Amazon Alexa amplifier, receiver, subwoofer

I think the Microwave is the biggest threat because there is no "Sonos enabled" microwave to compete with the Amazon offering. It wouldn't surprise me if Sonos stock takes a hit as a result of the Alexa Microwave announcement.

As far as the speakers go, a lot is going to depend on the quality of the products. I would bet that they aim below the quality of Sonos to sort of catch a market they see as under served.

I had kind of hoped that they wouldn't go any deeper into the speaker market, instead letting various partners, like Sonos and others cover the market. It's not that I don't think competition is good, it's that I really think the customers suffer if Amazon tries to get enough marketshare so that it can revoke access to Alexa to third parties.

Overall, I'm becoming disenchanted with Google/Amazon/Apple being the only real players in the voice assistant market. I'd really like to see Microsoft and Samsung get their respective assistants moving, or a dark horse enter the market.

As far as the speakers go, a lot is going to depend on the quality of the products. I would bet that they aim below the quality of Sonos to sort of catch a market they see as under served.

I had kind of hoped that they wouldn't go any deeper into the speaker market, instead letting various partners, like Sonos and others cover the market. It's not that I don't think competition is good, it's that I really think the customers suffer if Amazon tries to get enough marketshare so that it can revoke access to Alexa to third parties.

Overall, I'm becoming disenchanted with Google/Amazon/Apple being the only real players in the voice assistant market. I'd really like to see Microsoft and Samsung get their respective assistants moving, or a dark horse enter the market.

The problem with the whole "partner" route is that it isn't working out to get customers what they really want. Folks want all of the features of a an Echo with the sound quality of a Sonos system... not the limited subset of features that comes with "Alexa Enabled" devices. The legacy whole house audio manufacturers are doing a pretty good job of accomplishing this with clever integrations of a Dot in each room plus wired speakers and amps but at the cost of simplicity. If Amazon and Google are going to limit the functionality of what their integration partners can do with their platform then maybe some higher fidelity Echos and Google Homes are the best way forward to get the features folks are asking for. I think many people are tired of betas that last 10 months and more, as well as the constant speculation and finger pointing as to who is responsible for blocking their system from working the way they really want it to. It would be interesting to see if a "High End" Echo could really compete with Sonos or not.

I find that with the Dot, and now the Spot, wired to the line in on my Connect Amps, I get a cheap and easily replaced smart front end for a quality legacy system that addresses the SQ issues very well. And the Dot/Spot are surprisingly stable without anything like IP address reservations or a Sonosnet equivalent. If I were to change my aging router to a mesh set up, stability should only get better. And obviously, I am using the Connect Amp only because it is there - any other 2 channel amp would serve just as well. In this approach, there is no need for a high end Echo; indeed it is better to get the cheaper front ends because they can then be replaced without a qualm even every couple of years. Wiring these to an amp/active speakers is not as inconvenient as it is sometimes made out to be.

The universe of people who get told - Sonos isn't for you - is expanding rapidly because they now have perfectly good, and often better/cheaper options.

I had kind of hoped that they wouldn't go any deeper into the speaker market, instead letting various partners, like Sonos and others cover the market.
I suspect the big three and other big players will make nice with partners like Sonos only as long as it takes them to build their portfolio of hardware, while also allowing another outlet for the assistant to seed more markets. The assistant version that is released to partners may then be always the older version or be crippled in some way - like the engine suppliers in Formula 1 racing do. My concern would be if they stop offering line out jacks on their front ends, to prevent the simple addition of better quality audio kit so as to force the sale of their own "high end Echos".

I find that with the Dot, and now the Spot, wired to the line in on my Connect Amps, I get a cheap and easily replaced smart front end for a quality legacy system that addresses the SQ issues very well. And the Dot/Spot are surprisingly stable without anything like IP address reservations or a Sonosnet equivalent. If I were to change my aging router to a mesh set up, stability should only get better. And obviously, I am using the Connect Amp only because it is there - any other 2 channel amp would serve just as well. In this approach, there is no need for a high end Echo; indeed it is better to get the cheaper front ends because they can then be replaced without a qualm even every couple of years. Wiring these to an amp/active speakers is not as inconvenient as it is sometimes made out to be.

The universe of people who get told - Sonos isn't for you - is expanding rapidly because they now have perfectly good, and often better/cheaper options.

