End of Software Support - Clarifications

I (Love Sonos) but with this announcement/implimentation and a 30% offer.  I might just take my Play 5 up the back garden and give my children a hammer for educational purposes, and give them the difference as Pocket Money. 

Those trust pilot reviews are sure getting worse

Even more 1 star reviews

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.sonos.com

I am probably a total anomaly..I buy CDs and load them into iTunes (better sound than MP3s, and I own, not rent the music). 

Most of what I play on my Sonos system is music I own...only rarely do I use Pandora. And, GooglePlay, which I loved when it was Songza, doesn’t function now.

So, losing streaming services won’t kill me. Perhaps more clarity in your press announcements would have averted some of the overwhelming anger here. I will say I am reluctant to upgrade to the new Play:5...definitely a better speaker, but with a 5-year life? Really?

Pro Tip: Fire your PR agency. Or, if as is quite possible, you don’t have one...hire one.

I honestly don’t believe that they want to ride it out - they have grabbed the idea of disruption and are going to redefine their business into one selling short lived appliances, maybe over time at a low price (having seen that Google and others can create similar products at a fraction of the price). 

Sonos is trying to take the step from being a first-mover, a luxury manufacturer for the few, into becoming a mass-market manufacturer. Similar to what we have seen in other industries such as the car makers.

Why they want to get rid of all their old customers first before finding the new ones is less clear, but it has been seen before that the steps of a new strategy are being executed in the wrong order, perhaps because what is going on right now is the easy part that can be done quickly. Building up the new business takes a bit longer...

Yeah, I can see how I will have ways to keep my system working, it’s just a shame that after going to the effort of buying in to Sonos’s model for having an ecosystem, I’m going to have to go back to more traditional means of feeding music in to said system. 

Sonos: a story of abandoning the need for a media server, and then needing it back again.

THIS is EXACTLY CORRECT. The devices do not all connect to the streaming services (if they did, you would need individual logins for each speaker or speaker set). Instead, they use the controller (software on phone/tablet/computer) to initiate the stream to ONE device in the speaker group. The chosen device then synchronizes its output across the network (either wired or wireless) to play the (highly) synchronized music. )

 So the wording from Sonos SHOULD BE (if they are being honest), you must have *at least one “modern/supported sonos device” in every possible logical speaker grouping that you may want. This would allow everyone to use their existing speakers for years to come AND would push those of us with many logical room/speakers groups to upgrade to newer devices to leverage our existing kit, WITHOUT replacing everything all at once.. 

Get your head out of your asses Sonos. Class actions and activist investors are on your doorsteps like rabid dogs...

Just in the process of moving country (yet again) and along with some other AV equipment the Sonos stuff was on the list of ‘which shipping method’.  This just made it easier, bin it and leave it behind.  Originally invested in Sonos because, along with the Squeeze system, it was the only game in town back then and Squeeze was way too clunky for me.  Things have moved on a LONG way since then though and the likes of Airplay and Chromecast etc have come on in leaps and bounds, even if you want multi-room functionality.  Along with that has come a whole slew of speakers, sound bars and such with sound and hardware quality rivalling (and for me, in many cases, surpassing that of Sonos) AND at a fraction of the price, those options are also less of the one trick pony that is Sonos.  In all honesty I never did take to the breeze block style of the older ZPs.

With the massive advances in hardware over the last 5 years, several times I’ve sat and thought that if I was starting from scratch I’m not sure I’d go the Sonos route again. This has absolutely put the nail in the coffin for me and I’ll definitely be leaving my (very expensive) legacy junk behind, I’m not even tempted to try and con anyone into buying it used and telling them it’s a great buy because it isn’t a great buy at all, actually more a great BYE for me!!!

Whatever I replace it with may equally have a lifespan but I’d far sooner replace 4-6 speakers at £200 each in 5 years time than replace Sonos legacy kit at £500-800 a pop!  It was good while it lasted but time to move on.

Not affected by the current “round” but have 5 play 1s and a play base..

how long before my play 1s are obsolete and can no longer link to my play Base?

Seems the very thing that SONOS sold on (a single integrated sound system) wont be possible as products become obsolete.  It’s farcical to suggest that over time you will need to move obsolete produces to a separate network group.  Bad decisions and bad pR.

Sonos products were seen as a premium product and part of the price we pay is for the ongoing maintenance and support.  Whilst we can’t expect this to last forever it should be a hell of a lot longer than is being proposed.  

was looking at a sub but have to consider the implications of this - had hoped to build my system up and continually add to it but this does call that mentality into serious question.

additioNally 30% discount is a joke when the devices are perfectly serviceable - not exactly environmentally friendly to deliberately brick and render products useless is it.

seriously bad decisions

A deserved wave of negative feedback and publicity for Sonos from a previously loyal fan base. 

Over $3000 to ‘upgrade’ my ‘obsolete’ home sound system that I have invested in repeatedly over the past decade.  

I think I’ll pass on investing any more of my hard earned cash into Sonos or it’s products.

I would like to thank the ‘community’ for sharing their disappointment with this company.

Yep, I am also not a happy camper. While I understand that technology has come a long way since the older products were designed and produced, I never really expected the bullet proof Sonos products would be a ‘throw away’ item.

I have a big whole of house investment in Sonos gear which includes Connects, Connect Amp’s, Play 5’s, Sound bars, Play 1’s. and other products, and to get an email saying the 8 of my products are obsolete, and then insult me by only offering a 30% on RRP discount to update is a joke.

I have been a very loyal customer and massive fan who has recommended and even setup quite a few Sonos systems in friends and family’s homes for many many years.

Now looking for alternatives as Sonos, my friend for many years has let me down big time.