Why can't I just use you like any other speakers?

Dec...you mentioned "jdag , I was only comparing the connivence of the mobile aspect of the soulmate, which for its size and cost is very capable."

That's actually often the issue with people complaining about Sonos, and you are helping to make my point. People often compare devices or uses of those devices that are simply not comparable. Sure, the Soulmate is portable and a Sonos speaker is not. And that's fine as Sonos speakers are not built or sold to be portable.

Would I purchase a battery powered or outdoor Sonos speaker? Yeah, I probably would. But I don't diminish the other positives because they lack portability or battery operation. People often complain that it does not offer bluetooth, and again, by design. Whether you or others agree with that choice to not support bluetooth is subjective. Me, I couldn't care less.

I also believe that people that are the sole users of a system have a completely different perspective from those that have multiple users within the household. Sonos is absolutely brilliant in its ability to be controlled from any device. Some people might argue that there is no password protection, but as mentioned before, I like to focus on what the solution does as opposed to what it does not do.

If you step back for a moment and look at the responses on this thread, what you begin to realize is really sad is the deflection and grasping of imaginary criticisms. You seem to defend things that nobody is even asking of Sonos. I'm not accusing Sonos of not innovating. Oh, right, they stuck some accelerometers in their speakers so you can flip them over. And they added Trueplay, which every AV receiver has had for years.

But you know what, I'm NOT complaining that Sonos isn't doing anything earth shattering. I'm not asking Sonos to WOW my socks off with the next big thing. And that's what really sucks about this thread. None of you are willing to admit that Sonos is broken. It's broken in the sense that it doesn't create a good, basic music system. That's IT. Just the basics, that's ALL we're asking for : give me a half decent application that can sort a library the way Winamp could do back in 1999. Give me the ability to select a folder to be catalogued so I can listen to it, instead of having to search for little work-arounds to listen to a simple friggin' podcast.

Sonos has to realize that if they want a good user experience. Wait, I'm sorrry. Did I say good? I meant Sonos has to realize that if it wants to allow its users to have a basic user experience it has to either work twice as hard to maintain a half decent application that can sort files and provide some basic level of DSP manipulation or it has to consider letting other applications stream to it's hardware. And before anyone gets defensive : This does NOT mean open sourcing anything. It means giving application developers the ability to put a 'Send To Chromecast' like button.

...It's broken in the sense that it doesn't create a good, basic music system. That's IT...

Really?

@jdag (lmftfy) Really.

Millions of satisfied customers are laughing heartily at Astral and his friends. Simple matter of checking the thousands of reviews on Amazon and Best Buy. The very few 1 and 2 star reviews get voted as "unhelpful" big time, as they are usually from clueless idiots who thought they were buying bluetooth speakers, lol.

Remember Squeezebox, Astral? Did much of what you're asking, but required a user-provided server. Pain in the butt, so it failed miserably, as have the vast majority of Sonos "killers". They simply aren't as easy to use, or as comprehensive a solution as Sonos, so they fail.

You are obviously blissfully unaware that any DLNA-capable app can use Sonos devices as renderers. Ever tried BubbleUPnP? C5? Plenty of others, as well, though none as capable by any stretch as the Sonos app. There are also apps that use the native Sonos protocol, just search the app stores for Sonos, they pop right up.

Sonos also provides an API that any streaming provider can use to enable their service in Sonos. It's why Sonos supports 60+ services, while its competition, what's left of it, supports 3, 4, maybe 6 at the most. No competition at all, really, is it?

Oh, and show me another wireless, multiroom-capable speaker that can tune itself to the room, very easily...

@jdag (lmftfy) Really.

Please explain.

Are you agreeing with Astral's comment that "it doesn't create a good, basic music system"???

@jdag Really? Vs Really. specifically the Winamp 1999 comparison and the comments around workarounds to do basic things.

@jdag Really? Vs Really. specifically the Winamp 1999 comparison and the comments around workarounds to do basic things.

Sure, goes back to the statement that I, and many others have made, that Sonos is by no means perfect. Anyhow, this thread has gone in so many directions. I'll stop contributing to it by simply saying that I find my Sonos setup to be my most enjoyable tech purchase in many many years.

@jdag wish I could say the same. My family struggles with the many limitations.

The saving grace is that I am able to use them as Squeezebox zones because LMS has the ability to take control of Sonos.

Currently using Roon to play to my Sonos amps via Roon's Squeezebox implementation and a SB Touch.

I just got on board Sonos and I can say it's simple to setup and audio is great. My kids are all connected and they each have a SONOS Play :1 and enjoying every moment of it. Further invested in a Playbar and a SUB to replace my aging AVR, a Marantz with B&W speakers. It has rich sound but as mentioned in this thread numerous times it's not perfect but I can say one thing SONOS is not static as my old 5.1 system and I notice it constantly improves the software which is a plus point. Only setback is that if the Playbar can decode DTS will be huge step forward. Anyway as a new user I'm happy with the $$$ spent.