Sonos is forcing people to buy new hardware as they've broken the Connect:Amp and they refuse to fix it

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A
Userlevel 1

Presumably this is tongue in cheek, because this particular poster’s delay in joining the community does  not excuse Sonos from not knowing the issue, and further, from proactively communicating it to all Connect Amp users on S2. This is a BIG Sonos fail, right up there with their bricking fiasco four years ago.

@Alex.Dickson I suggest you send a diagnostic reference via email to Sonos Support for the issue with the new Amp because it is unlikely to be caused by the memory failures issue.

A professional installer that states they first noticed the C:A issue starting last summer, has a good many clients, they maintain their clients networks too and able to eliminate the local network as being the cause - but then lands here on the 7th February 2024, just seems a little late to the party IMV.

It’s these type of professionals, that I would personally expect to first bring a ‘real world’ matter to the attention of Sonos - I say that because individual customers that land here in the community, often don’t know if it’s a local network issue, or not and so the wood can get lost for the trees in trying to establish if that’s the case, whereas a professional installer, as I see it, can possibly be an entirely different ‘ball game’ - maybe more-so if they do speak direct to Sonos and can show details of their client-reported C:A cases since last summer.

Late to the party or not. I didn't expect to receive such hostility from any community member here. I just want to help see the issue resolved. As I'm sure we all do.

K

The best person to respond to this “could have done/should have done” thing is the installer in question if he chooses to do so. 

Complaints that land up in this community cannot be the entire universe of  complaints that arise with the use of Sonos; indeed I suspect that they would be a small percentage of such, and I am sure that of the many installers of Sonos kit, some would have brought this issue to the attention of Sonos directly in the way that according to you, this installer should have done. It is also likely that this is the reason that Sonos has finally accepted this to be a Sonos created issue and not another user network one.

As you can see from the opening post of this thread, a preceding discussion on this issue in this community was locked by Sonos before the discussion was finished.

Ken_Griffiths

Presumably this is tongue in cheek, because this particular poster’s delay in joining the community does  not excuse Sonos from not knowing the issue, and further, from proactively communicating it to all Connect Amp users on S2. This is a BIG Sonos fail, right up there with their bricking fiasco four years ago.

@Alex.Dickson I suggest you send a diagnostic reference via email to Sonos Support for the issue with the new Amp because it is unlikely to be caused by the memory failures issue.

A professional installer that states they first noticed the C:A issue starting last summer, has a good many clients, they maintain their clients networks too and able to eliminate the local network as being the cause - but then lands here on the 7th February 2024, just seems a little late to the party IMV.

It’s these type of professionals, that I would personally expect to first bring a ‘real world’ matter to the attention of Sonos - I say that because individual customers that land here in the community, often don’t know if it’s a local network issue, or not and so the wood can get lost for the trees in trying to establish if that’s the case, whereas a professional installer, as I see it, can possibly be an entirely different ‘ball game’ - maybe more-so if they do speak direct to Sonos and can show details of their client-reported C:A cases since last summer.

K

So had many customers reporting problems with Connect Amp from last summer and doesn’t think to mention a thing or join the community here until 7th February - no wonder Sonos were unaware of the issue. Certainly could not put the blame down to the network either, as that was being maintained by them too.

Presumably this is tongue in cheek, because this particular poster’s delay in joining the community does  not excuse Sonos from not knowing the issue, and further, from proactively communicating it to all Connect Amp users on S2. This is a BIG Sonos fail, right up there with their bricking fiasco four years ago.

@Alex.Dickson I suggest you send a diagnostic reference via email to Sonos Support for the issue with the new Amp because it is unlikely to be caused by the memory failures issue.

 

Ken_Griffiths

Alex we are very disappointed that you didn’t join the forum earlier to help Sonos figure this out cause they were incapable of doing this on their own (or maybe that was the point :). Shame shame shame on you LOL /s

So had many customers reporting problems with Connect Amp from last summer and doesn’t think to mention a thing or join the community here until 7th February - no wonder Sonos were unaware of the issue. Certainly could not put the blame down to the network either, as that was being maintained by them too.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

NEW S2 UPDATE! Any joy with it?  I might be imagining it but our system of various older & recently bought kit seems more responsive.

Need to leave it on a few days….

melvimbe

I personally have had to call SONOS support about this issue twice last week. The best I can get from them is to try and mitigate the problem by hardwiring any devices not already on the physical network. Else they will suggest upgrading. Which is an extreme shock for clients to hear that the system needs to be replaced after 6-7 years of use for $700 each amp.

 

$700 for the Connect:Amp?

Replacing the connect:amp with Amp will be ~$700 each no? 

 

On first read, it sounded like he was saying that the original purchase was $700.  I see it now.  

