Blown bass on Play:1

Hi Chad Larrabee,

I highly recommend that you contact SONOS Support directly as this is very unusual as all SONOS players are designed to be played at 100% volume without any problems and without causing any internal damage to themselves. I personally have never heard of a bass driver blowing in any SONOS product before but I am in no way saying you are wrong. The best thing to do is to contact SONOS as they can run a diagnostic to figure out what the problem is and they will be able to advise you, based on their diagnostic on what options you have to return, repair, or credit this product. 

You can give them a call here.

Best regards!

My boys have tried to blow up my bass on many occasions and they have not been able to do it yet!
LOL

Just got off the phone with customer service. Speaker was purchased a year and a half ago according to their records. After diagnosis the consensus was that the speaker is blown. $130 to replace. I'm a little disappointed. Zack at customer service was nice but I feel like company policy should be to own up and replace a product with an issue like this.

Just got off the phone with customer service. Speaker was purchased a year and a half ago according to their records. After diagnosis the consensus was that the speaker is blown. $130 to replace. I'm a little disappointed. Zack at customer service was nice but I feel like company policy should be to own up and replace a product with an issue like this.

Damn! 😞 That is very unfortunate. This is the first time I have heard of this happening. I frequently run my PLAY:1's at 100% volume and they're still going strong.

You're not wrong for expecting a replacement. SONOS hardware worldwide has a very, very low failure rate. The hardware is some of the most robust and reliable in the world. All of their products are designed to be played at any of the settings provided, at any volume for as long as you like without sustaining any internal damage. The settings that they allow you to access are set to prevent damage and the maximum volume is also a safe point. The speakers technically could go louder but then there is a risk of damage, so the maximum volume only goes as far as it does because that's the safest loudness for the speakers.

To have yours blow is something uncommon and rare and quite out of the ordinary for it's kind, so a replacement could have or maybe should have been an offer. It is likely out of warranty which is why they didn't offer a free replacement but considering the rarity of this issue I think they could've replaced it for free.

Best regards!

I too just experienced a blown play 1. Fortunately it was still under warranty. I don't know the charge to fix it when it's out of warranty but I have to give it to SONOS for their extreme response. I am enjoying the system but find myself a little wary because of this problem. I have two play 1's, a 5 and I'm hesitating on adding the playbar and sub now.

I also just experienced a blown Play:1.

I'm thankful that my Play:1 died just 4 months into its short life (i.e. it's still under warranty), and that you (@tonyMac) had a good experience with Sonos' customer care since I'm about to embark on the same journey.

Once my defected play 1 entered the UPS shipping system they shipped a replacement. I received it in three days.
On the other hand I'm putting a pause on my next SONOS purchase. Been wanting to get the play bar and sub. Great sound but too expensive to be having this type of issue.

Guys, it is what it is. A piece of equipment. It can blow, it can be damaged. Sonos is of course right not to provide a replacement speaker if the blown one's warranty expired. That's not an extreme response. It's business. Think about it, the argument here is that they make such high quality products that they should replace the ones who die after the warranty period - so by that logic, if they made products of lesser quality then you wouldn't demand a replacement? So their fault is that their products are too good? Yeah Sonos, please make products of lesser quality so that when they blow we don't feel angry with you for not replacing them on demand (without warranty).
Whenever you buy a piece of high tech equipment there is a very real chance that it will die some day, that can be 10 years after the warranty has expired or 10 days. It doesn't matter.
That being said, people are generally very satisfied with the lifespan of Sonos products, basing the decision not to buy any products because of very limited bad luck experiences is misguided. Just my opinion.

@Fishka, read my response! I stated that I was happy with the extreme response from SONOS. They replaced my speaker within three days.

@Fishka, read my response! I stated that I was happy with the extreme response from SONOS. They replaced my speaker within three days.

