Life after Sonos

[AREA]

Podie said:

So which bits are you selling then?

It's all gone! Even though many of the units were 6/7 years old I got back every penny I paid for them when they were new.

[14-7]

Strange, I've read a few threads about people having problems with Sonos kit which, touch wood, I have never had.

Four zones around the house with it controlled from two smartphones, two PC's and an android tablet.

Updates seem to be very infrequent (dare I say less so than Apple stuff I have) and always work first time.

I did have an issue with a few speakers losing connections which after a bit of playing turned out to be the bridge. Replaced it with another which I already had and it all worked fine again.

Even have Deezer on it now for streaming and letting it decide what I want to listen to.

[C&C]

14-7 said:

Strange, I've read a few threads about people having problems with Sonos kit which, touch wood, I have never had.

Four zones around the house with it controlled from two smartphones, two PC's and an android tablet.

Updates seem to be very infrequent (dare I say less so than Apple stuff I have) and always work first time.

I did have an issue with a few speakers losing connections which after a bit of playing turned out to be the bridge. Replaced it with another which I already had and it all worked fine again.

Even have Deezer on it now for streaming and letting it decide what I want to listen to.

Similar 4 zone setup here with 2 iPhones, iPad and Mac controlling it.

I think in the 8 years or so we've had it I've had a couple of instances where an update didn't work properly and required an additional restart of all devices. Not a massive issue, but does impact confidence in it. I'd not like to be switching it on at the start of a party/social event and be faced with the requirement to update screen....

Having said that, I agree with the OP in that if the thing is working fine, I'd much prefer to have the choice of whether to update or not rather than coming to use it and being forced to update before being able to play music. It's one of my pet hates generally being forced to update software when there isn't really a need - often with "improvements" that to me seem a step backwards (although I get the security angle for operating system/application software).

I'll stick with it for now as am overall happy with the functionality and the sound quality - all 4 zones use only a Sonos connect (no use of Sonos speakers, and 3 use external DACs).

[gizlaroc]

Sonos' biggest problem is their own forum and the total fanboys on there, 4 or 5 regulars that shout down anyone who asks "Is Sonos going to add bluetooth/hi res?" etc. etc.

They just shout "it isn't needed" and Sonos thinks this is everyones view.

Also price points, a Sonos Connect should be £149 to match and Airport Express, not £349.

I have ditched all mine, now use Roon and have raspberry Pi's as end points.

The rPi with a Merdian explorer DAC was £150 and sounds better than Meridians on MS600 at £1500, which made the Sonos Connect sound broken. (In some ways it is as Sonos now has built in volume equalisation which is crap on some albums).

I ditched my Sonos earlier in the year, kept a Play 5 for the kitchen but use that with Roon rather than Sonos now.

[page3]

gizlaroc said:

Sonos' biggest problem is their own forum and the total fanboys on there, 4 or 5 regulars that shout down anyone who asks "Is Sonos going to add bluetooth/hi res?" etc. etc.

They just shout "it isn't needed" and Sonos thinks this is everyones view.

Also price points, a Sonos Connect should be £149 to match and Airport Express, not £349.

I have ditched all mine, now use Roon and have raspberry Pi's as end points.

The rPi with a Merdian explorer DAC was £150 and sounds better than Meridians on MS600 at £1500, which made the Sonos Connect sound broken. (In some ways it is as Sonos now has built in volume equalisation which is crap on some albums).

I ditched my Sonos earlier in the year, kept a Play 5 for the kitchen but use that with Roon rather than Sonos now.

So agree about the Sonos forum. It’s the most unfriendly forum I’ve come across.

I still use Sonos (connect) mainly for the Sonos app which used to be groundbreaking and excellent. Over the years it’s languished until it reached its current poor state. Music service integration is now woefull with little chance of improvement while they’re messing around with pointless fluff like voice control.

Rpi plus roon sounds interesting.

[kingston12]

I did exactly the same as the OP a few years ago and haven't looked back.

I was heavily invested in Sonos and really wanted to make it work, but I spent hours on the phone to their tech support and it wasn't to be. They admitted it would just never work satisfactorily in my home.

I sold all of it, and spent some of the money on Chromecast Audios and speakers to attach them to, I didn't do as well as the OP and get all of my money back, but I actually made a profit because all of the new kit cost much less.

The advantage has been no drop outs or failed updates at all, and vastly superior sound in some zones. I bought a set of Q Acoustics BT3 speakers for the kitchen and connected them to an old sub that I managed to hide out of sight. That is a massive upgrade over the Play 1 stereo pair I had in there and cost much less.

As has been mentioned, Sonos prices are generally quite high, but in some cases ridiculous. I didn't use it on my main Hifi system much, but still had a Connect plugged into my DAC which cost me over £250. £15 for the replacement Chromecast Audio seems much more reasonable and sounds just as good.