Danny
Bumper
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

I personally have had to call SONOS support about this issue twice last week. The best I can get from them is to try and mitigate the problem by hardwiring any devices not already on the physical network. Else they will suggest upgrading. Which is an extreme shock for clients to hear that the system needs to be replaced after 6-7 years of use for $700 each amp.

 

$700 for the Connect:Amp?

Replacing the connect:amp with Amp will be ~$700 each no? 

melvimbe

I personally have had to call SONOS support about this issue twice last week. The best I can get from them is to try and mitigate the problem by hardwiring any devices not already on the physical network. Else they will suggest upgrading. Which is an extreme shock for clients to hear that the system needs to be replaced after 6-7 years of use for $700 each amp.

 

$700 for the Connect:Amp?

Danny
A
Userlevel 1

 

Especially after the holidays we have gotten an increased number of calls.

Understood; but the new Amp should not be suffering from the issue on this thread is what I gather from all said here so far.

I've only had one install that had issues with the new equipment. Primarily from what I understand the issue was when the client would group play the arc audio from his TV throughout the home. SONOS support had informed me that streaming this audio source requires each Amp to decode the audio stream from the raw hdmi signal which requires more processing power. After installing a new dedicated switch in the home for the 5 Amps and disabling their Wi-Fi. The issue seemes to be resolved now.

I only note this since it seems to be related to SONOS devices maxing out their processor and memory in general.

Bumper
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi,

We have been a SONOS dealer for years and have sold hundreds of setups each year.

Count me in on tracking this issue. Since last summer we have had multiple clients reporting audio interruptions. This has been affecting multiple different devices across multiple different setups we have sold. The most common device we’ve witnessed having this issue is the Connect Amp. Although we have also seen similar issues with the new Amp as well.

 

SONOS has been a reliable product for years, I hope to see this resolved!

Pity you did not join the forum here sooner and report your issues, as it may have helped others (and Sonos) to have identified the issue sooner, rather than later. I assume (hope) you’ve been in touch with Sonos since the Summer in an effort to resolve the matters you encountered with your installations?

I personally have had to call SONOS support about this issue twice last week. The best I can get from them is to try and mitigate the problem by hardwiring any devices not already on the physical network. Else they will suggest upgrading. Which is an extreme shock for clients to hear that the system needs to be replaced after 6-7 years of use for $700 each amp.

Alex we are very disappointed that you didn’t join the forum earlier to help Sonos figure this out cause they were incapable of doing this on their own (or maybe that was the point :). Shame shame shame on you LOL /s

K

 

Especially after the holidays we have gotten an increased number of calls.

Understood; but the new Amp should not be suffering from the issue on this thread is what I gather from all said here so far.

A
Userlevel 1

Hi,

We have been a SONOS dealer for years and have sold hundreds of setups each year.

Count me in on tracking this issue. Since last summer we have had multiple clients reporting audio interruptions. This has been affecting multiple different devices across multiple different setups we have sold. The most common device we’ve witnessed having this issue is the Connect Amp. Although we have also seen similar issues with the new Amp as well.

 

SONOS has been a reliable product for years, I hope to see this resolved!

Pity you did not join the forum here sooner and report your issues, as it may have helped others (and Sonos) to have identified the issue sooner, rather than later. I assume (hope) you’ve been in touch with Sonos since the Summer in an effort to resolve the matters you encountered with your installations?

I personally have had to call SONOS support about this issue twice last week. The best I can get from them is to try and mitigate the problem by hardwiring any devices not already on the physical network. Else they will suggest upgrading. Which is an extreme shock for clients to hear that the system needs to be replaced after 6-7 years of use for $700 each amp.

A
Userlevel 1

SONOS has been a reliable product for years, I hope to see this resolved!

From personal experience in my early years of using Sonos, and from thousands of posts here I know that a large majority of such issues are in fact down to network issues, fixed by user intervention with their network. How do you distinguish between these usual issue in the cases you refer to, and this specific issue, that is due to Sonos? Quite a challenge, I would think, and not one that I envy you for having.

You are correct that the network is paramount. Majority of the homes we service the network as well as A/V and security equipment. From large homes to the simplest of setups. However when my client’s network consists of a router and a switch which SONOS has had no problems with since the installation around 2017. Now they and a wave of others are reporting the same issue and timeframe. I have to seek out what has changed.

Especially after the holidays we have gotten an increased number of calls.

Ken_Griffiths

Hi,

We have been a SONOS dealer for years and have sold hundreds of setups each year.

Count me in on tracking this issue. Since last summer we have had multiple clients reporting audio interruptions. This has been affecting multiple different devices across multiple different setups we have sold. The most common device we’ve witnessed having this issue is the Connect Amp. Although we have also seen similar issues with the new Amp as well.

