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Hi

I have a couple of speakers that mean I have to use S1 controller app, can the new Roam be used with this or is it only S2 compatible 

The s1 s2 gap stops me buying any more sonos...  I have ten sonos components. Three only work with s1. 

 

I cancelled my roam order as s2 only. Sonos driver to a non customer....as  To replace 2 connects and 1 p5 would could me around £1200 for a £140 roam.  So in short as a big time sonos customer I can not longer add new products to my system and spend money with sonos.    so essentially now am no longer a sonos customer because sonos make it impossible with spending 1000s to get as is function I already have.   Suggest you review....


Sorry, but I came here to respectfully voice my disappointment with this. I just pre-ordered one and stumbled upon this thread. I may very likely end up cancelling my pre-order now. 

The S1/S2 debacle has been debated ad nauseam, but I can’t help think there was an opportunity here for Sonos to simply ensure compatibility between the two controllers. They did it with the Move and if the S1 system is supposedly legacy, then what’s the harm in ensuring that a new device with supposedly “better specs” is capable of supporting the old software? It’s not like we’re trying to do the reverse here.

Becoming more and more disenchanted with Sonos and their strategy. The Port is a pure money grab for what it does at nearly $500 after tax and honestly the primary reason I’ve yet to upgrade my system for S2 compatibility (2x Play 5’s and a Connect holding me back). Again, sorry but I’m pretty disappointed. 


Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 


Does anyone know if Warner Bros. is going to release Tenet on Betamax? I have a perfectly good Betamax player and want to watch the latest movies on it.


Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

 

If I was in your situation, I would stay on S1 as well.  I’m not sure I follow where the heartburn is coming from, since you’re happy with where you are.  Is it more of a feeling that you want to be on the latest and greatest, or having some of the current products (to a lesser extent), but can’t justify the added cost of upgrading your whole system?  I get that.

For most of it’s life Sonos has been a system that you can just add on as you wish without replacing anything.  Now there’s a gap where you have to do more to get a little more.  It’s almost like buying a new car.  Nothing wrong with the car you have now, but you do like all the little improvement a new car has….it’s not enough to justify buying the new car.

 

Yeah, I’d say you’re pretty spot on. It’s the financial piece of it coupled with the inability to add/upgrade when and where I want without having to operate two separate systems until I meet S2 requirements throughout the house. It’s also the current feature set and perceived value of S2 in my environment.

I’d love to upgrade my kitchen and bathroom Play 5’s. If I could do that a piece at a time as budget permits, it would be more palatable. But, I can’t and I’m coming to terms with it. It just seems like there could have been a better way.

I’m sure I’ll eventually upgrade, as staying on S1 ultimately leads to obsolescence, but for now I just have to get over it and realize I’m not missing much. In the meantime, Sonos is going to have to do a better job selling me the value of S2. The Roam isn’t enough or going to do it. 

Thanks for listening and for the feedback. Really not trying to troll or stir the pot, simply expressing my perspective. 

 


The Roam is only possible because Sonos development is no longer restricted by its oldest devices.

No way. It’s totally just marketing. Some ‘features’ can’t run on the older devices. Airplay2 being a good example. But the system could carry on without them easily (for those opting to use S1 equipment). The S1/S2 divide is pure sales and marketing from the same mindset that brought us the ‘brick your speaker to upgrade’ debacle. 
What they should have done is put the electronics on a plug-and-play removable module and then just sold a £50 ‘upgrade module’ for each speaker when they went S3. New processor, new wifi chip upgrade etc

People would buy into that I think. 


Welllllll… crud!:thumbsdown:


The Roam is only possible because Sonos development is no longer restricted by its oldest devices.


The s1 s2 gap stops me buying any more sonos...  I have ten sonos components. Three only work with s1. 

 

I cancelled my roam order as s2 only. Sonos driver to a non customer....as  To replace 2 connects and 1 p5 would could me around £1200 for a £140 roam.  So in short as a big time sonos customer I can not longer add new products to my system and spend money with sonos.    so essentially now am no longer a sonos customer because sonos make it impossible with spending 1000s to get as is function I already have.   Suggest you review....

As I said before, If Sonos hadn’t made the S1 / S2 split they would not have been able to develop new products and features anyway.  So they still wouldn’t have been able to sell you anything more.  Sonos can’t change the S1 / S2 split, and they won’t.  The Roam cannot work on S1.

So now you don’t have a portable speaker, what are your plans?  Do without a portable speaker, which you apparently thought you needed a few days ago?  Or buy another brand of portable speaker?  One that won’t work with Sonos S1 or S2.  