The only thing I miss is the auto-on feature of the Play speakers - I liked pushing music to a few zones and it starting automatically without having to go around turning individual speakers on. It is surprising how few non-Sonos speakers actually do this. The Ruark MR1 is a good option.

[Speed 3]

kingston12 said:

I did exactly the same as the OP a few years ago and haven't looked back.

I was heavily invested in Sonos and really wanted to make it work, but I spent hours on the phone to their tech support and it wasn't to be. They admitted it would just never work satisfactorily in my home.

I sold all of it, and spent some of the money on Chromecast Audios and speakers to attach them to, I didn't do as well as the OP and get all of my money back, but I actually made a profit because all of the new kit cost much less.

The advantage has been no drop outs or failed updates at all, and vastly superior sound in some zones. I bought a set of Q Acoustics BT3 speakers for the kitchen and connected them to an old sub that I managed to hide out of sight. That is a massive upgrade over the Play 1 stereo pair I had in there and cost much less.

As has been mentioned, Sonos prices are generally quite high, but in some cases ridiculous. I didn't use it on my main Hifi system much, but still had a Connect plugged into my DAC which cost me over £250. £15 for the replacement Chromecast Audio seems much more reasonable and sounds just as good.

The only thing I miss is the auto-on feature of the Play speakers - I liked pushing music to a few zones and it starting automatically without having to go around turning individual speakers on. It is surprising how few non-Sonos speakers actually do this. The Ruark MR1 is a good option.

Interesting, I hadn't really done any research on alternatives and never heard of Chromecast. The vast bulk of my digital music library is on my NAS, managed through iTunes, would that link to any of the Chromecast setups / apps ? One of the problems I have regularly with the Sonos is having to "wake up" the NAS network connection on my MacBook, Apple doesn't like it being permanently on like Windows does. Not sure that is a Sonos problem.

I don't want to use streaming services other than Soundcloud for unsigned bands. We have single mono Play 1 & 3 in kitchen & bedroom, Connect plumbed into my amp in the lounge driving good old DM602's. Not currently being in stereo pairs the financial is probably neutral or a loss if I make the move.

[kingston12]

Speed 3 said:

Interesting, I hadn't really done any research on alternatives and never heard of Chromecast. The vast bulk of my digital music library is on my NAS, managed through iTunes, would that link to any of the Chromecast setups / apps ? One of the problems I have regularly with the Sonos is having to "wake up" the NAS network connection on my MacBook, Apple doesn't like it being permanently on like Windows does. Not sure that is a Sonos problem.

I don't want to use streaming services other than Soundcloud for unsigned bands. We have single mono Play 1 & 3 in kitchen & bedroom, Connect plumbed into my amp in the lounge driving good old DM602's. Not currently being in stereo pairs the financial is probably neutral or a loss if I make the move.

I rarely use my own iTunes collection on the Chromecast Audios, usually preferring Spotify for them and listening to my own collection on the main hifi.

It works well when I have tried it with my iTunes collection, though. I have it set up with Plex which has quite a nice interface as well.

I missed the Sonos app when I first moved away from it, mainly because it was nice to have everything on one interface, but the combination of Spotify and Plex is plenty good enough for me.

[Maxf]

Sonos has been infinitely more reliable than my Naim multiroom - the latter often dropping out or refusing to be seen, needing a complete re-set. I agree that the sonos kit and UI does feel rather dated now.

I have a B&O TV - I might investigate the multiroom stuff with them if I completely go off sonos.

[mikeiow]

Reminded of this by another thread: yes, Sonos is viciously overpriced....but in our experience, does the job rather well. We like the multi-room....and find the app pretty good (used from phones, tablets and laptops)
Given the price hikes this year, I'd perhaps think twice now and look at other options, but the Play:1s and Play:5 we have sound great (wasn't so impressed with the Play:3 we listened to: get 2x Play:1s instead!)

Frankly I mostly use tunein for radio and spotify for music....we do have our albums on an ancient mac, but rarely access that now.
Either way, get something that works for you, and get more music in your life!

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 17th October 19:05

[arfur]

mikeiow said:

Reminded of this by another thread: yes, Sonos is viciously overpriced....but in our experience, does the job rather well. We like the multi-room....and fine the app pretty good (used from phones, tablets and laptops)
Given the price hikes this year, I'd perhaps think twice now and look at other options, but the Play:1s and Play:5 we have sound great (wasn't so impressed with the Play:3 we listened to: get 2x Play:1s instead!)

Frankly I mostly use tunein for radio and spotify for music....we do have our albums on an ancient mac, but rarely access that now.
Either way, get something that works for you, and get more music in your life!

