Sonos Bluetooth Connect

Agree completely. If Sonos were to go under most of their hardware would become useless. For that reason the Play5 is the safest component to buy. Want a sub? Much safer to buy the Connect and a separate sub rather than the Sonos Sub which is severely restrictive even in the Sonus environs and worthless if Sonus go under. however, all being said, I am sure that in the event Sonus were to go kaput there would be many entrepreneurs who would quickly come up with mods to add a line in jack to the Play1 and Play3.

Why not a play 1 then, that is cheaper than a 5.

And I can't see a USD 1 billion corporation go under in a hurry, it's business model and cash flows will always be of interest and will only taper down if mismanaged. What is more likely is a buy out, but in that case, there is just as much chance of new management taking it to a better place, as to a worse one.

And there isn't any guarantee that I will see tomorrow either.

there is just as much chance of new management taking it to a better place, as to a worse one..

Having flashbacks of Slimdevices (Logitech) and Simple Audio (Corsair) 😉

Agree completely. If Sonos were to go under most of their hardware would become useless. For that reason the Play5 is the safest component to buy. Want a sub? Much safer to buy the Connect and a separate sub rather than the Sonos Sub which is severely restrictive even in the Sonus environs and worthless if Sonus go under. however, all being said, I am sure that in the event Sonus were to go kaput there would be many entrepreneurs who would quickly come up with mods to add a line in jack to the Play1 and Play3.

Nonsense, if Sonos went under the hardware wouldn't even notice, it would just carry on regardless. Did squeezeboxes stop working when Logitech pulled the plug? No, there's still people using them now.

Most expect Sonos will go the Google Casting route.

However, there are official and non-official methods to add Bluetooth and Airplay. It is fairly easy to add Bluetooth or Airplay if you have a Play:5 using the input and an Bluetooth adapter or Airport Express. There is also airsonos/sonoair program that enables Airplay for all Sonos speakers in your system.

I regret buing sonos. I really thought the issue about not be able to stream podcasts from my phone was going to be solved. But it is not going to happen.
Today I have a expensive Sonos system but use a 30$ BT-speaker when I listen to podcasts.
Bluetooth streaming or wifi streaming would change it all.

I have a Sonos 5 and I stream audio via bluetooth all the time. I just plugged a bluetooth adapter into the AUX port. Works pretty well.

For those with an input Sonos like the Play:5 the auxiliary port allows for a lot of flexibility (adding Bluetooth, airplay etc). Although I rarely use it (ok never) I do have one of the new Google Chromecast Audio Dongles ($35) plugged into my Play:5.

For those unfamiliary and wonder why Sonos doesn't jump on Bluetooth or airplay ... they are fundamentally different than Sonos. Sonos for the most part has an architecture where your controller (like phone) is just a remote control. When you chose a radio station, local network song, or streaming service, the controller tells the player to go out and fetch it. So the song then goes directly from the source (such as Spotify) to the speaker. The controller never sees the song. This is an important part of the Sonos architecture because then you can turn your controller/phone off or lose wifi and your music will not stop. That is a key point in Sonos reliability.

Now with airplay and Bluetooth your song has to download the song and then send from the phone to Sonos. Any loss of connectivity or turning off the phone stops the music. It also sends the music over your home wifi instead of Sonosnet and therefore is also prone to breakups (yes I know people can use home wifi now for the sonos speakers to but that is rarely a good way to hook up sonos either).

Now - chromecast. It is not Bluetooth or Airplay. It is like Sonos. When you chose something in an app that is chromecast enabled, chromecast does what sonos does and tells the chromecast speaker to go out and fetch the music stream directly and leave the phone/device out of the equation.

So - chromecast audio is just like 30 days old. So you can't expect Sonos to have already come out with Chromecast compatibility. But the future as far as Sonos goes to me seems to be adding chromecast capability. Spotify did something similar last year in coming out with Spotify Connect. Spotify Connect does the same thing chromecast does/and Sonos but was proprietary to Spotify only. Sonos had the legitimate reason for not embrassing Spotify Connect because it would devote a lot of on speaker resources to a single companies product. With Chromecast Audio you have the same as Spotify Connect but much more universal to all apps. That's why I think Sonos, while they haven't said anything yet, may be looking hard at Chromecast Audio to solve the biggest issue they have currently and that really is allowing more flexibility of using other apps to play direct to their speakers.

In the meantime a Play:5, Connect, or Connect:Amp with a $35 Chromecast dongle adds the ability today (and allows to play to any Sonos speaker in your home).

As a new SONOS play:5 owner let me say that I chose the SONOS player because it does not rely on bluetooth. Our old speaker was a bluetooth enabled speaker. I always got yelled at by the GF because I would start playing music from my phone, walk out to the backyard and bluetooth speaker would disconnect because I went out of range. Same issue when I tried going the airplay route, but to a lesser extent because its WIFI based.
With that said, I would really like to see SONOS seriously consider more flexibility with outside apps. I really liked the Spotify Connect feature and I could see a better integration with Chromecast being an option (even though all my devices in the house are Apple).

+1 chromecast native. Although I already have with dongle attached to my play:5. As you have a play:5 it is a good addition to give you full chromecast for like $40

+1 chromecast native. Although I already have with dongle attached to my play:5. As you have a play:5 it is a good addition to give you full chromecast for like $40
I'm considering using the Chromecast audio dongle (right now I am using an apple express with airplay). Can I play music using the dongle without having to go into the SONOS app and choosing line in? Right now the only way I see it working is first opening up the SONOS app, selecting line in and from there going to the app of choice to use chromecast.

