Is it worth staying with Sonos?

Name another 18 year old computer based electronic device which can closely interact with a modern day machine.  Because that’s what is at work here.  

Also, it’s been over three years, and you are just getting around to deciding now?  I’m not buying it. 

I’m just voicing my frustration here - you are correct that its 3 years later but I’ve made it work and I have a lot of speakers, its not something I can just walk away from.  But I am not buying any new ones.  And there is a difference in ensuring speakers can play music on newer systems - they are not compared to computer devices to me.  

Yes, you should buy a different brand, one with far shorter support times than Sonos.

You’ll get worse out of warranty support tossed in as a bonus.

It doesn’t matter if they are not computer devices to you, it matters if they are computer devices in reality, and they are.  Matter of fact, they are far more complicated than most computers.  Computers don’t have to remain in perfect sync, communicating with each other hundreds of time a second.

I suggest Bose.  They tend to discontinue whole lineups which are still being sold, replacing them with a new line completely incompatible with the old.  Sonos gets grief for splitting off items which are over a decade old in design, haven’t been sold in at least 5 years, and yet they still support them with bug fixes and security updates.

Which product are you referring to, and how do you expect it to not be compatible...with something.

 You will be able to find a wired system that will last longer than Sonos.  You will also be able to find a cheap wireless system (like Amazon echos) with less features, too cheap to care.  I think you’d be hard press to find a quality system like Sonos that is going to last longer.  For the ones that haven’t drop support for older units yet, just wait, they will.  

Hi @began 

I understand your concern. The fact that you are just recently giving your commitment to Sonos a serious thought regarding longevity doesn’t make you a minority of one. They call it “buyers remorse”. So don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. 😊

The average consumer dealing with electronics at this level with Sonos (or computers) typically doesn’t think 3 or 4 years out. They...like you...in the initial phase are enamored with the technology. Saying to themselves “Sonos is great and with no more wires I now have a clean, clutter free listening environment”. All that...not to mention bragging rights to their friends. 

I’ll...probably get some feed back on these next comments….The folks in this community are “Tech Nerds” (including myself). I say that with a great degree of respect. Not saying that they (we) wear glasses with tape on the frames and a white shirt with a pocket protector😊.  There are those whose name/avatar appear quite frequently and have a wealth of knowledge. However, they (we) can be a hard group and at times sarcastically dole out truth and sound advice. 

It was mentioned how Sonos supports their products for as long as possible and certainly longer than the majority of electronic companies. You yourself mentioned that you are running two systems...S1 and S2.

Think about this...Sonos had to move to a new platform (S2) with its new products because product advancements (to bring the best Sonos experience) required more memory that the older products don’t have. That spawned the renaming of the then platform to S1. Memory can’t be added. Most companies just walk away from products that can’t be integrated with newer ones leaving the customer with a product that will just gather dust and/or eventually cease working sooner than later.

I’ll grant you that some Sonos products are very expensive. I dare say charging $900 for an Arc soundbar is outrages. There’s some of that truth sarcastically presented I spoke of 😊.

However, I ask you...in your situation...how many companies would offer anything toward an upgrade yet alone 30%? Also, you get to keep a working speaker (Playbar) to use elsewhere in your home or sell to offset the price of the Arc!

FYI, I take the 30% upgrade and sell the still working product. Here’s my real life example...

• 30% upgrade credit for Playbar reduced Arc ($899) to $623.30
• Sold Playbar for $200.
• Final cost of Arc = $423.30 

I'll take that deal on any day!

So..here’s my advice...Step back and take stock of the Sonos equipment you own. Ask yourself this...given the enjoyment over the years with Sonos products do you really feel Sonos has changed and/or abandoned you?  What other company offers you the options that Sonos has made available.

In all honesty...eventually a Sonos product may cease to work due to age, product defect and/or its ability to operate under a new Sonos system...S3 maybe?

I know that someday I may have a problem with my Sonos...it’s Murphy’s Law. Until that day occurs I’m going to enjoy my Sonos and continue to invest in the best whole home wireless entertainment system on the planet!

I hope this relieves some of your stress and makes you feel better about your decision to invest in Sonos gear.  Now, I have to go hide from the community Tech Nerds 😂

I understand some of your emotion; I made my call three years ago and moved on to a different front end, but kept Sonos hardware as just that - hardware minus most of the smarts. And in that mode all of it still works, so one could say I moved on from Sonos without doing so. Of course it helped that all my Sonos kit was for audio alone, no TV, and that it had enough line in jacks that could take a different front end via a wire connection.

But what I don’t get about your situation is this: if you have successfully navigated a long time ago to what is called a split system - S1 and S2 controllers being the front ends of the two parts - why is that now a deal breaker after 3 years?

By the way, needing to split my system if I wanted to stay with Sonos fully was a very small part of why I moved on. I think if I wanted to, I could have physically arranged the two systems such that the fact that they need two controllers and would not work together as one, would not be a big issue on a day to day basis for listening to music anywhere in the home.