The new Google Alexa 1 is worth a punt. Can add to the rest of the network and control all the rooms via voice .... I will be buying one as its might save me using the app ! I have 5 rooms covered by a mix of grouped 1s 3s and 5s so a fair investment. An Alexa 1 sounds like a plan to me

[survivalist]

arfur said:

mikeiow said:

Reminded of this by another thread: yes, Sonos is viciously overpriced....but in our experience, does the job rather well. We like the multi-room....and fine the app pretty good (used from phones, tablets and laptops)
Given the price hikes this year, I'd perhaps think twice now and look at other options, but the Play:1s and Play:5 we have sound great (wasn't so impressed with the Play:3 we listened to: get 2x Play:1s instead!)

Frankly I mostly use tunein for radio and spotify for music....we do have our albums on an ancient mac, but rarely access that now.
Either way, get something that works for you, and get more music in your life!

The new Google Alexa 1 is worth a punt. Can add to the rest of the network and control all the rooms via voice .... I will be buying one as its might save me using the app ! I have 5 rooms covered by a mix of grouped 1s 3s and 5s so a fair investment. An Alexa 1 sounds like a plan to me

The Alexa integration looks like it has great potential. That said, for those who find frequent updates are a bugbear it might be a sticking point as I can see quite a few required in the not too distant future.

Day 1 Alexa support doesn't include Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music etc, only Amazon music (not sure about internet radio). Also, it can't play from your library - understandable as Alexa would have to index the music on your NAS/Computer and looking at the way Alexa skills work this could be challenging.

What I do like though is the ability to skip tracks, change volume and mute using voice commands - surprisingly useful. As is the fact that you can refer to your zone by names as these are already programmed into Sonos and understood by Alexa.

Think Airplay II support is also coming.

As the OP points out, not everyone wants to pick up their phone to make small changes. One of the things I've always liked about the Playbar is that you can use the TV remote to mute it. Appreciate that this might change as younger generations who seem to be glued to their phones grow older.

[NorthDave]

I never have a problem as such with Sonos although I do understand the issues about updating apps. That is painful.

I wish they would pull their finger out and put Google in to their offering. Alexa doesn't do it for me.

Whenever I hear about Sonos problems I always wonder if the issue is wifi or network related? On our installs we always have rock solid IT and don't have problems.

[kingston12]

NorthDave said:

Whenever I hear about Sonos problems I always wonder if the issue is wifi or network related? On our installs we always have rock solid IT and don't have problems.

I'd think that is the root cause of almost all of the problems, but it doesn't mean that it is easy to fix.

I had no end of problems with Sonos on my home network that was pretty much 100% reliable with everything else. I couldn't work out what the issue was, neither could Sonos support.

Eventually, I bought a brand new router and set it up just with Sonos to start with. I ran it with/without the Boost, tried all different wifi channels and a lot of other things suggested by Sonos support, but nothing worked.

I sold it all and bought some £15 Chromecast Audios which have worked flawlessly ever since, as has everything else on the network.

I could have brought in an expert that understands more about networking than I do, but that seemed an expensive solution when it was only Sonos that I had any issues with.

[arfur]

survivalist said:

arfur said:

mikeiow said:

Reminded of this by another thread: yes, Sonos is viciously overpriced....but in our experience, does the job rather well. We like the multi-room....and fine the app pretty good (used from phones, tablets and laptops)
Given the price hikes this year, I'd perhaps think twice now and look at other options, but the Play:1s and Play:5 we have sound great (wasn't so impressed with the Play:3 we listened to: get 2x Play:1s instead!)

Frankly I mostly use tunein for radio and spotify for music....we do have our albums on an ancient mac, but rarely access that now.
Either way, get something that works for you, and get more music in your life!

The new Google Alexa 1 is worth a punt. Can add to the rest of the network and control all the rooms via voice .... I will be buying one as its might save me using the app ! I have 5 rooms covered by a mix of grouped 1s 3s and 5s so a fair investment. An Alexa 1 sounds like a plan to me

The Alexa integration looks like it has great potential. That said, for those who find frequent updates are a bugbear it might be a sticking point as I can see quite a few required in the not too distant future.

Day 1 Alexa support doesn't include Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music etc, only Amazon music (not sure about internet radio). Also, it can't play from your library - understandable as Alexa would have to index the music on your NAS/Computer and looking at the way Alexa skills work this could be challenging.

What I do like though is the ability to skip tracks, change volume and mute using voice commands - surprisingly useful. As is the fact that you can refer to your zone by names as these are already programmed into Sonos and understood by Alexa.

Think Airplay II support is also coming.

As the OP points out, not everyone wants to pick up their phone to make small changes. One of the things I've always liked about the Playbar is that you can use the TV remote to mute it. Appreciate that this might change as younger generations who seem to be glued to their phones grow older.

Oh .... didnt know it does not support Spotify, that's all I use these days. I won't be buying one then ... hohum

[Speed 3]

kingston12 said:

NorthDave said:

Whenever I hear about Sonos problems I always wonder if the issue is wifi or network related? On our installs we always have rock solid IT and don't have problems.