I am a electrical engineer and design microchips and networking systems for a living. This whole S1/S2 thing could have easily been addressed with a bridge module that proxied the features and music for all the S1 components from the S2 network. The S1 components would all be served by that bridge. This would have taken some engineering but very doable. I even suggested this to several of my friends that work at Sonos. Fell on deaf ears in upper management.  Sonos chose not to go that route because they could sell more gear with this approach of obsoleting the older devices. Deal with it, they are a corporation that has to show continued growth in sales and profits….

So if Sonos is selling out and forcing me to choose between Sonos or Apple, I’m sorry but this is going to be the end of the line. Time for some homepods


Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

 

If I was in your situation, I would stay on S1 as well.  I’m not sure I follow where the heartburn is coming from, since you’re happy with where you are.  Is it more of a feeling that you want to be on the latest and greatest, or having some of the current products (to a lesser extent), but can’t justify the added cost of upgrading your whole system?  I get that.

For most of it’s life Sonos has been a system that you can just add on as you wish without replacing anything.  Now there’s a gap where you have to do more to get a little more.  It’s almost like buying a new car.  Nothing wrong with the car you have now, but you do like all the little improvement a new car has….it’s not enough to justify buying the new car.


Does anyone know if Warner Bros. is going to release Tenet on Betamax? I have a perfectly good Betamax player and want to watch the latest movies on it.


Hopefully with DTS soundtrack!

 

oh wait! Doh. 


I am a electrical engineer and design microchips and networking systems for a living. This whole S1/S2 thing could have easily been addressed with a bridge module that proxied the features and music for all the S1 components from the S2 network. The S1 components would all be served by that bridge. This would have taken some engineering but very doable. I even suggested this to several of my friends that work at Sonos. Fell on deaf ears in upper management.  Sonos chose not to go that route because they could sell more gear with this approach of obsoleting the older devices. Deal with it, they are a corporation that has to show continued growth in sales and profits….


Interesting thought.
 

Since the speaker’s initial design was not intended to be opened, based on their ‘when you open them, you lose any warranty’ position the company has always had, how would that work? Who would be an ‘authorized’ upgrade company, for people unwilling to do that work themselves? What countries would that service be available in? How much of the internals would need upgrading? Is it just the RAM and CPU, or is the power supply require updating as well? Are those pieces pluggable, or are the soldered on to a board? What happens when DIYers electrocute themselves when attempting to do their own upgrades? How many Android or iPhones, which are somewhat similar network devices, can be opened and upgraded?

Lots of things I suspect the company considered when forced in to their position. And likely more that I haven’t, as I suspect they had more minds and more time thinking about it trying to avoid it, since I suspect they were well aware of the backlash that would ensue once the information got out. 

 


The s1 s2 gap stops me buying any more sonos...  I have ten sonos components. Three only work with s1. 

 

I cancelled my roam order as s2 only. Sonos driver to a non customer....as  To replace 2 connects and 1 p5 would could me around £1200 for a £140 roam.  So in short as a big time sonos customer I can not longer add new products to my system and spend money with sonos.    so essentially now am no longer a sonos customer because sonos make it impossible with spending 1000s to get as is function I already have.   Suggest you review....

 

Exactly what do you expect them to do?  S1 only components do not have enough memory and/or storage to run S2, and S2 only components need S2 in order to run their new features, they simply cannot run S1.  There is nothing that can be done.

That is complete rubbish that they had to make the Roam S2 only because of memory.  They could and should have made it S1/S2 compatible.  They didn’t make it S1 compatible to force us to upgrade… all for a little portable speaker.   Very upsetting and sad they have turned into this….


Sonos did say a while back when S2 was released that all new hardware would be S2 only.


Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

More like time to start selling our Sonos systems and buying apple home pods 


Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

 

If I was in your situation, I would stay on S1 as well.  I’m not sure I follow where the heartburn is coming from, since you’re happy with where you are.  Is it more of a feeling that you want to be on the latest and greatest, or having some of the current products (to a lesser extent), but can’t justify the added cost of upgrading your whole system?  I get that.

For most of it’s life Sonos has been a system that you can just add on as you wish without replacing anything.  Now there’s a gap where you have to do more to get a little more.  It’s almost like buying a new car.  Nothing wrong with the car you have now, but you do like all the little improvement a new car has….it’s not enough to justify buying the new car.

In conclusion its time to return my Sonos roam I just preordered and sell the rest of my Sonos so I can move over to Apple homepods


Ahhh gutted.

Ok thanks for confirming that. 👍


Guess I should wait for S3 or S4 to obsolete the Roam and then buy in


It took around 20 years for Sonos to go from S1 to S2, so you’d have a long wait. 


Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

 

If I was in your situation, I would stay on S1 as well.  I’m not sure I follow where the heartburn is coming from, since you’re happy with where you are.  Is it more of a feeling that you want to be on the latest and greatest, or having some of the current products (to a lesser extent), but can’t justify the added cost of upgrading your whole system?  I get that.

For most of it’s life Sonos has been a system that you can just add on as you wish without replacing anything.  Now there’s a gap where you have to do more to get a little more.  It’s almost like buying a new car.  Nothing wrong with the car you have now, but you do like all the little improvement a new car has….it’s not enough to justify buying the new car.

 

Yeah, I’d say you’re pretty spot on. It’s the financial piece of it coupled with the inability to add/upgrade when and where I want without having to operate two separate systems until I meet S2 requirements throughout the house. It’s also the current feature set and perceived value of S2 in my environment.

I’d love to upgrade my kitchen and bathroom Play 5’s. If I could do that a piece at a time as budget permits, it would be more palatable. But, I can’t and I’m coming to terms with it. It just seems like there could have been a better way.

I’m sure I’ll eventually upgrade, as staying on S1 ultimately leads to obsolescence, but for now I just have to get over it and realize I’m not missing much. In the meantime, Sonos is going to have to do a better job selling me the value of S2. The Roam isn’t enough or going to do it. 

Thanks for listening and for the feedback. Really not trying to troll or stir the pot, simply expressing my perspective. 

 

Yep it would have to be something pretty special to get me to move onto S2, not the Roam or the ARC unfortunately.

 

 


 

Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

 

If I was in your situation, I would stay on S1 as well.  I’m not sure I follow where the heartburn is coming from, since you’re happy with where you are.  Is it more of a feeling that you want to be on the latest and greatest, or having some of the current products (to a lesser extent), but can’t justify the added cost of upgrading your whole system?  I get that.

For most of it’s life Sonos has been a system that you can just add on as you wish without replacing anything.  Now there’s a gap where you have to do more to get a little more.  It’s almost like buying a new car.  Nothing wrong with the car you have now, but you do like all the little improvement a new car has….it’s not enough to justify buying the new car.

 

Yeah, I’d say you’re pretty spot on. It’s the financial piece of it coupled with the inability to add/upgrade when and where I want without having to operate two separate systems until I meet S2 requirements throughout the house. It’s also the current feature set and perceived value of S2 in my environment.

I’d love to upgrade my kitchen and bathroom Play 5’s. If I could do that a piece at a time as budget permits, it would be more palatable. But, I can’t and I’m coming to terms with it. It just seems like there could have been a better way.

I’m sure I’ll eventually upgrade, as staying on S1 ultimately leads to obsolescence, but for now I just have to get over it and realize I’m not missing much. In the meantime, Sonos is going to have to do a better job selling me the value of S2. The Roam isn’t enough or going to do it. 

Thanks for listening and for the feedback. Really not trying to troll or stir the pot, simply expressing my perspective. 

 

Yep it would have to be something pretty special to get me to move onto S2, not the Roam or the ARC unfortunately.

 

 

 

Agreed Roam not special enough for an S2 upgrade but headphones might just be, need to start the softening up process on the better half :grinning:


The S1/S2 debacle has been debated ad nauseam, but I can’t help think there was an opportunity here for Sonos to simply ensure compatibility between the two controllers. They did it with the Move and if the S1 system is supposedly legacy, then what’s the harm in ensuring that a new device with supposedly “better specs” is capable of supporting the old software? It’s not like we’re trying to do the reverse here.

 

The bolded part is incorrect.  The Move was released before the S1/S2 split, and Sonos did not do anything at all to make the Move S1 compatible.   What’s the harm of making the Roam S1 compatible?  First the S1 customer base is surely much smaller than the S2 customer base.  Second, making it S1 compatible would add cost to development and testing, since it would be two systems, 2 sets of features to test.  Having 2 sets of features also would confusing, as you’d likely end up with customers who believed they could do speaker swaps, or share bluetooth audio with other speakers….only to find out it’s an S2 only feature.  And then you would have all the angry customers who upgraded to S2 because they were told there were no new S1 products.  And of course, Sonos obviously would more people switch over to S2, both to lower support costs and experience the better S2 features….and that doesn’t happen as fast if they keep making S1 products.

 

 


Is it OK if I challenge this assumption, at least a little bit?

If Sonos was indeed concerned about their stock market price falling, wouldn’t they have completely abandon S1 as a concept, and force everyone to purchase new speakers? That would have surely generated much more revenue, supporting the stock price, if there was no longer any function for older speakers at all, and everyone was forced in to purchasing S2 capable speakers. 

I would think continuing to support S1 systems is counter profit oriented thinking. But I’m not a market analyst, just a user on a forum.