You can set the line in to auto select when it detects a signal. This is how I have my turntable set up.

Sadly, SONOS appear to ignore critical feedback of this shortcoming. I am gearing up my whole house with 5 x Play 1's, 2 x Play 5's 1 x ZP90 and 1 ZP120. Sadly, the 4 teenage males in the family refuse to use the system as they want a simple bluetooth output facility for their iPhones. They are not interested in Spotify accounts or downloading their music to a local NAS to be indexed by SONOS. The limit of their ability to play music it rather limited (like their personal hygiene).

What's so difficult for a Gen 3 version where each Sonos Speaker has a Bluetooth TxRx system.

The limit of their ability to play music it rather limited (like their personal hygiene).

From all accounts, I don't see bluetooth coming in Sonos kit; and if I had the environment you seem to have, I'd prefer to have my Sonos install kept away from it! Ask them to save up for some cheap/cheerful bluetooth speakers for the privacy of their rooms, and don't install Sonos there?

Sonos is not putting Bluetooth hardware in their device. Both Bluetooth and AirPlay as well as chromecast can be added as j out into any of the 4 units you have with I out givin anyone ability to direct their iPhone output into Sonos. There was air Sonos program I haven't kept up With that acts as AirPlay server to all units (I haven't checked to see if they have working again on latest iOS version - as I frankly hate Bluetooth and AirPlay for their dropouts and poor audio quality. Chromecast Audio is only one I would think of since it pushes music direct from source like Sonos.

Sadly, SONOS appear to ignore critical feedback of this shortcoming. I am gearing up my whole house with 5 x Play 1's, 2 x Play 5's 1 x ZP90 and 1 ZP120. Sadly, the 4 teenage males in the family refuse to use the system as they want a simple bluetooth output facility for their iPhones. They are not interested in Spotify accounts or downloading their music to a local NAS to be indexed by SONOS. The limit of their ability to play music it rather limited (like their personal hygiene).

What's so difficult for a Gen 3 version where each Sonos Speaker has a Bluetooth TxRx system.

Really?

If I were you I'd provide each of them with a streaming music service account of their choice and then tell them they are on their own - They can use their own money to buy the exact speaker of their choice.

When I was a teenager I had a cassette radio - AM/LW/FM radio and a tape cassette player and that was it. I know times they move on but I really find all this "my kids won't, my kids refuse" stuff to be rather perplexing.

there is just as much chance of new management taking it to a better place, as to a worse one..

Having flashbacks of Slimdevices (Logitech) and Simple Audio (Corsair) ;)
Agree.... I have logitech Squeezebox duet/radio/boom.... now Sonos 5 , Playbar, Play 3 X 2. Seems like others like Bose making more versatile products (i.e. w BT). I still use boom and radio because the TineIn app works much better on the old abandoned Squeezebox platform compared to Sonos. To be fair Sonos is more more stable than Squeezebox.

Then Sonos add line in out to play1 play3 and a new Chromecast connect

Line in you mean. We don't know their product development cycle. I would predict play:3 should be ending replacement.

I simply want to use my Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones with my music system. What's the problem?? Why is this not possible??

This thread has nothing to do with headphones. This thread is asking for Sonos to be able to play Bluetooth receiving (such as your phone sending out Bluetooth and sonos playing Bluetooth like your headphones do).

Listening to Sonos music via your headphones would required Sonos OUTPUTTING Bluetooth like your phone. Absolutely different issue and nothing to do with this thread. And it isn't something Sonos supports - so you'll need to listen to your headphones form a Bluetooth device like your phone. Sonos has no Bluetooth chip and not even Bluetooth chipped speakers sendsaudio out to your headphones.

Another use case is a Spa with built-in Bluetooth speakers. I have 9 Sonos zones at home & am evangelical about Sonos, but one can't order a Spa with Sonos installed. Instead I have Bluetooth speakers in the tub and Sonos on my deck. I wish I could find a way to synchronize the two. Love to hear any ideas, but it sounds like this is still not possible.

Only output really these days is the connect. Then a cheap.l Bluetooth transmitter.

Interesting discussion. I would have thought the use case for Bluetooth in would be fairly obvious. In common areas like living rooms there is a great case for Sonos because you can spread music across these areas with perfect sync. In bedrooms the use case is more "play my music on these nice ceiling speakers while i'm in the shower". A Connect Amp is an expensive solution (and probably not bathroom friendly) since you are still up for the speakers, as opposed to just buying speakers with Bluetooth 4.0 built in.

The 'killer app" here is the Amazon Echo - I would rather have an Echo Dot outputting to decent speakers than the crappy Echo. Sonos doesn't make this cheap or easy. As it is, the Dot (also ceiling installed) can use either AUX out or bluetooth to connect to the same speakers. Quality-wise is not the same I know but good enough, let's you play music to your speakers through the Echo, dead cheap, and flexible in that the bluetooth allows any other bluettoth device to connect and play (not locked to the Echo). I don't tend to move around a lot when listening to music, and am happy to leave my phone on my bedside locker when I'm in the shower!

I bought a Sonos One for the kitchen and have a Sonos Connect in my living room which work well for those areas so i could have either Amazon or Google solutions (in time), and I'm happy with that but a Sonos One in each room is not a viable alternative as it is still locking me in to a less flexible solution all round.

I have a 5-bedroom house so there is a market here. I bet I know which option my teenage kids will jump at...