I'd think that is the root cause of almost all of the problems, but it doesn't mean that it is easy to fix.

I had no end of problems with Sonos on my home network that was pretty much 100% reliable with everything else. I couldn't work out what the issue was, neither could Sonos support.

Eventually, I bought a brand new router and set it up just with Sonos to start with. I ran it with/without the Boost, tried all different wifi channels and a lot of other things suggested by Sonos support, but nothing worked.

I sold it all and bought some £15 Chromecast Audios which have worked flawlessly ever since, as has everything else on the network.

I could have brought in an expert that understands more about networking than I do, but that seemed an expensive solution when it was only Sonos that I had any issues with.

Its the standard kop-out for Sonos and is quite frankly bullst. They are always in denial about bugs in their code. When a major problem hits with numerous customers having the same symptoms but entirely different network hardware and ISP's there can only be one root cause. I appreciate Sonos can't replicate every single combination of hardware and house network but to deny there can ever be a problem with their own work stinks.

If I wasn't already heavily invested in it, I doubt very much I'd adopt it at current pricing and performance. Things have moved on from when they were the only reasonable fidelity supplier with integrated room management in town.

[survivalist]

arfur said:

survivalist said:

arfur said:

mikeiow said:

Reminded of this by another thread: yes, Sonos is viciously overpriced....but in our experience, does the job rather well. We like the multi-room....and fine the app pretty good (used from phones, tablets and laptops)
Given the price hikes this year, I'd perhaps think twice now and look at other options, but the Play:1s and Play:5 we have sound great (wasn't so impressed with the Play:3 we listened to: get 2x Play:1s instead!)

Frankly I mostly use tunein for radio and spotify for music....we do have our albums on an ancient mac, but rarely access that now.
Either way, get something that works for you, and get more music in your life!

The new Google Alexa 1 is worth a punt. Can add to the rest of the network and control all the rooms via voice .... I will be buying one as its might save me using the app ! I have 5 rooms covered by a mix of grouped 1s 3s and 5s so a fair investment. An Alexa 1 sounds like a plan to me

The Alexa integration looks like it has great potential. That said, for those who find frequent updates are a bugbear it might be a sticking point as I can see quite a few required in the not too distant future.

Day 1 Alexa support doesn't include Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music etc, only Amazon music (not sure about internet radio). Also, it can't play from your library - understandable as Alexa would have to index the music on your NAS/Computer and looking at the way Alexa skills work this could be challenging.

What I do like though is the ability to skip tracks, change volume and mute using voice commands - surprisingly useful. As is the fact that you can refer to your zone by names as these are already programmed into Sonos and understood by Alexa.

Think Airplay II support is also coming.

As the OP points out, not everyone wants to pick up their phone to make small changes. One of the things I've always liked about the Playbar is that you can use the TV remote to mute it. Appreciate that this might change as younger generations who seem to be glued to their phones grow older.

Oh .... didnt know it does not support Spotify, that's all I use these days. I won't be buying one then ... hohum

They have said that it will follow the launch of the new play 1 at the end of the month. Just be aware that currently you can't use a Echo to play Spotify via Sonos - it will only play via the Echo speaker. I recon Spotify will follow fairly quickly - after all both Amazon and Sonos know how much spotify is being streamed via their respective devices currently and I bet it's a fair amount.

[NorthDave]

Speed 3 said:

Its the standard kop-out for Sonos and is quite frankly bullst. They are always in denial about bugs in their code. When a major problem hits with numerous customers having the same symptoms but entirely different network hardware and ISP's there can only be one root cause. I appreciate Sonos can't replicate every single combination of hardware and house network but to deny there can ever be a problem with their own work stinks.

If I wasn't already heavily invested in it, I doubt very much I'd adopt it at current pricing and performance. Things have moved on from when they were the only reasonable fidelity supplier with integrated room management in town.

You do have a point but they will also have Sonos running on some truly horrific networks. Just this week we upgraded a new clients wifi - the internet was rubbish and had been for years - they actually had a BT home hub and then two or three different makes of ethernet over power adaptors running round the house. They even said when the main network goes down they have a wifi signal - in the wifes name - which they log on to for internet access. They didn't know how this had come about or where it came from.

I'm not saying Sonos are great by any means but I reckon 9/10 issues on the forums are down to wifi.

The prices are a bit mental now though! Strange model to pump up prices when they finally get some competition.

[Podie]

Not had any issues in the 4 years we've had Sonos kit.

Alexa integration can be a bit patchy, but it is a beta. Still, a £25 off a dot was a nice bonus in the email this morning.

[jinkster]

I have Beolab 3's running from a B&O Essence Mark 1. I am lead to believe you can connect a Chromecast Audio but haven't tried it yet and then multi room