 

SONOS has been a reliable product for years, I hope to see this resolved!

Pity you did not join the forum here sooner and report your issues, as it may have helped others (and Sonos) to have identified the issue sooner, rather than later. I assume (hope) you’ve been in touch with Sonos since the Summer in an effort to resolve the matters you encountered with your installations?

K

SONOS has been a reliable product for years, I hope to see this resolved!

From personal experience in my early years of using Sonos, and from thousands of posts here I know that a large majority of such issues are in fact down to network issues, fixed by user intervention with their network. How do you distinguish between these usual issues in the cases you refer to, and this specific issue, that is down to Sonos? Quite a challenge, I would think, and not one that I envy you for having to address. For instance, the new Amp cannot be affected by this issue, from all accounts of what the issue is.

A
Userlevel 1

Hi,

We have been a SONOS dealer for years and have sold hundreds of setups each year.

Count me in on tracking this issue. Since last summer we have had multiple clients reporting audio interruptions. This has been affecting multiple different devices across multiple different setups we have sold. The most common device we’ve witnessed having this issue is the Connect Amp. Although we have also seen similar issues with the new Amp as well.

 

SONOS has been a reliable product for years, I hope to see this resolved!

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

This is an eight month old problem at this point,  not just connect amps. The usual little to no communication from Sonos for this is bs IMO.

I agree. Sonos comms are never very good. But, at this point it is already more than connect amps?!

Yes. It seems to be affecting Play 3 as well. 
 

Anyhow, apologies to those who are on mixed S1 capable and S2 only hardware - you’ll have to wait for the Sonos fix. In the meantime, if you can roll back to S1, my amps have been constantly powered up for five weeks now since the rollback. They’re totally stable, the amps are found immediately by the control apps, they play immediately and apart from one hesitation when switching from group to individual play and one episode of a few seconds of initial dropout after an overnight pause, the amps have been flawless. 
 

If you can do it, I strongly suggest the rollback to S1. 

K

This is an eight month old problem at this point,  not just connect amps. The usual little to no communication from Sonos for this is bs IMO.

I agree. Sonos comms are never very good. But, at this point it is already more than connect amps?!

Bumper
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi, I have been experiencing the same Connect:Amp music drops since May or June of 2023.     We have two 5-6 year old Connect:Amps as well as three newer 1 year old Amps.  Since the update both the Connect:Amps drop periodically for about 5-10 seconds, the newer operate fine.   Frustrating that the only solution is to drop another $1400.00 for two new amps.   

You can wait and see if they are able to fix the firmware issue with an update. They say they are working on one so you never know. 
 

IMO Sonos  really should do the right thing and let owners know about the flaw so that they don’t trash units or waste time chasing non existent network errors. This is an eight month old problem at this point,  not just connect amps. The usual little to no communication from Sonos for this is bs IMO.

E

Hi, I have been experiencing the same Connect:Amp music drops since May or June of 2023.     We have two 5-6 year old Connect:Amps as well as three newer 1 year old Amps.  Since the update both the Connect:Amps drop periodically for about 5-10 seconds, the newer operate fine.   Frustrating that the only solution is to drop another $1400.00 for two new amps.   

S
Userlevel 2

I have this problem with a Connect. 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Just to add another voice. I’m also having drop out problems with several Connect Amps where audio frequently cuts out for a few seconds and then comes back.

All other Sonos components (not Connect Amps) on my network are fine. I’m running the very latest firmware (build 76249050). 

K

Nah; I will take my chances with the streaming services. I don’t trust Sonos Support to fix my play 1 if it is broken by a future S1 update beyond 11.12. I trust Sonos less than others here do.

I remember people - that don't come here anymore - running 8.2 or such without a problem for all the time they were posting here.

But others here should know this: I now largely use Echo devices as front ends for all my music, wired to line in jacks on Connect Amps and Connects; as long as my Sonos units work from a line in analog signal, I am good till my Sonos hardware dies a natural death. I see no sense in consigning it to a landfill because of a flash memory card defect that has been exposed by Sonos software updates.

Ken_Griffiths

I recall when the S1/S2 split occurred that Sonos mentioned they would do their best to keep S1 secure with updates, but they (perhaps more importantly for some users) stated that they would also reflect the changes to the existing music services within the S1 App and try to keep those running for as long as possible, but that there would be no new features/services etc.

My thoughts are that not upgrading may not only risk network security matters, but also some music services may stop working if an update is not applied. I assume aswell that Sonos support would not be available for those running older software/firmware and after several updates are missed, there’s ‘sometimes’ no option to update a system without the help of Support Staff if a system has fallen too far out of date. 

So stopping receiving any updates may ‘for some users’ also quickly cause problems. My own preference is to continue receiving updates for my S1 system and to receive the Support that Sonos provides.

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