How long have you used Sonos and why did you start

Excellent thread; I started in 2011 on completion of my audiophile journey, with the streaming units Connect Amp/Connect and found that these were just as good/reliable as my audiophile kit as source/amps when connected to my high end amps and legacy passive speakers. And offered all the convenience that someone that was tired of tinkering wanted, so that music listening came to the foreground. I added some play 1 units and found that when the Sub was added, there was little justification for legacy kit other than being in possession of it.

The thing is that for home audio - minus TV, which I don’t track - till Sonos, there had been no real innovation since digital audio was invented. Sonos, to the extent of how it could stream locally and reliably from a local network device or from the net, with little wiring needed inside the home, was the next paradigm disrupting invention that is now close to two decades old, and nothing Sonos has done since has matched that for effect. The other paradigm busting was by the music streaming services - the Pandoras and now Spotify.

Everything has its time and place in the sun, and I moved on from Sonos when other devices offered more for less. But because Sonos kit is built so well, all of it remains in the home, with Echo devices having replaced it as the front end; my rooms/open areas now have combinations of Echo/Sonos/Legacy passive speakers, as suits the space. The play 1 units miss out on a line in to easily allow that, but since I have spare Connects, I can use the line in jacks on those, to play Echo units on my play 1 speakers. 

Other than Echo front ends, I haven’t bought any new audio kit since 2014, for a five zone set up, and except in case of hardware failures, see no need to do so.

It's great to hear how Sonos has reignited your passion for music, and it sounds like you've built an impressive setup! I've been using Sonos for about three years now. I started with a single Play:1 and was instantly impressed by the sound quality and convenience. Since then, I've expanded my collection to include a few more speakers and even a Move for outdoor music. Sonos has truly transformed the way I enjoy music throughout my home. 🎶🔊

Back in 2010 I purchased a Connect and a Play:5. I hooked them up to my Quad 33-303 and my Bowers and Wilkins DM7 loudspeakers, bought around 1977-1978. The perfect combination! Recently gave all of my S1 gear to my son, and it's still in use. I'm on S2 now but still using Sonos with my Quad's and B&W's. Together with a stable home network and fixed IP adresses I never have any problems. Keep it up, Sonos!

I had the brilliant 909 power amp for some years; the 303 is, I reckon, still serviced by Quad UK. Quad, while excellent, is also living proof of how there has been no true innovation in home audio where sound quality is concerned. You could today wire an Echo Dot to the 909, and with that wired to Quad stand mounted speakers, get very high quality sound with all modern source features. Make that an older Show 8 instead of a Dot and you get album art as well!

So long ago….happened because we had to take the bathroom floor up for some work, that meant we could put speakers in the kitchen ceiling….so I bought the ZP80 connected to my amp at the time used the CR100 controller, also got an amp ZP100...think I still have the box it all came in. Kitted out a few rooms and never looked back. Best money spent (apart from when they started to kill off the old gear). 

Thanks all for your replies. So interesting to find out about different folks set ups and histories. 

I love my Sonos set up even though it's cost a lot and expanded rather quickly! I even treated my One SL surrounds to some new stands today. They were on the Sanus extending ones which now compared to my lovely Era 300 ones, looked quite ugly. So I got the Sanus fixed height ones and I'm so happy with them. Couldn't stretch to the Sonos ones but I'm very pleased with how much better the fixed Sanus ones look. 

😊

Started with one room , sub , Beam, One SL’S. Then changed to the Arc. Then added to every room over the last 4 years. I’ve been happy for the most part. However, with all the updates of Sonos changing the sound last couple of years constantly, I won’t buy another Sonos product…or recommend them. 

I would be very surprised if this affected anyone that was using Sonos as just an audio system, and not for TV sound, and therefore without any “for TV” products from Sonos.

Not trying to affect anyone…just wouldn’t recommend it anymore..or buy any more. OP asked a question and I replied with my thoughts. If you haven’t noticed, most posts in this SONOS community are complaints or problems people have with Sonos. 

If you see an earlier post, you will see that I too have moved on from Sonos and do not recommend it anymore for different reasons - because for home audio, the same outcomes are now available for a lot less, from Echo devices wired to appropriate kit. And some features like album art displays are not available on Sonos.

However: I merely pointed out that the sound profile changes you refer to did not appear, as far as I recall, in units like the play 1/One/Five. Since audio speakers are bought for how they sound, any such subsequent change could be very annoying. And like hospitals are full of only sick people, much the same is seen in the posts here, from people with problems; the many more that have none won’t bother to post.