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Hi there! This is my first post here as I just got my first Sonos speaker ever, a One Gen. 2. I've always been into tech and I always do extensive research before buying something, which I've done in this case as well.

Everyone is ranting about how great the sound quality of the One is, but I must say I am deeply dissapointed in how almost any song sounds over 50% volume. I feel like the speaker has all the ingredients to be amazing, great bass for it's size, good sound separation and crisp highs and mids, except when I go over 50-60%. It just sounds muddy, harsh, simply not enjoyable and has a weird echoey feel to it over 50-60% volume. Why would they even make it go to 100% if it's just impossible to listen to at even half that?

Just to make it clear, I'm not some crazy audiophile, but as a simple example, I bought my dad a JBL Charge 4 for Christmas, which I thought sounded absolutely fantastic even at high volumes, so I'm honestly very confused that a 100$(on offer) bluetooth speaker could sound better than a 230$ Wifi one, which should offer better quality simply thanks to the lack of compresion on wifi vs bluetooth.

I've been using both Spotify and Tidal(which sounds way better than Spotify) to stream the music, so the source shouldn't be the issue. I've calibrated the speaker with Trueplay using my work iPhone(XS) and tried it in both my kitchen and living room(recalibrated Trueplay when moving it).

I think I've never probably been so confused in my life when it comes to electronics. I'm thinking if I should return it or not... Or maybe my unit's simply faulty? It's possible my expectations were too high to begin with, but then why would I think the Charge 4 sounds great? Would it even be worth it to get a second One and pair them in stereo more in hopes that it sounds waaay better with two?

Please help me, I'm going nuts here, everyone is praising these speakers yet I don't really understand why... Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hi there @AndyBkr we never like to hear that one of our Sonos speakers isn’t sounding as good as expected although audio quality is subjective to experience.

If you feel that your speaker is not operating as it should I would be happy to troubleshoot with you here on or you can choose to reach out to our support team for live assistance. 

If you would like to start by  submitting a diagnostic report  then include the confirmation number in your response so that I can start looking into this.   

 

hi, I understand your disappointment and frustration - I am using the SONOS ONE in different rooms and they all sound great, whether they are mounted at the wall, standing on a shelf or on the ground - have you tried to play songs from another source (e.g. Airplay stream from your Music library)?

The Sonos One just sounds ok. Not great. Mid-range especially is thin. 
Trueplay it and adjust the eq plus see if you like it with loudness on. That can make it sound richer and fuller. 
You are probably expecting too much for a speaker this size. 
It’s just a woofer and a tweeter in a small enclosure with some DSP. 
I also find that after about 50% volume sq starts to fall apart.  That’s just how it is. 
The HomePod sounds dramatically better and uses much newer technology but has too much bass and no eq. 

I tend to agree that the speakers’ sound quality may deviate when hitting over their fifty percent volume .

One other thing I find is that playing through the Sonos app does sound better.  I was using Airplay or Alexa to play through mine but found that both my Sonos Amp and One SL’s sound better when using the Sonos App.  Generally a more full detailed sound.

I’ve just got mine, I’m not sure what you guys are saying is true. I’m not blown away by the sound, though, but they sound good. I’m still debating if I’ll keep them.

Still, one thing to note about sound when you’re using higher volumes is if the problem is not the room, rather than the speakers. If you had different speakers in that room in the past and they sounded better than the Sonos, then you would be right about your assessment. But removing things that might create a lot of reflection might make a massive difference. I find that the room is 50% of the sound. I had a room where some Polk Audio speakers I have sounded horrible and I had to remove things and put a carpet to make it not sound like they were a pair of 20 dollar speakers bought on eBay. Try this, otherwise you’re going to keep on spending on speakers and never get the sound you like.

It’s not the room.  It’s pretty commonly known that Sonos Ones start to muddy above mid range volume.  Ironically my paired 5’s sound better above mid-range volume.  

Ok, I think I’ve read that somewhere but wasn’t sure if it was just another anecdotal comment. I’m good with them being for lower-volume listening. That’s actually what I wanted. I already have loudspeakers that don’t sound good at very low volumes, I need the opposite right now. :-)

Yeah mine are in the bedroom and I don’t really need to go above 50 percent anyway.

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