Sonos Sub Gen 3 crackling/static sound

I have an update on my case.

I spoke to a very helpful Scottish man @ Sonos, who took me through as much as he could in terms of diagnostics on my Sub Gen 3 issue (as stated above).

TLDR: he got as far as he could on the phone, and asked me to upload a video recording to their support link, which you can all see here: 

Within 24hrs they had agreed to replace the unit for me, and DHL had supplied a free returns label. All very slick customer service. However, at this price point, and with so many other people experiencing this issue on this thread + others, I can’t help but think this is a fundamental design flaw.

I’m a huge Sonos product fan, so comes as a big disappointment. Will update when I get my replacement unit.

Accidentally “best answered” the thread and can’t seem to undo that… 

@Dropper 

Thanks for the update, I myself am a big Sonos fan, too and I didn’t think that we are going to get all these issues with the new Sub and Arc when I placed the order. It’s a hassle to go back and forth with the support and arranging returns as well.

Having said that, I’m happy with the customer service I received so far, it’s nice to see that they acknowledge that this is abnormal and are looking into it. But I’m also considering returning the Arc and Sub until they can fix the problems properly. I’d hate to think that I just got the first bad batch and will have to live with that.

It seems like what you are experiencing is a bit different than mine but I’m just a bit disappointed with the quality, surely they have to QA the product before they are shipped to the customers?

I have recorded the video for the support as well, you can see that the sound is a different kind of static noise, faint but definitely there - https://photos.app.goo.gl/FHABPMUpG9WMkDiP9

Please do let us know when you get your replacement, I’m curious to see if that can solve your issue and whether it will have the static noise that I’m having.

@brolin

Man, that’s brutal, 12%, it’s definitely a trying time now!

I have the information copied here:

Sub: Living Room
Serial Number: 54-2A-**-**-**-**:*
Sonos OS: S2
Version: 12.0.1 (build 58178090)
Hardware Version: 1.32.1.4-1.2
Series ID: A200

**Moderator Note: Please censor personal information when posting.**

Same specs as you. Any chance you could share your case number with support? I have a call scheduled with them for later this week and would like to reference yours. I’m afraid they’re going to give me the runaround and try to replace it, etc. when you’ve already made actual progress into clarifying the issue. Just scheduled the call to provide more documented examples of this occurring for the team. 

@TapDatApp

Of course, my case number is Case #: 018*****

It’s great that you also arranged a call with them so that we can put this under their radar!

Moderator note: Censored for privacy reasons.

Just had my call with the Sonos folks regarding this. It sounds like they’ve done quite a bit of work on identifying the issue based on Andrew’s case and from what I was told, it sounds like they did identify a hardware issue that is causing this and confirmed the effect can vary based on WiFi traffic. 
 

We discussed how the solution is still up in the air and how like others have already experienced, a replacement unit currently wouldn’t solve the issue as this is affecting the product as a whole. Will they recall it? Will they push a silent production update to the next batch and then swap units out for customers on a case-by-case basis? None of this has been decided yet. But the issue has been recognized, investigated, and confirmed.

Now we wait...

@TapDatApp 

Thanks for the update! 

I’m glad that they are making progress with the hardware issue. It’s interesting to see that this is an issue with WiFi traffic, since the issue started the moment I plugged in the power cable. The WiFi router I’m using is the Google Nest WiFi with 1 satellite router and I don’t have any kind of issues with my other devices.

I did ask them what is the best thing for me to do as tomorrow will be the last day for me to return the Sub, they reassured me that they will eventually give me a SUB with perfect condition. I still definitely want to have the SUB in my setup so I guess I will keep it for the time being and wait for them to resolve the issue.

“Thank you for letting me know. Our Sonos hardware team is diligently working on investigating this issue; however, we have no estimated time on the fix.

As for a possible return, if you are still within Best Buy's return policy and would like to proceed in such way, you may do so; however, I will guarantee you that once the fix is in place, if it takes to send you a new one as replacement, we will be happy to do so to ensure that you have a perfectly working Sonos SUB. 

Having stated the above, let me know how you would like to move forward.”

I’m glad I found this conversation I’m also experiencing the exact same issue the noise for me is very faint but bugs me that it exists, will try calling support and at least log my issue hopefully this can be resolved at some point 

Update: contacted Sonos support and sent them a video of the noise, they decided to replace the unit, so will see what happens with the new unit.