Sonos Delays Release of More Affordable 'Sub Mini' Wireless Subwoofer

[jayb3]

"Sonos said it is holding onto more inventory than it would like" - Their system is good but it's still overpriced when comparing to other upper mid-range sound bar systems. I just think it's a reach for most to pay that much. I was on the verge of buying but they actually increased prices last year and they just lost me.

After doing lots of listening tests the Sonos was definitely better. But for the price I ended up with the a Vizio atmos system. Incredible value for the money and have no regrets.

 

[RalfTheDog]

yes

I remember our finance department is always having the worst time in December because they have to have everything ready by the end of December

You may be confusing tax year with fiscal year. On that note, there are some companies that end their fiscal year on December 31.

One line snarky comments don’t really help the discussion along either.

Why is Sonos not what the poster claims they are compared to similarly or higher priced systems? Curiosity from someone who might consider adding a sub mini.

Sound bars are not all that great in general. If you have a small place, they are fine. If you want a real home theater that competes with the actual auditoriums, you need 7 main speakers, each as tall as you are, two subs, and two speakers up high.

 

[jsalda]

Well, hopefully, they can get them supplied. I’ve been waiting for them to get white subs back in stock to match my white Beam soundbar. You can get white soundbars and black subs, and that’s it, can’t get a matching system.

I’ve been pretty impressed with both of my Beams (gen1 and gen2). I still prefer a traditional, multi speaker wired system for my main viewing room, but my secondary rooms do well with the Beams.

 

[MrGIS]

I have three Sonos speakers throughout my house. They’re just ok. They were so hyped to have magnificent sound and ease of use.

The sound is quite tinny and the process of connecting to them leaves a ton to be desired.

I really wish Apple would bring back the home pod , but with full support for Spotify.

Are any of these speakers in a stereo pair? If not consider pairing them. Night and day difference. No speaker sounds good on its own in my opinion.

 

[Agile55]

"Sonos said it is holding onto more inventory than it would like" - Their system is good but it's still overpriced when comparing to other upper mid-range sound bar systems. I just think it's a reach for most to pay that much. I was on the verge of buying but they actually increased prices last year and they just lost me.

After doing lots of listening tests the Sonos was definitely better. But for the price I ended up with the a Vizio atmos system. Incredible value for the money and have no regrets.

@jayb3 or any knowledgable poster here can I integrate a Vizio sub w/ my Arc & two Ones? Asking as I have a small den. was waiting for the new Sub from Sonos but given the news I want to get a reasonable quality sub now to go w/ my ARC & Ones & anyone else that want's to contribute some plz do as I'm ready for a sub now.

 

[viachicago22]

Uh, too bad. I just got Beam 2 and I’m amazed by its sound quality. Can’t wait for Sub Mini, because the regular one is too big and too expensive for my taste.

I got the Beam like 6 weeks before the Beam 2 came out

 

[viachicago22]

yes but like I said, its apparently a special thing of the US (and the UK) calendar again. A fiscal year runs from jan to dec here (and most countries) so the quarters are the same. That's why I got confused

I was confused too, it’s so annoying that some people seem incapable of replying without sarcasm and condescension

 

[BrentD]

I have three Sonos speakers throughout my house. They’re just ok. They were so hyped to have magnificent sound and ease of use.

The sound is quite tinny and the process of connecting to them leaves a ton to be desired.

I really wish Apple would bring back the home pod , but with full support for Spotify.

Regarding the "tinny" sound. Did you perform the "TruTune" tuning, or whatever they call it? I ask because when that feature came out, I tried it in each of my rooms that had Sonos, and every one of them sounded decidedly worse than before tuning. I went back to my own EQ levels and scrapped their tuning "feature". I've got a few rooms with a single Sonos Play:1 (the first speaker they made) and the music is rich and full, even in the low end...just not chest thumping bass or anything. A room with a Play:3 is the same. My living room with a pair of Play:1's, the Playbar and the Sub sounds amazing.

 

[BrentD]

Might have something to do with the fact that their most recent software update completely broke sonos systems. The sub is now crap. Warning - dont buy til they provide a fix.

When did this update that you speak of come out? I have auto updates on (though it doesn't seem to stay on top of them) and my system is fine. Granted, I have all first gen Sonos products. Perhaps it was only for newer gens?

