What Was Your First Sonos Product? Share Your Experience!

You have provoked my memory 😀 I ‘upgraded’ my digital music system, consisting of a Turtle Beach Audiotron AT-100 using an ePodsOne as the controller with Sonos Bundle (2x ZP100 & CR100) when Sonos first became available in the UK in 2005, as the AT-100 and ePods were discontinued and became unsupported. The Audiotron and ePods were probably ahead of the market, and Sonos timed it just right? 

Some more Sonos nostalgia here:

2005 for me. (ZP100/CR100) The compelling points were that the system did not need to be connected to the Internet and my computer was not required to play music.

My first Sonos product was the Zoneplayer S5 with the Bridge. It was a Christmas gift from my wife, that I setup immediately and enjoyed for many years. I LOVED the sound from the S5 and the next year I purchased a Play 5 to accompany the S5. These were the only two speakers for a while because we lived in an apartment. But when we moved into our home, the addiction set in and I began to purchase more speakers.

I purchased a used Zp100 and ZP80 from someone in my new neighbourhood that I added to my growing system. This when I found out about network interference that could cause Sonos devices not to work properly. I got an IT job in a small company where I needed to learn Cisco command line, so I purchased a couple managed switches…. and the fun began! I crashed my new network a few times before I stumbled across a post by a Cisco network engineer who had a large Sonos system he wanted to have wired. He configured his network to work with Sonos, so I did the same thing.

My Sonos became extremely stable even through all the updates. My system grew from two speakers to 11 devices: Play 5s, Play 1s, ZP100, ZP80s, Playbar and Sub. 

Then two Christmases ago, I got the Arc and things changed. All along I was using the S1 app because I had many devices that were only compatible with S1. Now with the Arc, I had to upgrade.. Luckily, my Sub and Play 1 were able to be upgraded to the S2 app, So For a while, I was using both apps to control the speakers in my home. It didn't sit well with my wife who just wanted to open the app and select the room she was in and hear audio. She usually grouped rooms during the day, so I had to act fast. So I purchased some more used products from eBay: Amp, Five and Connect S15, to get me by until I could purchase more speakers to replace the ones i could not use with the S2 app.

When the new app was released, I was basically unscathed with the issues I see many users having. I never had speakers drop off my network and my local library was always there for me. So seeing all this I jumped in and tried to help others who were having issues. I knew most issues had to do with network configurations, but it seemed no one wanted to hear it: People wanted someone to blame and they slammed Sonos. We had a right to. Because the company released an unfinished product..

But I also believe many need to blame themselves because as it turns out, it is a network issue. But many don't want to admit that.

To prove a point, my Sonos addiction got the best of me and my wallet. I purchased a Play 5 Gen 2 and just connected it to WIFI. I still do not have an issue with that speaker. I then purchased a pair of Era 100s to add to the Arc as surrounds. Still no issues. I do have a couple Play 1s and a Connect S15 in my system, but still no issues with them either.

Sadly, I recently began to sell my old speakers and devices on eBay, but I still have two devices left: The Zoneplayer S5 and the ZP100. I just can't part with them right now.. maybe someday, but I am enjoying my whole home Sonos system!

My first product was a connect/zp80 in around 2010. I now have  grown my collection to 10 Sonos devices. 

The only true statement quoted is that Sonos released an unfinished product, which by their admission is still not finished 9 months later. 

Saying peoples problems with their systems are their own fault is such nonsense.

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.
 

I’m a relative newcomer to the Sonos fold. In 2017 I got a Playbase, soon followed by Ones for surround duty, a Play:5 for another room, a Sub to complete the 5.1 system, another One, and then… and then.. and then… And next will be…?

My first products were the ZP80 and ZP100 (Port and Amp equivalents), and I do not recall the exact year.  Probably around 2009.  I was having a house built, and since I always wanted to have architecture speakers, I figured now was the time.  I had the electrician do most of the wiring, and I put in the speakers myself.  The system was very much a hybrid, as the ZP80 feed a traditional receiver that handled the HT and the kitchen as an additional zone.   The ZP100 was tied to a speaker switch that  covered the master bedroom, master bath, and outdoor speakers.  At this time, the iOS was new (new to me anyway) so not needing to buy a CR100 or use my PC to control was a big plus.  The plan was to use a local library, but since Amazon had recently allowed users to load their local library to the cloud, that was my new plan.

I later added another amp for the gameroom, but nothing really changed for another 5 or 6 years.  I was fundamentally against the idea of powered speakers, so did not consider adding any of those.  Then I moved into a new house where the previous owner through in their playbar, sub, play: 3s, and a play:1 as part of the deal.  That sold me on how good the powered speakers were, as well as filled out most of the home without using a speaker switch, and it’s just grown from there.

My first experience with a Sonos product was the Playbar.  Borrowed it from Audio Consultants in Hinsdale Illinois.  Dropped in one of my playlists only to find a number of songs would not play.  A little research showed all those that would not play had an apostrophe in the track title.  Contacted service who informed me that the apostrophe was an illegal character and that I should replace that character with the character that looks like a reverse apostrophe.  Like I’m gonna’ go through 30,000 tracks to find which ones to do that to.  Needless to say the Playbar went back to Audio Consultants.  

