Looking for recommendations to replace Sonos with a system that actually works

Loudspeakers (even “wireless”/ multiroom) should provide us joy by playing music. Not making customers headaches and costing lifetime.

As experienced Program Manager & Software Engineer myself, I had to experience a lot of truly horrifying software releases during the last decades. I mean, really, really bad implementations like Windows Vista, Volkswagen Golf 8 Infotainment, introduction of 1&1 5G Mobile network in Germany etc., to name just a few …

But what you did, Sonos, is unequaled indeed. Making otherwise neat hardware - in our case assets under management in value of thousands and thousands of EUR - worthless with a single release of your not even proof of concept and far away from pre-alpha state pile of crap app, respectively forcing us to deal with it.

What I have to reproach myself for is having recommended you to family & friends back in the days we trusted you.

You leave us no other choice but to dump - I have to repeat - otherwise neat hardware in value of thousands and thousands of EUR in front of our HiFi dealer and ask for disposal.

Will replace with sth like Bluesound, Heos, B&W …

I am doing some research into the Nakamichi Dragon system and the brand new Sony Bravia theater quad ht-a9m2 system. Both are not total app dependent. I have been happy with the Sonos hardware but the controller app has left me less than enthusiastic. From last year’s subwoofer snafu update to this latest abomination update that is destroying any good customer relationships they have built. Hearing stories of customers with new speakers that are unable to even be recognized on the new app which makes them useless. Also the updates generally don’t go smoothly anyway. Yes it may be time to move on. What’s ironic is I was giving my son an older Sonos set up since I updated my system and was explaining to him what a great system it was and how easy it was to control it with the app. Talk about a punch to the gut. If Sonos ever gets this new app working right again I plan to give my son my newest system (arc,subs x 2, era100’s x 2) and start over with a new speaker system Nakamichi vs Sony.

Perhaps start with Roon software and then slowly adjust to the Roon Ready ecosystem. The sound quality will go up as well as you can actually stream in Hi-Res as opposed to the very limited and lame Hi-Res support from Sonos.

it’s very disappointing to see such a failure… as an early adopter and former beta tester I was a big fan of Sonos in the past, but they have really dropped the ball

Another pure-play worth investigating is Audirvana. It’s main use case is simple PC/Mac > DAC > Speakers and it delivers high quality with a great user experience. Audirvana casts to wireless speakers via Chromecast / UPnP / DLNA and has a beautiful (and free) remote app for iOS and Android.

Has anyone out there actually bit the bullet and migrated to a different system?  We have been Sonos users for many many years but now every morning my wife is frustrated and unable to get it to work smoothly and she wants me to ‘just get something that works!’  Any suggestions?  Many thanks!

@PLF 

currently using a WiiM mini plugged into my 5s and using the WiiM app to play 24/192 music myself 

also grouped my moves to play music in my garden all working well I am still on 16.1 but not used the Sonos ap to play music since getting the WiiM it’s an impressive gadget and get’s updates a lot ones that work!

oh and it’s got a 10 band graphic equaliser and since this morning a 10 band PEQ 😊

BLUE sound but need to figure out few things before going for it

With any app-controlled system you will be at risk of issues. If you truly want a minimal-risk system, revert to a “traditional” tuner, amplifier and speakers solution with cd player etc as needed. 

The tough part for me is getting the rear surround speakers wired. Maybe I just don’t need the rear surrounds and just a great set of front left and right and center with a subwoofer.

Why buy new hardware? Just use the desktop app with the hardware you already have, until Sonos get their act together.

I bought my Sonos system in 2008. I still have it, but of course it is misbehaving terribly. I do not want to upgrade because I do not want to give that much money to a company which is a far cry from what it used to be. I have been on hold for 45 minutes now, and soon it will be 7 PM on the East Coast, meaning I will get no help. I cannot use my Sonos at all. It is so screwed up that I have to just unplug the thing.

Part of the problem is that I had the audacity to get old. Therefore, I cannot deal with tech like a 30-year old can. I do not understand the online instructions anymore. Is there another multi-room company that makes a similar product and actually CARES about its customers? This company has really been a HUGE disappointment.

As the ZP80 was being developed (there was not yet an official Beta program with an NDA [Non Disclosure Agreement]) they sent one to me for comment. I emailed a comment and the next day the chief engineer called me and we had a discussion. At that time SONOS was lean and mean. As companies grow this sort of interaction is not possible. One must go through teams and committees while an issue is “escalated”. This can sometimes take weeks. Once an issue is escalated it will be pushed back down the chain (with an aside to the legal department) and assigned to someone for resolution. Failure to follow these procedures/rules will short circuit your career.

I know that legions of users have jumped into this Community to express their dissatisfaction. Last week, while I was out and about, I stumbled across a SONOS user and asked if he liked the new controller. He liked it! I accepted his observation and dropped the discussion at that point.

Smart decision! No use arguing about it… I held on for over an hour until it was closing time at Sonos. While on hold, I was looking at other options when I remembered that the house I’m buying is chock-full of decent “surround-sound” speakers. Need to asses if they are any good. But then I can’t figure out how to use a Sonos-substitute will all of those wired speakers. There must be a way! 
A few sites have narrowed down the choices to Bose, Audio Pro, & Denon Home 150. I have no idea if these are actually good choices; so many Internet sites hide behind choices to lead you to a particular store, fueled by ads. So I don’t know which one of those three would work with a ton of ceiling-speakers, probably wired. Maybe I have to go back in time to an amp!

Do any of them have user forums like this, so you can see what issues users are experiencing? 
 

I do recall a massive outcry a few years back when Bose released a brand new range of speakers using new technology that was not backward-compatible with their older speakers. 

Thanks, nik9669a. I didn’t know that! So I’ll look around to see if there are complaints about any of those choices… I notice some people are using Blue?

Yamaha is a good company to deal with.

I have the Yamaha CD player. Nice piece of equipment. I was using it with the Line-In function on Sonos until my Sonos became beyond repair, and I can’t sit on hold for two hours for help.

Checkout WiiM products they also have a forum which has great responses from actual staff

Hey, thanks. skullc. The last I experienced wii was in 2012 for pretend-exercise! This will be an adventure...

Not Wii WiiM 😊

So I have discovered! Entirely different company...

Requires an amplifier? Where does Chrome come into play? I don’t use Google… The house I’m moving to have a bunch of decent wired speakers in the ceiling. That seems to be a problem for any wireless set-up. I learned too late in life that Sonos doesn’t keep my playlists; Spotify does. I am having to look forward to remaking all of those playlists in Spotify so I can stream them. Many thousands of songs!

There’s a WiiM amp I currently have a WiiM mini plugged into my 5s and use WiiM app for my music mainly Qobuz some Amazon and it’s high res 24/192 when available 😊

should point out I have not updated my Sonos App or firmware so my stuff works but I have lost faith in Sonos as a firm so I am going to replace all my system at some point 

hopefully when they get their act together I will be able to sell them 👍

good luck with your search 😊