I just got my first pair of Sonos units - two Play:3's for the kitchen and bedroom and I absolutely love them. I'm not a huge audiophile, but the convenience and total plug 'n play nature of Sonos is what attracted me to it.
Of course the next thing that occured to me was how to get this connected up to my stereo.
What I don't understand is why the basic Connect is $349 while the Play:3 units are $299 each. I mean if anything it seems like a Connect is just a Play:3 without the speakers and amp? Why does it cost so much more for fewer features? Seems like the guts of the connect should be a $99 unit - I meant he appleTV is $99, and it does way more (At least in terms of technological capability - video/etc) than the connect.
To be honest I've been drooling over Sonos for years - and I know the quality is very high, but the expense of the units has always put me off. It wasn't until the Play:3 that I felt like there was enough bang-for-the-buck to justify diving in... I'm probably going to get at least 2 or 3 more Play:3's for elsewhere in the house, but it's going to be hard to justify the Connect until the price comes down further. It's still cheaper to just put a Play:3 in the same room as my stereo - it's small and powerful enough to just sit near my existing speakers.
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It wasn't intended as such.
I respectfully disagree with their pricing choice, I think it's lame.
Take your case to Sonos, or simply vote with your feet and walk away from the purchase. This is a user forum so don't expect Sonos representatives to chime in with a defence of their pricing strategy.
Yes, Sonos products are not cheap. Some of them, such as the soon-to-depart CONTROL/CR200, are arguably over-priced for what they do. But until a serious competitor comes along and does what Sonos does they have a first-mover advantage. A good many of us here think that despite the initial price Sonos represents value for money, especially considering the life span of the product and the continuous cycle of free software upgrades.
Userlevel 1
seriously? Thanks for the condescending reply. I understand market dynamics...
I don't however work in a busy Hi Fi environment where a few hundred here and there is not insignificant. I live in a house, with a family, with a budget.
I don't want to feel like I'm overpaying... and all you've convinced me is that yes, Sonos is ripping people off because people are willing to pay $349 for something with less capability. I can see the attitude here is going to be "But sonos can do whatever they want because their products are so good and the market will bear it!" - I respectfully disagree with their pricing choice, I think it's lame.
But to get back to the realities of the product: When you mentioned the ethernet switch, I took a closer look at the pictures and I see now that this behaves as an ethernet switch and has audio in... those aren't huge features, but at least there's SOME value-add. Not $50 + the value of an amp and speakers though, at least to me.
I don't however work in a busy Hi Fi environment where a few hundred here and there is not insignificant. I live in a house, with a family, with a budget.
I don't want to feel like I'm overpaying... and all you've convinced me is that yes, Sonos is ripping people off because people are willing to pay $349 for something with less capability. I can see the attitude here is going to be "But sonos can do whatever they want because their products are so good and the market will bear it!" - I respectfully disagree with their pricing choice, I think it's lame.
But to get back to the realities of the product: When you mentioned the ethernet switch, I took a closer look at the pictures and I see now that this behaves as an ethernet switch and has audio in... those aren't huge features, but at least there's SOME value-add. Not $50 + the value of an amp and speakers though, at least to me.
+1
I agree totally. Having worked in a busy hi Fi environment, I've seen manufacturers lower their prices and basically devalue their own product. Sonos have got it right.
Welcome to the forums.
It's too temptingly easy to compare "cost" with "price". Yes, the build cost of a CONNECT may well be similar to or less than a Play:3 (give or take the odd drive unit, Ethernet switch, ADC, S/PDIF output etc) but like it or not Sonos will price products at a point which the market will bear.
One could argue that the Play:3 may be pitched low to woo a new class of customer, whereas the CONNECT would be purchased by those wishing to link Sonos with existing - perhaps expensive - HiFi equipment. In the latter case $100 either way may not be a major issue.
It's too temptingly easy to compare "cost" with "price". Yes, the build cost of a CONNECT may well be similar to or less than a Play:3 (give or take the odd drive unit, Ethernet switch, ADC, S/PDIF output etc) but like it or not Sonos will price products at a point which the market will bear.
One could argue that the Play:3 may be pitched low to woo a new class of customer, whereas the CONNECT would be purchased by those wishing to link Sonos with existing - perhaps expensive - HiFi equipment. In the latter case $100 either way may not be a major issue.
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