Years later I decided to try Sonos again.  Some apostrophe characters still caused a track to not play, but other tracks with an apostrophe would play.  So it appeared there was an improvement.  To fix the few tracks that would not play I replaced the guilty apostrophe with the apostrophe on the keyboard.  Wooowy zooowy!  Now I can play I’ll be Home for Christmas.

Looked at Sonos around 2010, but the remote made the system very expensive. Went for Squeezebox instead, but these that never worked well. Made do with the network function on my Marantz. When that broke (in 2018) and Sonos got Airplay I went for the Beam, Sub and two One’s, soon followed by a One for the kitchen and a Connect (Gen 2) for my CD-player. Next up our son got a Symfonisk bookshelf, I bought a One SL that I swapped with one of the surrounds to use that in the bathroom. Last years additions where an Ace and an Arc Ultra. Beam went to our son and his Symfonisk to our bedroom. Trying to enjoy my speakers and lay low on any new additions now.

Coming off 10 years living in an RV we were filling up an empty house. I'd already bought two nice AVR setups but was missing our 10 disc changer in the RV. Saw some stuff on the ZP 80 and picked up a couple, liked the way the Play 3 and 5 worked and added them to the mix. The biggest selling point was the CR-100 that actually made the system usable for the family.

Had the same fun with our ripped Cds. Used a tag editor to do a mass replace on each problem character we found until all worked. Since found Samba can be configured to silently substitute select characters and now do that instead of altering the tags.

Saw a deal from Rhapsody on streaming, loved it and stayed with them for several years before moving to Amazon.

Some ealy major issues with Best Buy selling us equipment they had both damaged and had in storage for over a year, Sonos was not happy to hear that, escalated the problem and made everything right once I sent them proof of the Best Buy actions.

We don't do much TV so passed on the Play Base and Bar but the Beam hooked us, might be our failing ears and ever pooret TV speakers too.

Another UK users here, I think it was around July 2005 when Sonos launched in the UK, immediately bought the  ZP100 and CR100. This was followed by a bundle of another ZP100, CR100 and ZP80 again when the ZP80 was launched which from memory was around Spring 2006.

Bought to replace the SliMP3 player mainly because of the CR100 Album artwork and the Slim Devices needed tinkering most days.

It all started in late 2014. I’d left a rented home and moved into my now wife’s one bedroom condo. Prior to that my home theater consisted of wired components Left/Center/Right front channels, Surrounds and Sub. Not to mention a plethora of other stereo and AV equipment.

I needed something compact with good sound as my gear was too bulky for the condo. I went to Bestbuy to look at smaller wired HT speakers. The Bestbuy associate introduced me to Sonos. Needless to say that from that humble start of five (5) Sonos components and now thirty-one (31) units later; I’m a certified Sonos addict. Below is how it all began and the rest is history...

1. Playbar + Sub + Play: 1’s as surrounds + Bridge > Boost
2. Playbar + Sub + Play: 3’s as surrounds 
3. Play: 1’s merged into Stereo Pair
4. Play: 5 Gen 1 as Stereo pair 
5. Play: 5 Gen2 released within 30 day return window which replaced the Play:5 Gen1

Needless to say that all models have been upgraded successively to the latest and greatest as they were released.  I’ve had the good fortune to have acquired Arc’s, Arc Ultra’s Port, Moves, Roams, Beams, Sonos Amps, Era 300’s & Era 100’s as surrounds and stereo pairs. 

The condo is gone and we’re blessed with a tri-level home for all my stuff (and my wife’s) 😊. I’ve had nothing but success with all my Sonos through the years and I'm extremely satisfied. BTW….joining this community was/is another reason that has made my journey with Sonos an exceptional expereince!

Enjoy your Sonos!!!

It started in May 2015 for us when my Wife sent me a link to a Wired article discussing a starter SONOS Kit (she had heard me talk about these Wireless speakers before) - basically, it was like a party pack of 2 Play 1’s 😀 - link below:

You Can Now Get Pairs of Sonos’ Play:1 Speakers for $50 Off | WIRED

Purchased from the now defunct Futureshop in Ontario, Canada (now BestBuy)

From that point on, we started investing in SONOS - next was a Play 3, then a Play 5, Move, Multiple Sonos One’s, Beam …… I have now parted with the Play 1’s and Play 3 - handed them down to my Daughter - after close to 10 years of playing tons of music on them, they still sound amazing!

Derek

Beam, sub, one SL’S. Then more one SL’s. Then reloaded the beam with the Arc. Next another Arc , mini sub and one SL’s. Move made it in the group. Total of 14 speakers….and wouldn’t buy another Sonos product because of its crappy app. Now ya know.

I purchased my first Play:1 from Crutchfield in late 2016 for my kitchen. I immediately fell in love with it and have gradually expanded my Sonos ecosystem to 17 total devices. The Play:1 is now in my children’s bedroom where it is wired to my router to create SonosNet. It works and sounds just as good as it did in 2016.

For me in 2017 the Sonos way began with a single used Play1 and one and a half day later it was upgraded to a stereo pair. 😎 Used that later as surrounds with a playbar but then upgraded to Sonos Ones.