Yes, investing further in Sonos seems like a very risky bussiness.

Since this is rather expensive hardware I’m very sceptical.

I am not a real tech savvy guy. I can make my way around most tech devices, but I’m not nearly as sophisticated as a lot of people I see posting on tech sites. I bought Sonos because it allowed me to stream my iTunes music library in a fairly simple manner. I don’t subscribe to any music streaming services. I don’t use Spotify or any of those type of services. I just wanted a simple system to be able to play the music I had in my iTunes library. Sonos was perfect. With the Sonos Connect I could play all my music through my stereo system. Perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. I then also purchased a couple of Sonos Play 5’s to give me a couple of extra speakers that I could move around the house. Worked great. And now of course this is all being rendered useless and I will no longer be able to use any of these.

Since I received the e-mail from Sonos telling me that I am being abandoned, I started looking for alternatives. Because not only am I not going to upgrade my Sonos products for a 30% discount, I will never, ever again purchase any Sonos products. Simply not going to happen. So I’ve been looking for something else to use. And guess what, I think I’ve found it. For my purposes, I think I’ll be able to use Apple Airplay 2. I didn’t know anything about it until this evening. I just realized that my stereo amp supports it, and so through my iPhone or iPad I can play all the music in my iTunes library. No more need for Sonos Connect to play my iTunes library through my stereo system. Apple has me covered.

I’ll probably also invest in a couple of quality BlueTooth speakers to give me some portability.

For me at least, this looks like it is going to be a good solution.

And to be honest, I haven’t been happy with Sonos for a while now. When I first purchased my Sonos products I kept getting the updates and I was a pretty loyal user. Then a while ago Sonos told me I needed to register online in order to get any further updates. I really didn’t want to give Sonos my information, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to use the system, so I finally broke down and registered with them. But I wasn’t happy about it. Again, I just wanted a simple system so I could play my music library. Fast forward to Mac announcing an upgrade to their operating system and guess what, if you make the upgrade it renders Sonos useless. I haven’t made the upgrade yet because of this. When I called Sonos Tech Support, they just tell me that they are working on it. So I can’t upgrade my computer because Sonos isn’t compatible with the upgrade. And because I can’t upgrade my computer, I can’t sync my iPhone or my iPad to my computer.  I also realized that Sonos isn’t playing any of my .m4a music. Again I called Sonos and again I’m told they are working on it. And now I’m told that most if not all of my Sonos components will very soon no longer be supported. So I really am done with Sonos.

I’m pretty sure that Airplay 2 will fill the need for what I’m looking for, but if after using it for a while I find it is somehow lacking, I’ll look for something else. But Sonos has lost me as a customer. I’m done.

And with all due respect to any future customers, this really is buyer beware. Because if Sonos does something like this once, there is every reason to suspect they could do it again.

And for anyone considering replacing their current Sonos system for 30% off a new system, why would you? How long will it be before the same thing happens again? Do you really want to throw good money after bad. There comes a time where you just need to walk away. Let’s face it, Sonos has tried to pull one over on us here. It’s up to all of us as to whether or not we will allow them to profit from this. I for one will not.

Goodbye Sonos. And to all of you trapped in this mess, I really and truly hope you can find an alternative that will work for you.

Will i not be able to group my Connect amp 

with my play 3 play 1 after may2020

My kneejerk reaction is also to abondon the sonos ecosystem, but I can see the company dilemma.

I imagine that many of us bought sonos equipmemt viewing it primarily as a clever wireless hardware solution and view the software evolution as simply a bonus. Those people are likely to feel really let down by this news as it seems that eventually devices will be bricked.

But others probably see the software aspect as the main selling point and as with other technological solutions once the hardware cannot support the software it must be time to move on.

The first camp and likely to be enthusiasts and early adoptors. They are probably more committed to the ecosystem than the second camp and will have built up more equipmemt over time. This decision will dessimate trust with this customer base and many will be angry enough to immediately look elsewhere. But sonos will know that they are now household name and this customer base may not be needed anymore for the success of the company to continue.

Sonos is basically hanging its loyal fanbase out to dry to priorise newer, mainstream, fickle customers. However this is a dangerous strategy imo. The loyalty of the customers is what has built this business and they should be very careful to consider the next move.

With just a 30% discount being offered they will still be making a large amount of profit on people trading in, which should not be the case. Perhaps the company should be breaking even on these transactions or even taking a small loss. If 60% could be offered Im sure that customers would stick by sonos but as things stand I doubt they will. 

Worth noting that with shopping around you can usually find some reductions so essentially a 30% reduction to replace sonos gear directly with sonos is in reality offering more like 10% when compared to prices available elsewhere.

I for one will be flogging my play 3s soon. I wouldn't rule out one or two more play ones but no way i would get too wedded to the ecosystrm after this news. Sonos should think long and hard how this will impact people who have spent thousands on sonos gear and whether those people will ever buy sonos kit again.

Dip your hand in your pocket sonos to keep the foundations of the business alive!

Sonos has shagged me a few times. 

CR100 pulled, ring fenced the system for a while but had to buy 3 iPads to replace the remotes. 

