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

[CarlJ]

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.

Fair point. I'd call it mediocre rather than crappy though. I don't expect it to break, I just don't expect it to stand out in any particular way.

 

[CarlJ]

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.

Sonos tends to put decent sale prices on most of their speakers for Black Friday, but are noted for not having sales practically any other time. Individual stores will sometimes have deals. CostCo is worth a shot, and I've heard of people getting good deals from both "open box" at Best Buy (they apparently get a number of customers who think "this is expensive so it must be a really good bluetooth speaker" and then return them outraged when they find no bluetooth support), or people getting deals on craigslist and such (I'd never go that route, but there are occasional reports of amazing deals that people have found, mentioned on the Sonos subreddit).

 

[CrysisDeu]

Kind of funny comment. You obviously have not compared the Sonos Arc, Sub and two surrounds to a Bose and Samsung, which the previous poster was referring to. Sonos Arc and components better than all of those and also continuous updates to improve. I have even compared to an Ambeo and returned that and kept the Sonos, so know what I am talking about compared to most people that have never owned the Bose, Sonos, Ambeo etc and compared in real life. 👍

While I don’t know about the rest of the statements without owning bose or samsung home theater , “continuous updates to improve” is a far stretch. Sonos in last year has already got several issues with firmware

 

[mikethemartian]

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

Fiscal years typically differ from calendar years because they are intended to reflect the seasonality of a particular company’s industry. For example a farmer’s cash flows are concentrated during the parts the year that planting, growing, harvesting and taking to market are. What happens during the rest of the year is not as significant.

 

[dufftop]

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?

There were several updates that hosed things. 14.6 caused many people, myself included, to have surrounds and subs to drop out frequently, requiring a system reboot, only to have it happen again (primarily when switching inputs, but not always - in my case I never switched inputs and it still happened).

14.10 addressed most of those issues, but also introduced a lower level voluming issue. For some peeps, they have to really crank it just to hear the subs. I bit the bullet and finally updated and while voice quality is improved (new feature - I can tell a slight difference), audio levels are a bit down and I have to jack it up a little more than before.

That being said, I have an Arc, two Ones as surrounds and two Gen 2 subs (or whatever the latest are - I forget).

Sonos is not a high-end out of low-end surround systems (like someone else mentioned). With the exception of a few firmware updates that took a little too long to get resolved, my system rocks. I consider it high-end surround system.

Yes, I know it's a "soundbar" system and not a true 5.1, 7.1 whatever, but in my little living room it kicks butt and when I open the front door, sit on the porch with music playing, it can shake things and wake neighbors. Atmos movies sound great.

Sonos needs to be little more transparent with firmware issues - 14.6 took months to resolve and Sonos support lvl 1 techs said it was a "network issue - something is wrong with your wifi" which was total crap. Enough people complained (myself included) and they finally figured it out and addressed it.

My advice, turn off auto updates (I did) if you own a Sonos anything and check the Sonos forums for info about any updates. If it ain't broke...

And, if they do release a mini sub, I just might bite - can't have too many subwoofers IMHO. Then again, I have tinnitus and hearing loss (not that bad - I was also a musician so I have an ear(s) - just not as good as when I was 20) so what do I know

 

[sehns]

There is a reason it is overpriced, as it is an awesome system and when you pair with their sub it most definitely shakes the room, if you want it too. I have their full system starting with the Arc and it is an amazing system and continues to get even better with their firmware updates. Trust me, I have tried them all including some systems that cost over $2k and the Sonos beats them all and offers excellent value. Not overpriced at all.

Guess you probably think an iPhone Pro is overpriced too compared to the competition or any Apple product. You get what you pay for. 😀

Nah. I've compared them back to back. Theres a pretty good reason why Sonos doesn't even make this list on Rtings - it's there just hidden down the bottom. Gets a 7.9 for music. Samsung Q950A (8.3) and the Bose 900 with Sub (8.4) smokes it at a lower price.

It's overpriced yes, but the best audio quality, no.