opinions sought on whether buying refurbished speakers is good value for the future of a system

  • 24 February 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 201 views

I have  two ONEs (Gen 1), a Connect:Amp (Gen 2) and a BEAM (Gen 1) and am looking toward developing my Sonos system. If I buy “new” then I can get a 15% discount on each of my existing items and still continue to use these items along with any new Sonos speakers purchased. This discount is not available if one buys refurbished Sonos equipment, but the refurbished equipment is considerably cheaper than buying new.

I am thinking of buying two FIVES.

If I bought refurbished speakers then am I right in assuming the Sonos upgrade discount would not be offered if I wanted later on to upgrade my Sonos speakers using the refurbished FIVES against the cost of future new equipment. In other words buying refurbished equipment now would neither give me access to any 15% Sonos upgrade discount on the basis of upgrading my existing equipment and nor would I be able to qualify for a future upgrade discount on the basis of the refurbished items being traded. In other words buying refurbished gets a sort of double hit.

Of course I would still be able to use the Sonos speakers I currently have to earn upgrade discount against any future new Sonos equipment.

But it is not just a question of the cost of two FIVES refurbished versus the cost of two new FIVES.

I appreciate the refurbished FIVES would come with the same guarantee as two new FIVES, and that there should/would be no discernible difference in performance or lifespan between new and refurbished.

I would like to ask more experienced end-users whether that last statement is actually true in practice.

What are your experiences in buying refurbished equipment? Was it a wise choice? Are there any drawbacks to look out for?

Perhaps I ought to add that I am looking to use the FIVES as a stereo pair, both for streaming and use with existing line level input devices like record deck/phono pre-amp, tape deck,  tuner and a number of PC based software instruments and DAWS. Obviously I would need a switching unit for to select from various line-level inputs. I also assume that if I am using two FIVES as a stereo pair I would need to use a CONNECT or CONNECT:AMP rather than the line input on one of the FIVES to get the input signal output from both FIVES?

I would like to tag on another question. I have only an Android mobile phone and tablet. In order to set up SONOS equipment with Trueplay what level of IOS device is required?

 

Thanks to anyone who contributes an opinion.

 

David


This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

3 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +22

The support section here lists required versions.

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-app-requirements

Thanks for your helpful reply. 

WRT to iphone/ipad I was wondering what version/model would be needed to run Trueplay or would Trueplay still run happily on any old iPhone/iPad without requiring any particular minimum version of the OS. (I know nothing of Apple technical details so if I got hold of a second hand device I’d like to know Trueplay would work).

 

I don’t know the details with regard to using refurbished units for the discount, but this would not make sense because the refurbished units would be current models and the upgrade discount is intended for older speakers.

With respect to Trueplay, it’s only available for iPhone/iPad controllers. MOVE and ROAM can Trueplay themselves without using a controller.

With respect to FIVE Line-In, each Line-In is an independent analog audio source on the network that can be played through any combination of players. If you have only two analog sources and they are  each located near a FIVE, you don’t need a selector switch.