Yep. Especially with luxury items like home theater or cars. People love to complain about prices, but the “I have to have it” voice in their head always takes over.
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Sonos Kicks Off Rare Sale With Up to 25% Off Popular Audio Accessories
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I struggle with this all the time, but I always come away satisfied that the Sonos sound "good enough," considering how little space they take up and how few cords are required to get a system going (I do have a standalone system of significantly higher quality). Finding space to stash amps and discrete ways to run speaker cables was always a struggle. Finding a reliable way to provide user-friendly connectivity was the next challenge. If I change my mind, I still have a stash of Airport Expresses, but for now, it's Sonos.
Sonos is kind of like the Apple of sound. It's good looking hardware combined with easy to use software at a premium price designed to evoke a sense of luxury.
So if you have money to spend, and you want something that just works, then it's great.
Sadly, with their app debacle, they've lost some of that sheen.
BUT, just like the Mac, if you bother to piece together your own hardware and spend a lot of time customizing things, you can get better value for money minus the easy to use interface.
So if you have money to spend, and you want something that just works, then it's great.
Sadly, with their app debacle, they've lost some of that sheen.
BUT, just like the Mac, if you bother to piece together your own hardware and spend a lot of time customizing things, you can get better value for money minus the easy to use interface.
I started with the beam GEN 2 with a sub mini and I’ve never had one complaint. I have now upgraded to the arc and will pair this with the sub mini. I’ve had the GEN two beam for over a year and a half so your comments are a little bit over the top as far as it being garbage. There are many, good reviews on this manufacture.
Edit: the app has been updated since yesterday. Hopefully this will correct some issues.
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To each their own, but for the price I still think Sonos is garbage. I never sold a single unit. I refused to.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
...And I think Sonos is towards the best of this class of "smart" speaker offerings. If you want "smart" speakers, choose Sonos: wide open, broadly works with Apple stuff (very HP like), generally "just works" for things people want speakers to do, already fully fleshed out-full home theater options for people that don't want to run wires, etc.
Now if you want the best speakers, I'd passionately argue for "DUMB" ones, isolating any smarts to an easily replaced Receiver every 8 or 10 years, and connecting it all with wires. No soundbar- use center channel speaker. Include subwoofer. At least a 5.1 setup minimum.
For anyone thinking about HPs, I'd suggest the Sonos equivalents in something like the 300s, Move 2, 500 or similar. Why? Much more open- works with everything... and works just fine with Apple services/features too.
Now if you want the best speakers, I'd passionately argue for "DUMB" ones, isolating any smarts to an easily replaced Receiver every 8 or 10 years, and connecting it all with wires. No soundbar- use center channel speaker. Include subwoofer. At least a 5.1 setup minimum.
For anyone thinking about HPs, I'd suggest the Sonos equivalents in something like the 300s, Move 2, 500 or similar. Why? Much more open- works with everything... and works just fine with Apple services/features too.
I've been wanting to try the Sonos Soundbar. Maybe now's my chance! I see Best Buy has open box for $600.
Weak response. If you google literally any product or brand and follow it with the word “issues”, you will get issues. Nothing is perfect, and never will be
This thread got me worked up so I finally called Sonos (my issues are purely speaker group functionality). After an hour on hold (I feel for the CSRs) they looked at diagnostics and did a simple reboot of the speakers from their end. Working better for me now. I had them reboot them because two of my speakers are in high places and it’s a pain to cycle power on them.
So if anyone is having issues with speaker grouping and you haven’t rebooted yet, I suggest trying it. I didn’t care about alarms or queues or whatever else is wrong. Controlling speakers is the #1 job of this app and mine couldn’t do that. It’s not like Sonos gives us alternative methods of grouping them. Happier now, my wife gave up on the app altogether.
So if anyone is having issues with speaker grouping and you haven’t rebooted yet, I suggest trying it. I didn’t care about alarms or queues or whatever else is wrong. Controlling speakers is the #1 job of this app and mine couldn’t do that. It’s not like Sonos gives us alternative methods of grouping them. Happier now, my wife gave up on the app altogether.
I've been a Sonos customer a very long time. So long that I have S1 app speakers still that I just recently stopped using. The S1 app latest update was 2 months ago. Yes S1 devices aren't getting new features, but I wouldn't say they are unsupported either. Even Apple doesn't support devices as long as Sonos has...