Now, because they were solely for Sonos use I went with Apples run out model that was on offer, problem with that was that a couple of years later Sonos said they were not supporting older IOS devices with their app because they were only developing for IOS8 or whatever the new IOS was and my iPads could not be updated. They said that the new Sonos software could not be controlled with the old ios build. 

That left me with £1200 worth of Sonos remotes I could no longer use. 

(Having said that, it was a lie, as a third party wrote a sonos control app within days, so it was really a case of “we can’t be arsed.”) 

At that point I started to slim down my Sonos system, got rid of the amps, most of the connects and just left 3 pieces in the system. 

They are all now not going to get updates. 

There is a point where you think “You really are just taking the piss out of me now, so I’m out!”

Bitterly disappointed by this announcement. TBH the Sonos system isn't that reliable IMHO and this just ensures that I won't continue down the Sonos path. 

Note the timing. They likely developed this plan before Christmas but waited until after the holiday buying season. Guess they didn’t want to loose sales to the unsuspecting customer. At this rate it doesn’t mater about updates as they probably will not be in business to provide them in 5 years.

Why pay premium prices and get cheap ass support?   5 years lifespan for such expensive products isn’t acceptable in my book.  Since I only use my system for streaming I’m pretty sure this means my connect will become useless eventually. In fact with this announcement all Sonos products can now list planned obsolescence as a feature.

To quote Milania Trump: ‘I don’t care!’

Here’s my system running a Sonos Beam (other 2 Play 1s are disconnected) - 

There are alternatives to just scrapping or flogging your devices ….

This is rubbish… Have you ANY idea what people have invested in your equipment? and you choose to abandon them simply because you MAY want to introduce new features in the future? We do not all want NEW features we are happy with our set ups thank you. Please confirm to the community that existing functionality will NOT BE WITHDRAWN? It is illegal in the UK to sell something that subsequently is non functional, and yet your “legacy products” remain on the High Street…

This reminds me of when you sold a remote SONOS Controller then abandoned it for an APP on devices I didn't then have and it turned into a bloody CLOCK. And you seriously expect users to trust you and buy more of your overpriced kit? look at the market you're no longer leaders….

After receiving this email I am currently checking out Bluesound and am seriously impressed.

https://www.bluesound.com/all-products/

Trite by comparison to the entirely understandable anger being expressed but I was recently in a session that asked what brands we personally associate with. Sounds childish but folks get paid huge money to analyse that sort of stuff and it absolutely affects how we spend our hard earned.

Mine was something like:

• Intercontinental Hotels
• Emirates
• British Airways
• Polestar  
• Boss Black
• Sonos
• Tumi

Yeah a sickening list in one sense but it is pretty much true good or bad as that may be and I’ve spent a fortune with each of them except Polestar, but guess which one isn’t on the follow up list?

Again, technical arguments aside, Sonos is (or has been) an aspirational product for many of us. A ‘go to’ … it worked, it made you feel good and it was good.

    Hands up anyone left feeling good today? 

    Hands up anyone not affected but now fearing the future?

I get the need for change but a clear road-map should be published TODAY by Sonos on impact. I.e:

    If I want to stay ‘as is’ and just enjoy music, what do I do?

    If I want to benefit from new whistles and bells, what do I do?

    If I want to separate ‘usable old for the landfill’ products from ’shiny ok for now new ones’       how do I do that?

This would lessen the impact on those of us not inclined to actually really think about law suits or contacted the BBC or Sky. Those of us who just want to ‘feel good’ about our purchases and brands.

Ryan S did in fairness try to address some of that message earlier as best he could but with respect we (the high spending customer looking to feel good about product and brand) should expect a much clearer message.

Unless I was unclear ….

   I do not feel good about Sonos.

   It is a tarnished brand.

   I lost thousands of pounds overnight.

   I am no longer a Sonos evangelist encouraging others to buy 

   I am unlikely to spend more pounds …. unless I get a clear road-map similar to the above

I sincerely hope there there were a lot of mobile and conference calls and sms’s amongst Sonos senior management last night.

I also hope there is a large stressed meeting room full of Sonos ‘decision makers’ this morning considering how to repair this tsunami of bad news.

44 pages of high earning, high spending, wounded but rational Sonos owners are unlikely be wrong.

I hope someone prints this off and takes into said meeting and that someone sighs deep, and says…

….. OK LETS FIX THIS!

After receiving this email I am currently checking out Bluesound and am seriously impressed.

Like others, I too have received the email regarding obsolete products. Effectively this has meant that 5 zones in my house will be obsolete!! This is ridiculous. I bought these in a stepwise fashion (about 1 or 2 zones a year) and now suddenly I have to buy them altogether…. THESE ARE NOT CHEAP!! 

2 suggestions…. I think expecting a 8 or 9 year life in these products is simply not good enough esp for the price… I worry about my other zones too (I have 3 other “modern” zones) and will need to be upgrade din the next few years! 

ALSO, 30% discount is simply not good enough esp when 4 or 5 zones need to be replaced. 

Am seriously considering whether I should move to a BOSE… not aware if they have had similar issues. 

