**Big WOW Factor** The Gold Standard with a Few Handcuffs

 This may not apply in your case, but I like Dolby Atmos with classical orchestral music.  At least in my setup you don’t hear the rear speakers.  What happens though is the room gets much larger.  Other genres can do Atmos well, but if the steering throws sounds into the surrounds where it’s obvious where it’s coming from then to me it’s not something I want to hear.

 I’m not aware of a site where the focus is on Spacial Audio reviews.  From my experience with classical orchestral in Spacial most of the time it is exactly as described in the first paragraph.

I'd love to find some of my old Quad organ music redone as Atmos. Some of them had multiple organs located in different areas of the cathedral and the sound coming from all directions, not just ambience from the rear was truly amazing.

https://www.discogs.com/release/8174828-E-Power-Biggs-Bach-A-Quadraphonic-Spectacular-The-Four-Antiphonal-Organs-Of-The-Cathedral-Of-Freibur?srsltid=AfmBOoryTxEt-t-4AnP9aa0EBlnrT1oSGAlz1nSy3QQCqvlKkDaZeqpf

https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDLX7368

This list gives me hope we may see more re-released in Atmos format, not remixed to add height or shuffle things around.

https://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadpall.htm

Stanley_4:

 I hope so as well.  I keep a close eye on what’s coming out in Atmos.  Seems as time moves on a higher percentage of new releases are in Atmos.  How they are mastered I have no idea.  I just listen to see if the music moves me.  A good example is the orchestral releases on DG with the BSO / Andris Nelsons.  Maybe not always the best interpretation of a piece, but the sound is mostly very powerful and the BSO is an awesome orchestra.  There are other very good releases from other labels as well.  

 I think Atmos will do better than SACD did.

As I see it you where not advised to “seek out 'inexpensive 3rd party apps' just to regain basic daily functionality”, just pointed towards them because you seem to dislike the OEM app so much. You are not forced to do anything, but given a choice.

The environments in which Sonos devices have to function are wildly different. While problems may look the same, they can also have very different causes. So if you see al lot of people do playing about hick ups in music, this does not have to mean Sonos does not do anything to solve this. Sonos might have solved one problem and another one arises - or it is not a Sonos problem at all, but something caused by the user’s environment.

Thanks for sharing those links Stanley. The idea of multiple organs in a cathedral being reproduced in Atmos sounds like exactly the kind of spherical experience I am looking for. I agree with you MoPac about the room feeling much larger with orchestral music. Even when you can't pinpoint the rear speakers, the sense of scale is what makes the system feel worth it. I'll definitely be looking for those DG releases to test out the Arc Ultra

I appreciate the perspective, but the choice to use a third party app only exists because the official experience is failing to meet basic needs for many users. While environments vary, a premium system at this price point should be robust enough to handle standard home networking without the hiccups that are so widely reported.

Please define ‘many’. I’m not familiar with ways to make that judgement, I don’t think I have access to data to tell me numbers of Sonos application users, or third party users. Would love additional insight to support your post. 

The OP although they allegedly like Sonos overall but feels there are things lacking either by design or oversight IMO is not going to alter their opinion. To keep looking for jinks so to speak in the OP’s opinion to debate or have them clarify weighs heavily as circumlocution to arrive at a foregone conclusion. We all have our own opinions about Sonos. Some converge at a nexus and others do not. I think this a thread of opinions that will continue on indefinitely with no high percentage of agreement. That’s it for me. Continue on if that’s your desire. Enjoy your Sonos 😊

Back in 2005 I was struggling with SONOS because the default network configuration could not support the type of local traffic that a mult-player system, such as SONOS, needs. After some reading and network adjustments, my SONOS has been fine. As I have updated my network over the years, the “new improved” network kit defaults needed to be adjusted too. For some reason many network hardware companies have not yet noticed that there are devices on the local network that need to chat with each other and the ancient defaults are no longer appropriate. I don’t need to mention names, but one networking company was having issues with SONOS and there was a lot of angry finger pointing with little progress. Finally the networking company made a few changes (along with some grumps) and their access points now work with SONOS. I notice that this company’s sales have since increased dramatically.

With respect to the user interface, to me it seems to follow many Apple conventions. (Sparse screens and lots of scrolling and drilling down.) I don’t know if this is the result of market research, common programmer education, or the hiring of Apple expats. In any case, I’d don’t enjoy this approach. SONOS publishes details that encourage 3rd parties to offer alternatives. The 3rd parties charge a little in order to support their effort.

I’m still not sure why you find using the bluetooth function or doing a library so difficult. You state there are “hurdles” and find that “It doesn't simply function as a standard open receiver for any music player on my phone”, but it is still unclear what your trouble with these features exactly is. Same goes for the OEM app.

“Even with Bluetooth hardware, you can’t easily just "cast" a song from your phone to the whole system. Adding a personal music library is a hurdle that isn't suitable for non-tech-savvy users.”

You just follow the steps Sonos sets out for you?

https://support.sonos.com/en/article/share-bluetooth-audio-with-your-sonos-system

https://support.sonos.com/en/article/add-your-music-library-to-sonos

I cannot believe other systems that can do the same things Sonos does are easier to work with.

I disagree with you that there’s a need to be “tech savvy” for Sonos - on the other hand: would it be so bad to gain some knowledge when you own a multiroom audio system that does not work with cables? You might learn something that might com in handy next time your laptop does not work properly.