I’ve never knew about Sonos until yesterday, thanks @aaiyar. They seem really cool especially how you can essentially make the smaller speakers an extension of your tv audio. You need that expensive “beam” sound bar though. Has anyone reverse engineered it so you can just plug a PI into the tv and “beam” that audio signal to smaller audio?
Sonos is very cool, but everything they make is expensive. After their bricking older devices a couple years ago, I have a hard time spending any more on their stuff. Who knows how long the current equipment will be useable?
Nothing was bricked. Older units could not be updated to the S2 controller, but continue to work.
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They did finally walk back the whole bricking / replacement thing but it was a big and costly pain.
I do some residential consulting work and kinda need to keep up with the tech where ever possible. I had a mix of Sonos devices some purchased only 2 years before the "announcement" that got labelled as "legacy". Ended up having to replace a bunch of speakers.. The coup de grâce was they gave me a "discount" for my old stuff but raised their prices on the newer units.. sigh.
On the plus side my unfinished basement now sounds awesome.
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So I was lucky. My PlayBar from 2013 was still supported by the S2 controller (as were four newer speakers). But I totally get your perspective. I know people with more recent devices who were pissed that they couldn't be updated to S2.
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I would second that point about them being "expensive".
However, clients seem to love the simplicity of the smartphone app - people are really asking for that. The range of choices for input is amazing, and they seem to work robustly.
$800 USD for a simple amp? really!!!
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I’m liking those ikea speakers, but I’m not sure I want to buy that soundbar
I'm not sure, but I think the amazon alexa's have that functionality as well.
I've found Sonos to be a very good solution for my residential clients willing to pay the premium and who are not super picky audiophiles. It's much easier to install and add devices and much more controllable than the old style multi-zone receiver.
You do have to make sure you have a strong WiFi or use their boost hub though.
Interesting...
I found that the clients who wanted Sonos were willing to pay, also.
So, I implemented a Unifi "super" system with WAP's on every floor.
NO problem in that house with WiFi, that's for sure!
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I like to recommend the boost to keep things on a separate mesh if possible... easier to isolate things.
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I keep all mine on wired.
That is probably the optimal solution. Unfortunately not always possible with the older houses in my area. I do try and wire the amps as much as possible though.
My play 5 was bricked, so was my bridge. The play 1 I have (that they actually gave me as part of a marketing campaign) wasn't supposed to be included in that group, but It isn't working correctly either (i cant get it to connect to the new Wi-Fi). I like their concept, and even their equipment, but its too expensive to take a chance on. They handled the whole situation very poorly from start to finish.
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