrate nicely with Roon. That is invaluable to me, as I use Roon zones throughout the house. I also only use Sonos for background music, where they work brilliantly (recently added a Sonos Beam soundbar for a flat screen in a bedroom, and a Move for the screened in porch). I love Sonos for what they provide.
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I have the old Soundbar and it is excellent for the TV. I thought at £600 at the time (about $800) it was expensive, but now had it for about 7 years. Film music tends to be a bit bass heavy and it does the job well. They also have a very long throw, much more than my stereo speakers, very handy for the kitchen when you are moving around. In terms of dispersion and throw, the Devialet Reactor is nothing short of amazing and is only slightly heavier than the Sonos Move.
The Beam is amazing, especially considering its size and price. Watching a movie in the master bedroom…I am not left wanting much in the sound dept. Really decent bass, and crazy surround DSP going on.
I will have to look into that. Thanks
One thing that I noticed, when I disabled a connect that we had, the trade up works for a full wireless surround. So a Beam, Two 1’s and a woofer. I’m in the process of revamping my Family Room to please my wife. This will work fine as she hates big speakers. This is a good deal when you look at the fact that you get 4 components at their discount for one retired product.
I do feel for any original Sonos owners as they were just so ahead of the game back then.
When I came to buying multiroom, my dealer gave me a comparison audition between a Sonos Play 5 pair setup and a Naim Muso setup.
The audio qualiity was just another league with the Naim setup, so I went with the original Muso. They’ve just updated both the Muso and the QB’s (smaller cousins) and they are very fine indeed. I would highly recommend them as an alternative.
The Naim gear is going to be on another level with Focal as the parent. Sonos offer acceptable sound for non demanding audio. It’s for my kids or a background at parties. I’ve had the gear for more than ten years so it’s amortized now.
I took them up on the offer and got more money off on an all white “Beam” surround setup with Woofer and Rears than I paid for my Connect to begin with. The aesthetics appealed to my wife as we’re doing a reno with new white built in Cabinetry and a new 65’ OLED that Santa got me for Xmas. Happy wife happy life.
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I don’t get those choices. I’m offered a Port, an amp, or a Bluetooth one. It’s kind of disappointing as I have two Play:5s, an amp and a connect.
Did you decommission a product first? I had to decommission and then the correct discounts showed up once i logged back into my account on the Sonos web site. I retired a connect that I wasn’t using.
Ah. I see. Well, I’m not ready to brick it until I decide. I have time I suppose.
Just received this form letter from their CEO:
We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:
First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work just as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.
Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.
While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.
Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.
Sincerely,
Patrick
Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos
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My office audio stuff. 10 year old Sonos Play.5 and 15 year old digital radio.
Both still work perfectly. The Sonos is a good place to put a file of set of papers for easy access. A sort of digital lectern.
Sonos pioneered wireless multi-room audio and should be lauded for what they achieved, and continue in a highly competitive market.
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Sort of an amazing letter.
I couldn’t agree more with you, Steven, but sometimes it makes more sense to reinvent yourself once the big kids take over the playground. Netflix had done it successfully three times already. Sonos invented the field, owned the field but should have had the
balls to reinvent themselves when they realized it would become a race to the bottom - which is where they are now. It’s a race you don’t want to win.
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They went public. They were doomed from that point on. When you’re working for shareholders that want to recoup their investment over and over and are focused on the quarter, it’s a LOT harder to do great things. Not impossible but harder. Now Amazon can slaughter them with crappy little echoes because ppl don’t care HOW things sound, just that it plays.
IMHO, the only thing that can save them is the experience, which remains good with the outstanding Sonos app. Voice control for music combined with streaming shenanigans by the labels is a horrible user experience. It’s why I seldom use my HomePod despite the fairly good sound for casual listening. The Sonos app makes playing the music you want easy.
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The problem is that Google and Amazon can subsidise their soundboxes and blow out competitors. Sonos is a minnow by comparison, even with $1.2billion sales, trading at break-even with limited funds.
Netflix actually don’t do anything new, other than online distribution of their product, which was inevitable, as independent programme commissioning has been around forever. The BBC have lots of commissioning editors who have a series budget and then contract out production. However, Neflix do not do any public service broadcasting, new or current affairs, so don’t challenge the major networks. The Hollywood film distribution business died years ago. Do they make films in LA any more? Part of the problem is the cost of operating within SAG agreements.
Devialet got into the soundbox market by licensing their technology to the likes of Sky TV. Personally I thought they should have done that with the technology underlying their Expert system. I tend to think it is better to invent technology and license it than actually make product.