Have to confess me too … someone pasted a gif or jpeg many pages back. Had never heard of it. But now I do ….. and I got approx £3000 worth of Sonos to replace then why not?

I think the Sonos approach to updating their products/software is wrong on all levels.

It is plain consumer blackmai - “Update your legacy products OR your whole system will stay unsupported with updates” 

I have 2 Play5 Gen1, 2 x One, 1 x Sub, 2 x Play 3  - 7 speakers and if I don’t update 2 “legacy” speakers the remaining 7 current speakers will not be supported or updated.

The way I see it, if I trade up, it will cost me US$1,700 for 2 Play5 Gen 2 - The $1000 I paid for the Gen1 (soon to be “bricked” by Sonos!) and the $700 to upgrade which is nothing more than ransom money so my other US1,200 worth of speakers are supported!

Shafting the consumer must be a requirement for Sonos to have their speakers sold by Apple who are the original Masters of consumer exploitation.

Am I looking at this wrongly??

Sonos - on the face of it, this is outrageous!

I was an early adopter of Sonos and have invested several thousand pounds over the years. I have also recommended it to many friends. 

I’m not so concerned about the Play 5, as the Move was a significant step forward in terms of functionality/portability and I could persuade myself that the 30% trade up was just about OK. Also the replacement of the Bridge with the more powerful Boost was fine, as it gave a better range at a “reasonable” price.

However, to be told that over half of my Sonos set-up, three Connect: Amps and a Connect (ZP90), will have to be disconnected from my system if I want my newer product to continue to receive software updates is a real kick in the teeth. The offer of a 30% trade up on these products is totally unacceptable as it would leave still leave me with a bill of over £1500 to acquire the equivalent products.

Please rethink this, both in terms of the trade-up policy and in terms of how what you are now terming “legacy” components will be handled in future.

Unfortunately I’m left feeling disappointed and somewhat cheated by a company of which I was a great fan.

Like others, I too have received the email regarding obsolete products. Effectively this has meant that 4 zones in my house will be obsolete in 1 stroke!! This is ridiculous. I bought these in a stepwise fashion (about 1 or 2 zones a year) and now suddenly I have to buy them altogether…. THESE ARE NOT CHEAP!! 

You really are penalising your early ardent supporters.. maybe you are too big and don’t need us any more! 

2 suggestions…. I think expecting a 8 or 9 year life in these products is simply not good enough esp for the price… I worry about my other zones too (I have 3 other “modern” zones) and will need to be upgrade din the next few years! 

ALSO, 30% discount is simply not good enough esp when 4 or 5 zones need to be replaced. 

Am seriously considering whether I should move to a BOSE… not aware if they have had similar issues. 

No. It means that ALL of the devices will be frozen; if you have a Connect or Bridge at 10.7, then all of your other components will remain at 10.7. The non-legacy components WON’T be updated.

I’m not sure why you think Bluesound (or any other ‘closed’ vendor) is not likely to play the same trick as Sonos in the future.

I’m strongly opposed to the details of this Sonos action, but I don’t think jumping to another closed vendor (especially one with a much shorter history and smaller installed base) is likely to help in the medium term.

Exactly. 

I need to upgrade my ageing Home Theatre system soon… sub keeps failing and overall, speakers and not great. I was going to replace my connect in the living room with a Beam, Sub and surrounds but I’ll not be doing this because…

1. I don’t want to feel like I’m waiting for the “Legacy Bomb” to hit.
2. The company goes under due to the way they’ve handled this. Sonos equivalent of a Nokia or Ratner event.

They have now created that element of doubt about their products, service that leaves you looking elsewhere first. They will be a provider of last resort from now on. Fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives these days compared to when I first bought into their system around 2007.

Like a number of your customers I am hugely disappointed by this announcement. I have built up my system over a number of year, naively believing that Sonos would continue to support their expensive products. I have made a significant investment (£2000+) only to find that the bulk of it will become obsolete in May. Sonos, this is a shabby way to treat your loyal customers and I, for one will be selling the ‘current’ products that I own ASAP and moving to another provider. I am certainly not going to reinvest only to find that support will be discontinued in a few years time. I’m sure that many others will feel the same. 

This is the thing, I have Sonos in all rooms other than my office where I have a Node 2 attached to a Naim DAC and Supernait 2. The Node 2 has been perfect so far. I could just extend that player throughout the house… they’ll have Airplay 2 on them as well so I’m not dependent on the Bluesound app. I could just use Deezer app and connect direct.

A few months ago, Sonos unweighted it’s CRM.

Boring, blanket emails with offer after offer. I felt these were damaging a brand that I previously respected.

Then...yesterday’s news.

A blanket email that casually announced that half of my system will be obsolete in May and that I would have to cough up around £2k to replace those products.

There’s bad news. Then there’s the announcement of bad news.

Sonos...if you recently changed your marketing and PR team, then it’;s time to do so again.

They have damaged your brand. And it’s irreparable damage. 

I’ve a feeling that you may be experiencing your own obsolescence in the not-too-distant future unless you take some rapid action.

Why would anyone touch a Sonos product again? What a disaster. I doubt they will survive.