The Sonos Brexit and pragmatic ways past it

Since my interest in exploring this was to see if one could count on unrecycled Sonos units set to autoplay on line in doing so after a sonos apocalypse, this in itself is not of interest now that I have been assured outside this thread that they will so play, as dumb speakers at the service of masters of different levels of intelligence wired to Line in jacks. And with two such masters that can group, two dumb Sonos units will play in perfect sync as well. 

But having seen my units boot and play from line in at times they were the only Sonos units to be supplied power, with no wifi even because their radio was disabled, I would still be very interested in seeing if a recycled unit would do just this as well. 

I suppose I could test this via a factory reset of my Connect amp and see if it does this. 

@melvimbe : my definition of belly up also includes a world where Sonos is gone and Sonos servers offline. As a worst case scenario.

@johngolfuk : Oh yes, they would for sure be, seeing how one here got riled up at my merely suggesting this:-) Obviously there is no knowing how many would be. Except the ones that still had such units at hand.

That’s really where I’m coming from. I consider the pricing of the Port as lying somewhere towards the preposterous end of the spectrum. That’s not because I’m budget-constrained (I’m not, and can buy whatever I like within reason) but simply based on my perception of value (bang for the buck).

I will pay up for quality but the price must represent “value” to me so I have no truck with items whose pricing I perceive as taking the p!55. Pricing that’s circa an order of magnitude > than low-cost streaming devices from Amazon & Google, and even over twice that of something like an Apple TV 4K, certainly falls into that bracket.

As stated, a recycled unit will not do this.  The line-in is not active on a recycled unit, and even if it were, there would be no way to configure the unit back to Autoplay after the recycle process factory resets the unit. 

I really don’t know where your “very interested” comment comes from after being informed of these facts, but those are the facts.

This now raises in my mind another question about a world without Sonos in it. Suppose that before Sonos went, two line in equipped units, legacy and modern, in a split system, were set to Autoplay on a all units group in its system. Suppose that each unit had a Echo/similar devices wired to it and after being set up in a multi room group, the Echos were ordered to play music. Would music in perfect sync then play from all Sonos units in the two systems? I can’t see why not. 

And then to control which Sonos unit does not do this if any zone is desired to be silent, all it would take is not supplying power to that zone, if Sonos controller apps were also kaput.

PS:just realised that the controller app would have to work, Sonos groups do not survive loss of power.

Progress (not) update:

Received Echo Dot today to trial.  Checked out wiring/other AUX inputs with other non-Echo devices and function appears to be fine.

Pretty much same result as reported earlier with Echo Input device. Other devices typically need 30-40% scale volume setting on A/V receiver for comfortable listening volume. Both Echo Dot and Echo Input require 70-80% to achieve comparable listening level with Alexa App volume set to 90%. For me it works, but not well….  It makes me worry as I speculate pushing A/V receiver too hard (maybe it’s not working harder since input signal is low, but don’t know enough about how these work).

This is really a deficit/fail for me since I have multiple A/V or speaker amps in the house, and it practically limits adoption of Echo "ecosystem".

The current ZP-90 is connected to A/V system via optical-in, and using that to A/V receiver is perfectly fine without having to set volume way higher on A/V receiver.

Maybe a receiver firmware update would fix it since that is long overdue.  Will try that, and explore input options other than AUX, receiver mfg advice/settings. Tale of woe is tiresome pull of HEAVY A/V cabinet away from wall, crawling around, testing, pushing cabinet back.

Anybody have a point of view about whether this could be fixed with Echo device firmware update?

BTW off topic, Dot price decreased $20 ($50 earlier) during Superbowl, overnight from previous day purchase.  Request to Amazon to credit price difference met with separate refusal from four different representatives during my effort to escalate, obviously trying to wear me out (or pad incentive driven representative compensation?) Unfortunate if not pathetic Amazon “resistance is futile” cannot/will not handle gesture of good faith. End rant.

@train_nerd : Seeing that I am not alone in seeing Dots working fine with Line IN, there are some obvious and simple things to test. 

Take a phone and a Dot and set output levels of both to max. Feed both turn by turn to the same Anthem analogue input jack, Anthem set to usual listening levels. What is the outcome?

Take a external BT speaker with volume controls and input jack - any one will do for this test - and repeat the experiment as with Anthem. What is the outcome?

For all four runs, use the same cable.The principle is there should be only one variable at every comparison.

So, the source to the Dot/zp90 also has to be identical.

PS: the phone may be a bad example - if it is feeding amplified signals suitable for a headphone, this may not be apples to apples with Dot.

What other line level output devices do you have besides the Dot - the zp90? In place of phone in example above, use that.

Thanks.  Sony CD player vintage 2005 analog out to same analog AUX input on Anthem MRX710 sounds fine at  volume settings/listen levels atypical of Echo devices.  Maybe there is something happening in receiver I don’t understand, but replacing it is currently not sanctioned and it serves as command central for many other peripheral devices (14 A/V different input options programmed…..)

FWIW, purchased Fosi Audio:

TDA7498E 2 Channel Stereo Audio Amplifier Receiver Mini Hi-Fi Class D Integrated Amp for Home Speakers 160W x 2 + 24V Power Supply.

Plan to swap it out for Connect AMP and connect to Echo Input and see what happens.  Will report results on completion of trial.  I was thinking the above amp waaay less expensive (sweat equity/cost/both) than new Connect, and turns out $75 amp (yep, no digital-in) is agnostic input. Grouping via Echo ecosystem to be tested too. They do make an Echo AMP….

Intriguing points of view on viability of Line-In on legacy Sonos devices.  Not willing to put mine in (unrecoverable) recycle mode to try it, thinking similarly to those who’ve observed Sonos controller and/or firmware still necessary to make it work. Experience welcomed.

There seems to be absolutely no need to change the Anthem - the signal voltages from any streaming source and the Echo Dot out with both volumes set to max will be in same ball park. You won't get the exact same sound levels because the voltages won't be the exact same needed for that, but they should be in each other’s vicinity, needing minor tweaks on the Anthem volume.

BUT, if you are comparing the CD player v Dot, there is the difference between the CD as a source and streaming service standard signal levels that may be contributing to what you are finding - the streaming service also vary in this aspect from one to the next, some sound louder than others at the same volume level setting on your equipment.

An apples to apples comparison necessary to see if the Dot is the culprit will need the comparison unit to be the zp90, playing the same track from the same streaming service to the same socket on the Anthem via the same wire, at the same volume setting on the Anthem, to assess differences in sound levels obtained from the two devices.. Single variable means this.

Note also that if the Anthem volume control has to be turned up compared to where it is able to be for the Sony, even significantly, to compensate for lower voltage at its input jack it does not matter in any way to the Anthem - unless you hear distortion in the music.