 

[iProd]

Well, hopefully, they can get them supplied. I’ve been waiting for them to get white subs back in stock to match my white Beam soundbar. You can get white soundbars and black subs, and that’s it, can’t get a matching system.

I’ve been pretty impressed with both of my Beams (gen1 and gen2). I still prefer a traditional, multi speaker wired system for my main viewing room, but my secondary rooms do well with the Beams.

I promise you the white Sub wont be making a comeback anytime soon.

 

[ifxf]

how is Q1 23 October to December? is that a weird American calendar thing again? Surely Q1 is Jan to March?

Apple’s fiscal runs from end of sept to end of sept.

 

[gsurf123]

While it works the Sonos stuff is overpriced crap. Build quality and components are marginal at best. The stuff all should be in the sub-$200 price range. It’s an easy sell as people know the name and think high quality, which is good marketing.

 

[1madman1]

I own 7x Sonos devices, and they've been so problematic lately that I'm considering purging the lot.

In their current state they do not play nice with all wired networks - they keep switching themselves over to 2.4GHz wireless which breaks the network completely due to interference.

Would also be nice is the computer based controller software wasn't so crippled now. It's completely dependent on the iOS app which is near may as well be broken.

 

[CarlJ]

In all reports regarding the Sub Mini, it is described that it will wirelessly pair with the company's existing soundbar lineup, including the Ray, the second-generation Beam, and the Arc.
Is it not expected to work with Fives and Ones?

I've not heard any suggestion that it won't work in all the same scenarios as the current Sub. And the current Sub will work just fine with Fives and Ones. I expect that most news outlets primarily envision it being used as a less expensive component of a 5.1 surround system for home theater use, thus the mention of the Arc/Beam/Ray.

 

[CarlJ]

tell me you know nothing about audio without telling me you know nothing about audio

Tell me you think you're smarter than everyone else here without telling me you're smarter than everyone else here.

 

[CarlJ]

@jayb3 or any knowledgable poster here can I integrate a Vizio sub w/ my Arc & two Ones? Asking as I have a small den. was waiting for the new Sub from Sonos but given the news I want to get a reasonable quality sub now to go w/ my ARC & Ones & anyone else that want's to contribute some plz do as I'm ready for a sub now.

There's no good way to do what you want. You could get a Sonos Amp, which has a subwoofer output and then connect a normal subwoofer (the Vizio unit you're looking at may or may not have a normal subwoofer input, if it's designed to work with a Vizio home theater setup), but the Amp is $699 by itself.

By the way, I wouldn't recommend Vizio anything to anyone. They make nice enough hardware, but they have horrible reliability and quality control. Their subreddit is filled with people who are angry about firmware updates that screwed up existing products (in ways you might not have thought possible, basic features like selecting inputs and controlling volume), which Vizio let stand for many months with no answer (they could have improved things quite a bit by simply allowing people to revert to the previous firmware, but no). They seem to be working on it now, but I wouldn't trust such a company any further than I could throw their headquarters building.

 

[CarlJ]

Sonos is kind of lost as a company. They came out doing the high end and then started producing cheap IKEA speakers. Like Ok, but what about the primary market which is the mid range buyer? Such weirdos.

Sonos isn't particularly "high end" as far as audio goes. In some ways they fill the same niche as Apple, for really nice (and fairly spendy) consumer level equipment that Just Works. They're not making "cheap" speakers (until the Ray and Roam), if I understand correctly, they licensed their tech (or maybe they're making the electronics part) for basic speakers to Ikea, who is making their own speakers with it. It keeps the two brands somewhat separate. Lots of people find the Ikea speakers perfectly workable for surround speakers in a 5.1 system.

But until the Ray, they haven't really tried to hit the mid/lower end of the market, price-wise, using their own name, and it sounds like sales on the Ray aren't going that well. I can understand why - if you jettison the stuff that makes the speaker expensive, you're also getting rid of the bits that differentiate it from the competition, and you're left to compete on price, against companies that are very finely attuned to competing on price. Not a good place to stand, and it's the same reason that Apple doesn't make a $200 iPhone. And "buy our cheap average product because it has the same nameplate on it as our expensive good product" just doesn't carry that much weight.

