My Sonos Amp Review.

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I
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A big +1 to @Kumar 's comment with one exception: I've been an audio enthusiast for 40+ years, which I guess tells you I'm older than Kumar! 🙂 :-)

Which is why the brightness reports concerned me - I had not heard similar reports about any reputable manufacturer's amp for literally decades. Amp design, it seems to me, was a solved problem a long time ago (the only newish wrinkle being Class D amps, and even that development isn't so recent).
K
Lol. Or perhaps I was able to afford to dabble in the hobby only after having earned the money to do so:-). Thankfully, that expensive dabbling is in the past now and Sonos is a good as it needs to be to supply me with much more listenable music that I was able to hear in my audiophile days.
If the amp meets your needs in other ways, and you live in a place where the no questions asked return policy can be availed, I suggest you buy it with that policy cover protecting the spend.
K
To be honest, I am less of a Sonos fan these days, with the foot dragging they are doing over the Alexa integration in India, Amazon having launched it way back in Oct 2017. But the Connect Amp is still such a neat design, with line in jacks, that I am able to wire a Echo Dot to them and use that as my primary source of music these days. Even without using the Sonos wireless tech, the amp can't be beat for the combination of features like instant on from standby, small footprint, and ability to comfortably drive speakers that are not carelessly designed to be difficult loads. No backlit dancing VU meters though:-). Or the glow of tubes...
buzz
Please don't think that I am bashing anyone, but the listening characteristics of amplifiers are not important to some people. In many ways these individuals are more fortunate than listeners who do care. I've also encountered individuals who don't express any preference for one speaker vs another. This individual may have strong preferences with regard to amplifiers. The "trick," if you like, is to discover which end of the dog you should be barking at and spend your effort optimizing that end.

For me the attempt to put a piece of equipment in a, "good", "bad", or "ugly" bin is an exploration, not an attempt to prove someone's listening credentials.

I'm not a spirits drinker, but as I observe tasting events, it seems to me that it is the same, sometimes emotional dynamic, but with a different vocabulary -- and its own version of good and bad science.
K
I am one of those that have found that changing amps did not make any audible difference to the sound I heard, with amps being the ones I have listed earlier here.

There are also two very respected names from the field of high end audio I know of that precede me on the same wave length: Peter Walker, the legendary founder designer of Quad amplifiers and speakers said about fifty years ago that all that a good amplifier should be is "straight wire with gain", and that his amplifiers were just that back in the day; removing therefore from his armoury the weapon of claiming sonic superiority for his amplifiers. The other person I have found that consistently says this even today is Alan Shaw, the owner designer of Harbeth speakers, in saying that his speakers do not care which amp of the usually found THD spec is driving them as long as the amp is not having to work outside its design limits, usually by being extremely underpowered; by that he refers to the 5 wpc kind of amps that have a cult following. His argument is that this is nowhere near the kind of power that is needed for music with high dynamic range to be properly delivered by his speakers, and his recommendations are for 20-30 wpc, preferably 100 wpc. Which one? He says it does not matter to the sound his speakers deliver, except in the rare case these days of a poorly designed amp or the equally rare case of one that has been conferred with a permanent sound signature by its designer.

Since I have no longer have the time or the inclination to test my conviction on this subject by continuing to dabble with amps, given also that any new purchases I make in future will be of active speakers where this is irrelevant, I do not expect to change my mind about this little conviction.
buzz
Audiophiles hate powered speakers because it robs them of the opportunity to chase the ultimate amplifier and speaker wire.

Peter Walker's amps were in the "not bright" bin.
K
It is also pertinent to note that we are on a thread started by an OP that found close to nothing to distinguish the sound of the Sonos Amp from that of the highly regarded in audiophile circles Bryston amp and other exotic front end kit; it is very likely - IMO - that what little that he thinks he heard may not survive a level matched controlled blind test. It is also pertinent to note that he does not seem to think that doing this test is worth the bother.
And none of that little was in the "brightness" dimension, with EQ set to flat.
K
Audiophiles hate powered speakers because it robs them of the opportunity to chase the ultimate amplifier and speaker wire.

It is more than just that; there is enough scope to chase the ultimate active speakers, also with horrifying prices, from the likes of ATC, Dynaudio etc.
What audiophiles want but do not get from active speakers is the illusion of control and involvement in their hobby via the mix and match/upgrading(?) games, along with the pleasure in drooling over and then falling for things like speaker wire and other similar brochures, and renewing the temporary rush from getting new kit/tweaks in, till they need the next fix.
Been there, done that.
The pros in the meantime, having more important things to do in the mastering studios, see their kit for exactly what it is and are now almost entirely users of active electronics/powered speakers.
buzz
Much of the improvement attributed to wire replacement is due to the accidental cleaning of the connections while replacing old with new.
K
Much of the improvement attributed to wire replacement is due to the accidental cleaning of the connections while replacing old with new.
Party pooper:-)!!!
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