The new app was a setback in that they released it early and impacted some users. They deserve feedback, even stern feedback, from impacted customers for it. For me, the new app has been faster and more stable than the old app and hasn't yet impacted my usage of my Sonos speakers. That said, I woudn't use it as a reason to see Sonos as a lost cause. They are a lot smaller than bigger outfits like Bose or, obviously, Apple. So they are working with smaller teams and sometimes that shows. They listened deeply to the feedback customers like I provided in the Sonos S1 to S2 debacle and they recovered well IMHO.
I had a Sonos Five Gen 1 (my first Sonos product) that I "bricked" in their S1 to S2 debacle years ago. A fiasco that took a VERY long time for me to recover trust in Sonos. Originally, they tried to kill off the older devices and offered a thin discount to soften the blow. It went over extremely poorly and they reversed that decision and kept S1 devices operating. I was using my S1 devices up until a few months ago when I upgraded them finally.
This new app is not an S1 fiasco and Sonos will learn and adapt appropriately. The missing features are all coming back as well. I'm very happy to use some of the new features they already added like Lossless Apple Music support.
The new Sonos app is so laggy, glitchy and forgets what page you were on, so you have to constantly do a search all over again. The speakers are so expensive, it's not worth the price to be locked into a walled garden with a crappy app that Sonos execs say it took "courage" to make. Also, looks like Sonos is trying to offload this old hardware before their new refresh this year, so it isn't worth splurging on this now. The prices will only go down once the new speaker lines come out.
I don't know - wouldn't it be better if they just fixed the messed up app instead of trying to please pissed off people with a sale?
I'm not falling for that!
Waiting the the app fix!
I'm not falling for that!
Waiting the the app fix!
I think it's fair to point out the new software released a few weeks ago didn't impact everyone. I haven't had any trouble with my extensive Sonos setup. The new app took a day or two getting used to the massive change but the systems all play music or tv audio just fine.
Costco has their range of Sonos products on sale, too. I'm interested in the Sonos Era 100 Speakers 2-pack for $469.99 - $95.00 discount = $374.99. I've enjoyed the Sonos Arc and the Sub (Gen 2) in my home theater. I've had expensive Pioneer elite receivers in the past and high end traditional speakers, but for the sheer simplicity and configuration flexibility, this system has worked well. I'm seriously considering the Sonos Ace headphones, too, once there are more reviews out there. Sorry to hear about all the Sonos headaches folks have experienced.
Its been mentioned a few times on this thread, and continues to be the main point for me:
"My significant other can use it"
I have a sophisticated audio system in my room. I did recently add a modded Sonos Port to stream into my DAC. Sounds fine, not as good as my other streamer build into my DAC, but pretty good.
I have a mixture of portable Sonos units, and in wall speakers with Sonos AMPs playing through them. My wife failed at a much more expensive Control4 system years ago (system was crappy for A/V control). I shudder to think of trying something else for her.
I tried an early Sonos sound bar, and bounced. Their new ones look to have better connectivity. I may try again.
Now app wise, the recent one stinks. I was lucky to only upgrade it on my iPad, but her control still works fine, so there is peace in the house. I can turn it off on my phone with the old app still in place.
When I saw this story line my first thought was : price reductions now = new models incoming? Or just a Sonos leadership team trying to save a company after a TERRIBLE app release.
"My significant other can use it"
I have a sophisticated audio system in my room. I did recently add a modded Sonos Port to stream into my DAC. Sounds fine, not as good as my other streamer build into my DAC, but pretty good.
I have a mixture of portable Sonos units, and in wall speakers with Sonos AMPs playing through them. My wife failed at a much more expensive Control4 system years ago (system was crappy for A/V control). I shudder to think of trying something else for her.
I tried an early Sonos sound bar, and bounced. Their new ones look to have better connectivity. I may try again.
Now app wise, the recent one stinks. I was lucky to only upgrade it on my iPad, but her control still works fine, so there is peace in the house. I can turn it off on my phone with the old app still in place.