My response was not directed towards you, although I have to say that the response you got from Sonos was not something I'd consider as "extreme", like you said. Your speaker was still under warranty, they were obliged to repair/replace it.
But I still don't think you should be wary and hesitate on future purchases. btw. I am not affiliated with Sonos in any way 🙂

More thank likely the latest trueplay update causing the speakers too blow. The update has caused bass distortion, something the old software wouldn't allowed nearly at any volume. Think they might see more of this until they can fix this

I think you're on to something. I noticed the sound problem after I did the trueplay update.

If you've not called or e-mailed support about this already, please send a diagnostic using the Sonos app and note your confirmation number. After doing so, try disabling Trueplay (see 'Turn Trueplay off') to see if you still notice any distortion. Send another diagnostic afterwards and reply in this topic with both confirmation numbers, thanks.

Thanks for the reply Mohammed, but the speaker has been replaced.

Mohammed, let me know how to contact you. My other play 1 is sounding the same way. Here's the confirmation with trueplay 5379851. Here's the number without 5379870.

Mohammed, let me know how to contact you. My other play 1 is sounding the same way. Here's the confirmation with trueplay 5379851. Here's the number without 5379870.
The best would be to contact us by phone. A Sonos agent will be able to check your Sonos and if needed start a RMA rpocess.

Have there been more instances of this? I've run my play 1 for a couple years with no trouble, but now sounding a rattle on the bass even at lower volumes (post true play) but turning it off doesn't fix it.

Have there been more instances of this? I've run my play 1 for a couple years with no trouble, but now sounding a rattle on the bass even at lower volumes (post true play) but turning it off doesn't fix it.

Hi mcm, welcome to the community.
If you change the placement of the PLAY:1 do you still hear the rattling? Also, can you send us a diagnostic and reply with the confirmation number when playing? Here's an article explaining how: How to Submit Diagnostic

In Europe there is now a two year claim period for a defective product. In the UK it is 6 years from date of purchase. After 6 months you must prove it had a defect when you bought it. An engineer's report. Few companies will take it this far as they will have to pay the engineer's bill. If a unit blows then it must be defective based upon the Sonos assertion that a speaker is happy running at 100%.

Although there is a 6 year time limit it must also be considered what the expected life span of such a product should be. Ultimately, this is decided by the courts e.g. A fridge or freezer must last at least 6 years.

Wherever you live check what, if any, consumer protection exists as this will effectively throw the warranty period out of the room.

Mine blow yesterday I have 2 sonos 1's and 2 sonos 5's

How old was it?
Did you use trueplay on it?

not sure how old and I don't know what trueplay is. I use the sonos app

Trueplay is a sonos feature that alters the EQ to suit your room acoustics.....but I'm staying away from it at the mo.
Contact sonos customer support, they will know when it was registered and can test it remotely, you might get 50% off a replacement.

It's not uncommon. It's happened to me and I use it at a pretty moderate volume in my restaurant. Doesn't take much. That being said it's likely a manufacturer defect that doesn't happen to all speakers. I'm definitely not happy with this speaker. Now it can't even handle the bass of 80'pop songs. Started about a year and a few months after purchase. I'm stuck because the music service I use goes through Sonos but I'm about to cancel it so I don't have to buy another piece it garbage from Sonos. Kind of sucks. If we're built better it would have been the perfect solution.

Hello All:
I purchased a Play 1 speaker 3rd party. (Actually 5th party - I'm the 5th person to own this particular speaker). Discovered I had just purchased a blown Play 1. Called customer support (which was very polite) ran a diagnostic on the speaker and the speaker showed no connectivity problems. Customer support did listen to the speaker and did confirm that the sound quality was not acceptable. Since I was not the original owner of the speaker they could not assist me with an RMA. My only option would be to track down the original owner and have them authorize the repair. Seeing how this would be impossible - I now have a beautiful Sonos Play 1 White paperweight.

Still a big fan of Sonos and will continue to praise and recommend them to everyone. Just wish they had a more robust repair policy for 3rd (5th) party buyers with out of warranty product.

James G.