How long have you used Sonos and why did you start

SarahN
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

Hi everyone. 

just thought it would be interesting to find out how long you have been using Sonos and what got you into the system. 
 

I will go first ☺️:

I’ve only had my system since Feb 2022 and it started with me upgrading my TV to an LG OLED.  I wanted a nice sound bar to improve the sound and settled on the Beam Gen 2. Quickly after I ended up with 2 One SLs as surrounds and then a Sub Gen 3 joined in the fun.  Since then, I’ve gone a bit mad and now own many speakers all around my house.  I’ve also always been passionate about music, more so than films so it made sense for me to ditch my very old 1980s hifi system and get a couple of Fives (this was actually the next Sonos step for me after the HT arrangement), to hook up to my turntable, which was much newer than my other hifi components.  Immediately the sound was greatly improved from my old tired separates. I quickly bought a nice new little CD player to hook up to the other Five.
 

What Sonos has done for me is get me back into listening to music again.  Both my physical stuff and streaming.  In fact, I’m now buying CDs and LPs again which is great fun, and I’m typing this while playing a new John Lennon CD box set on my Fives which now are attached to my original Sub. The Beam now has a Sub Mini as a friend ☺️.
 

This community has been so helpful to me as a Sonos newbie and I’ve felt proud to be able to now help others.

 

 

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆
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20 replies

melvimbe

I’m really not that great at remember exact years when this or that happened, so I can’t give anything exact.

I remember reading/hearing about Sonos around the time it offiicially launched. I was pirating from Napster and ripping all my CDs, and the problem of getting these mp3s to play on my home theatre setup was very evident.  I even tried a 20 ft long RCA cable, which did not work very well.  However, I could not justify the cost of the ZP player and CR100 at the time, so it was a pass.

Skip a head many years. The iphone is invented and Sonos has a controller app, significantly reducing the cost of owning a Sonos system.  I’m having a house built with some prewiring, and plan on using a Connect with a receiver for the home theatre setup.  Works pretty well, and I end up  getting a Connect:amp + speaker switch to do a “poor man’s” whole home audio setup.  . This serves me well for probably around 5 years.  I do not get any Sonos speakers because the idea of integrated amp + speaker (active) doesn’t seem like a good idea to me...and I already have a lot of speakers.

Skip ahead again and I am buying a house again, this one used.  The current owner is getting married and decides  they don’t need their Sonos  anymore (along with TV, fridge, washer, and dryer)  so I now get a playbar, 2 play:3s,  sub, a play:1, and a Bridge.  I change my mind about having active speakers.  I soon add a couple more play:1s and start getting active on the Sonos forums.  That was maybe a year or so before Sonos One was released, and I’ve developed the habit of buying speakers I don’t need, or replacing speakers that don’t need to be replaced ever since.

Danny
SarahN
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

The ‘buying speakers I don’t need’ resonates with me ☺️

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆
jgatie
  1.  Bought the ZP80/ZP100/CR-100 bundle.  Just seemed like cool tech.  Those are long gone now.
Kenv

Late 2009 to replace a rather flaky Squeezebox set up. I was 4 months away from early retirement and figured that once retired I might have trouble justifying the financial outlay to SWMBO.

I can’t remember exactly what I bought but it include two CR200s and various ZP80s and a ZP100. All long since sold on apart from the CR200s as they were a bit of a problem with screen problems. One is still sitting in a box full of redundant electrical kit in the garage.

Following a recent move to downsize the house, the line up is down to the following: Five, Play 5 gen 2, Amp, Sub gen 2, Beam gen 2, One SL, Port (not used and to be sold) and a Roam also possibly to go on the for sale list. Finally a Boost which following the house move was essential to get everything working properly.

Music is my main use. The TV sound is connected to the Amp. 

We are not great film watchers so surround sound is not worth the hassle of trying to get it all to work!

ratty
  1.  Bought the ZP80/ZP100/CR-100 bundle.  Just seemed like cool tech.  Those are long gone now.

That’ll be the BU150 bundle. Same here, but in 2007. The ZP80 to feed a pair of AVI ADM9 actives over optical. 

Late 2009 to replace a rather flaky Squeezebox set up.

Then more ZP80s, one to replace a flaky Squeezebox. 

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Early 2000’s - Wife hated my wonderful AV system with the five big speakers, sub and receiver that was far too complicated and covered in too fine print for her to use.

We saw Sonos and thought a ZP plugged into the AVR with a CR-100 to control it would be a perfect solution for us.

Added a Play 5 and another CR-100 for her to use in her office space. Then one for the kitchen.

Another ZP for my office space.

Couple Play 3s for the kitchen.

Traded-Up the ZPs and Play 5s for the original offer that bricked them.

Beam, Sub and Surrounds. Another Beam set.

Arc to replace one Beam that is just used for music now.

 

Only regrets, Trading-Up too soon, missing the better deal and the loss of our beloved CR-100s.

SarahN
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

I’m fascinated by the early days of Sonos. You guys who’ve been there from the start have seen so much innovation over the years!

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆
Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I forgot the only Sonos product I bought and didn’t like, the CR-200.

While it was quite a good device it was so small you had to carry it in one pocket and a magnifying glass in another if your eyes are as bad as mine.

Easier to carry the CR-100 that had bigger print.  :-)

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

I bought my Beam (gen 1) with a Sub (gen 2) two One’s as surrounds in November 2018. within a few weeks there was also a One for the kitchen to finally be able to group speakers and play the same music in the open plan kitchen and living room - after a failed Squeezebox set up in circa 2012. Did not go for Sonos then because of cost (including remote). The appearance of Airplay finally did it for me, though now I hardly use it.

The Sonos set up replaced my Marantz/Tannoy HT set up. While I did lose some in audio quality I got much better connectivity (that part was broken for some time on my Marantz and did not work well from the beginning).

Now my son owns an IKEA Symfonisk bookshelf, one of the original surrounds moved to the bathroom and was replaced with an SL, and a One appeared in my home office space.

buzz

In 2005 I was ignoring the whole digital home music scene because I didn’t want my computer fussing with music play. Plus, the options to play music in multiple rooms were grim. The ZP100 and CR100 were perfect. Music was stored on a NAS drive and my computer could crash or be powered down while the music continued. Adding rooms was painless. Early on I mostly used the PC SONOS controller, as is still  my custom now, but I will also use Alexa when my hands are not within mouse range. And, I’m not afraid to use a pad/phone controller if one is closer than the mouse.

K

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.

 

R

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. 🎶🔊

B
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

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!

K

 I hooked them up to my Quad 33-303

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!

A
Badge +1

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). 

 

SarahN
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

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. 

😊

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆
Dogdad
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

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. 

K

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.

Dogdad
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

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. 

K

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.

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