I am doing the same with half a dozen of my Connect Amps. The problem with using Sonos amps this way is that the line-in feature does not automatically switch back to whatever was playing via Sonos after the line-in signal stops. You have to go into the Sonos app and fiddle with things just to get the amp to resume playing what it was playing before you asked Alexa the weather or responded to an Alexa call. To resolve this I am in the process of replacing the Connect Amps with dual input signal sensing amps. These power on automatically when a signal is sensed at either source and off again when there is no signal for several minutes. The two sources can be an Echo Dot on the priority channel and a Sonos Connect (or Google or AirPlay or whatever) on the other input. In practice this gives you a hi-fi version of an Echo with all Alexa features including calling, changing the wake word, lyrics display, etc. while still providing access to Sonos or whatever additional product you like. You can even have the Sonos Connect playing as part of a group of Sonos players and if you ask Alexa a question or take a call it will switch instantly to the Dot while the other rooms continue playing unaffected (no whole house ducking) and then switch back to the Sonos music as soon as you are finished with the Dot. The amps run between 20% to 40% of the cost of a Connect Amp and this solution gives the best user experience I have found so far.

The universe of people who get told - Sonos isn't for you - is expanding rapidly because they now have perfectly good, and often better/cheaper options.

Not true at all. The latest Sonos products have actually expanded the demographics that Sonos reaches, not shrunk it. The Sonos One fit a target market who wanted better than echo quality sound in all in one device. It is also is the cheapest speaker that is airplay 2 compliant. The Beam was targeting a market that Sonos hadn't really hit before. The Sonos:amp is a good replacement/upgrade to the Connect:amp and should increase the market share in the professional install space.

You are correct in that there are cheaper options than Sonos, but there always have been. If you're referring to the CR100 and the dock going away, they haven't been sold for years, and there really aren't alternative products that other vendors are selling that do the same thing.

I am doing the same with half a dozen of my Connect Amps. The problem with using Sonos amps this way is that the line-in feature does not automatically switch back to whatever was playing via Sonos after the line-in signal stops. You have to go into the Sonos app and fiddle with things just to get the amp to resume playing what it was playing before you asked Alexa the weather or responded to an Alexa call. To resolve this I am in the process of replacing the Connect Amps with dual input signal sensing amps. These power on automatically when a signal is sensed at either source and off again when there is no signal for several minutes. The two sources can be an Echo Dot on the priority channel and a Sonos Connect (or Google or AirPlay or whatever) on the other input. In practice this gives you a hi-fi version of an Echo with all Alexa features including calling, changing the wake word, lyrics display, etc. while still providing access to Sonos or whatever additional product you like. You can even have the Sonos Connect playing as part of a group of Sonos players and if you ask Alexa a question or take a call it will switch instantly to the Dot while the other rooms continue playing unaffected (no whole house ducking) and then switch back to the Sonos music as soon as you are finished with the Dot. The amps run between 20% to 40% of the cost of a Connect Amp and this solution gives the best user experience I have found so far.

There are a few issues with this plan though. First the switch over is not instantaneous. You'll find that part of Alexa's response is likely to be unheard as your amp is decided to switch over.

Second, since your echo dot isn't 'feeding' your Sonos devices in anyway, you won't be able to make a music request in hear it over the Sonos system. You could utilize the Sonos skill, but you would need to remember to target all your requests.

Third, you're going to have issues with volume control. I have a similar setup (my inputs are a TV and a Connnect) and getting the volume correct is a pain. I don't want to set the Connect to fixed volume as I want to control by phone. When using TV audio, I need to be in IR range of the amp in order to control the volume.

And yes, you probably can get an amp cheaper then a Connect:Amp, but when you factor in the cost of a Connect + 3rd party amp, you're going to be paying more.

These may not be problems for you, and people have different scenarios and different priorities though.

I probably did not say that bit right. What I meant was that for someone that needs what Sonos can provide, but prefers to not buy Sonos, there are now many more options than what there were 5 years ago. The Sonos market reach may be increasing, but they have lost a lot more market than that to Amazon and Google. Indeed, Echo was the first product in Sonos' history to put the frights into them.

At the same time, prices for alternatives that can match Sonos sound quality AND ease of use are dropping; which is slightly different from " there have always been cheaper options than Sonos." I can get a 5 pair experience of ease of use and sound quality for half their price via a Dot connected to a pair of active speakers like JBL LSRs.

And yes, you probably can get an amp cheaper then a Connect:Amp, but when you factor in the cost of a Connect + 3rd party amp, you're going to be paying more.

Why would one even need the Connect? I would just wire the Dot to the third party amp/active speaker. And even where the Dot is connected to my Connect Amp, the sound drops when I speak to the Dot, and I don't have to use targeted commands either. The only downside of this route is access to NAS based music; the set up works well with streamed music from Amazon/others.