When I saw this story line my first thought was : price reductions now = new models incoming? Or just a Sonos leadership team trying to save a company after a TERRIBLE app release.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Arc is the one- the very best one of the 3. If you want quality of sound, that's the one to have... and that price looks like that is the one you are seeking. I have one myself- using it for music only and it impresses me... and I'm quite into audio, audio quality, etc. If you do get, enjoy it.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
You probably know this already but I'll offer a few ideas. I've put one of mine in a difficult-to-reach spot: above a canopy on a wall. However, to protect it from lightning/power blinks/surge, etc, I worked it into an extension cord and then hidden down the wall (behind one of the bed posts) to a UPS (battery) on the floor. So when I need a restart, I can unplug it from the floor. I highly recommend UPS batteries to protect any of these "Smart" (audio) "computers."
But if yours is plugged in "up there", the option that doesn't involve a ladder or similar is the good old circuit breaker box. Find the circuit to throw, wait the time, then throw the circuit again to resume power flow. And/or next time you have in an electrician, see if they can find a way to give you a normal-height light switch that controls the power to that socket.
I’m sure the App will get fixed eventually and isn’t a big deal in and of itself. I think part of people’s concerns was also the fact that Sonos was okay putting something out half-baked in the first place. It makes you wonder what else might be wrong with their development process/product quality.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Same for me. It's a big overhaul of the app but the gist of it is shifting the stuff most accessed to the "front" (no clicking into pages to get to stuff like radio stations, etc: they are all one click to start them on the main screen). The stuff that got moved was the rarely-accessed stuff like things used to set up or optimize a speaker when first purchased and then probably not touched again.
I'm quite happy to have all of my favorites moved to the main page instead of 2 clicks in to get to them. And I invested a little time to figure out where less-frequently accessed stuff could be accessed now and have already adjusted to the new app.
Best feature IMO is the flexibility to make the "home" screen as I want it. So I just moved my favorite stations up to the top and now they are all together from the different services I use... all at a click.
I'm not experiencing any "laggy", "glitchy" or needs to "start searches over and over" because I don't even know what a person would be doing a bunch of searches for after perhaps a single round of set up to identify favorite stations and then having them one-click accessible on the front "page." I'd already done that in the former app and my favorites just carried over to this new one... except now they are immediately available on the main page.
Besides, as an Apple person, I rarely even need the Sonos app. I will typically tell Siri to play a playlist I've set up in Music in whatever room or rooms I want music to play. It "just works." I can also adjust the volume on Mac or iDevices in Apple apps too. Else, for non-Apple music (of which there is PLENTY), there's always the Mac app which remains the same... or Airplay if one just can't stand to use the new app until they evolve it a bit more from version 1. If one likes Spotify or Pandora or whatever, do your controlling in their app and then airplay it to Sonos.
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Some people prioritize convenience, and then try to get the best quality at that level of convenience they can. Most average folks fall into this category.
Some people prioritize quality, and then try to get the best convenience they can at that level of quality. Audiophiles fall into this category.
Average folks know audiophiles exist and get where they are coming from.
Audiophiles act like everybody that doesn’t think like them is a moron.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Did we not just have "Deleted" photos reviving on Apple tech last week? What else might be wrong with Apple's development process/product quality?
How about the absolute doom from the EU law going into effect... that security lapses would wipe our poor friends in the EU out- millions and millions of them. Do we realize that will be in place for 3 months now in only a few more days? Where's the armageddon? Has there been ONE story of a security issue yet? It makes one wonder what else might be wrong with what Apple tells us.
This crowd certainly seemed to think Vpro was half-baked or un-baked after 6-8 years of development- something much bigger and far more pricey than a free app. Makes one wonder what else might be wrong with Apple's development process/product quality.
And then there's that "unfixable hardware hack hole" in every single M1-M3 chip. Makes you wonder...
Butterly keyboards? Batterygate? <all those other> gates? "You're holding it wrong"? This list could be quite long.
See how that works? If we're going to sling an insinuation, be careful that the ones we choose can't boomerang right back at our favorite company.
All tech companies get things right & wrong, roll out winners & losers, make good and bad decisions. Our favorite doesn't get a pass just as "the rest" shouldn't be held to a standard that the favorite can't live up to themselves.
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Hmm, can I use some of my 15% credits on these sale prices? I'm guessing not, but that might get me to spring for a couple Era 300s to upgrade theater surrounds.