 

[Fyrus]

One line snarky comments don’t really help the discussion along either.

Why is Sonos not what the poster claims they are compared to similarly or higher priced systems? Curiosity from someone who might consider adding a sub mini.

Sonos speakers just do not sound as clear as other options at the same or sometimes lower pricepoints. It’s an ease of use product, just like airpods; we don’t use those for their sound quality.

Just take an Sonos 5 and an original HomePod. Just to be clear, I’m not an Apple fanboy, but the HomePod sounds so much better. The Sonos Five needs it’s volume around 50% to have an acceptable sound quality, where the HomePod sounds great even at 10%.

The people who scream that Sonos had great audio must have never had or heard good audio, or they only check if the bass can go low… which it can for it’s size.

But again Sonos 5 vs HomePod is no contest… and there are other speakers i’ve listened to that sound better but haven’t had the chance to compare those next to eachother.

Saying Sonos has great sounds is just BS. It has acceptable sound, great design and a lot op options. And yes I will believe that a lot of people have better sound now with Sonos than they used to have with other/cheaper/bluetooth speakers.

 

[6787872]

Tell me you think you're smarter than everyone else here without telling me you're smarter than everyone else here.

how original

 

[Matt Leaf]

I bought a One SL and really like it. This was before the price increases. Let’s face it Sonos’s stuff is pretty pricey. If they dropped their prices people would buy their stuff more. I’m always waiting for deals and second hand opportunities. I’d love a Port but it’s a big outlay. Keen for a 2nd SL, too, when I find a deal.

 

[jsmitty]

I own 7x Sonos devices, and they've been so problematic lately that I'm considering purging the lot.

In their current state they do not play nice with all wired networks - they keep switching themselves over to 2.4GHz wireless which breaks the network completely due to interference.

Would also be nice is the computer based controller software wasn't so crippled now. It's completely dependent on the iOS app which is near may as well be broken.

I have 8 including a few Moves and a Roam. The system is pretty buggy recently as the number of devices increased, particularly the wireless ones.

 

[Madmic23]

I have 8 including a few Moves and a Roam. The system is pretty buggy recently as the number of devices increased, particularly the wireless ones.

So it’s not just me? I have also found within the last year the Sonos app is hit and miss. Even AirPlay 2 doesn’t seem to work consistently with my setup.

 

[Fyrus]

So it’s not just me? I have also found within the last year the Sonos app is hit and miss. Even AirPlay 2 doesn’t seem to work consistently with my setup.

All my connectivaty issues dissapeared when I got rid of the old Play:1 speakers and plugged my beam straight into my router. But connection issues are really hard to pinpoint, I suppose you’ve already contacted Sonos support?

 

[Fyrus]

Sonos isn't particularly "high end" as far as audio goes. In some ways they fill the same niche as Apple, for really nice (and fairly spendy) consumer level equipment that Just Works. They're not making "cheap" speakers (until the Ray and Roam), if I understand correctly, they licensed their tech (or maybe they're making the electronics part) for basic speakers to Ikea, who is making their own speakers with it. It keeps the two brands somewhat separate. Lots of people find the Ikea speakers perfectly workable for surround speakers in a 5.1 system.

But until the Ray, they haven't really tried to hit the mid/lower end of the market, price-wise, using their own name, and it sounds like sales on the Ray aren't going that well. I can understand why - if you jettison the stuff that makes the speaker expensive, you're also getting rid of the bits that differentiate it from the competition, and you're left to compete on price, against companies that are very finely attuned to competing on price. Not a good place to stand, and it's the same reason that Apple doesn't make a $200 iPhone. And "buy our cheap average product because it has the same nameplate on it as our expensive good product" just doesn't carry that much weight.

I had a feelings the Ray was introduced to offer a soundbar for around 300 dollars/euros. The Beam used to be that speaker over here in Europe, until their prices increased (with the introduction of the Beam 2).

So to me this doesn’t feel like they suddenly decided to make a cheaper soundbar… They just wanted to offer a soundbar around the same price the Beam used to be.

I think it’s a crappy soundbar though.

 

[svish]

Might be better to release it around Christmas season.