Coming out of its IPO last week there was the strong hint that the company will be releasing products at a high velocity. In the last year they seem to have started along this trend with 3 major releases in just over a year (Playbase, One, Beam). Certainly one of the areas they have been criticized on this board and elsewhere is their slowness to add new products to their portfolio. It is said that they have some new and exciting ones.
What are your expectations of the ones likely to follow and that you want / need to see follow in the next 12 months? I will start with the following:
1. A new Play 3 with Alexa and of course AirPlay 2 compatibility. Think it has the potential to be its most versatile product particularly if Google assistant added.
2. A smaller sub would be great to pair with the Beam. This will make a great setup for smaller rooms - I think the current sub is a bit overkill and mismatched.
3 New PlayBar with Alexa, Airplay and maybe Dolby Atmos
What else would you want to see in next 12 months???
Sonos promises to release products faster
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+15Update the Connect with optical in and Airplay2
Update the Beam/Playbar/Playbase to make it possible to use it as a center channel and push front main to Play 1/3/5
Updated Play 3, natch
Update the Beam/Playbar/Playbase to make it possible to use it as a center channel and push front main to Play 1/3/5
Updated Play 3, natch
+22Definitely new Connect and Connect:Amp needed. I'm not sure they are going to create a new Play:3 … I like the Play:3 but is a unit between the One and 5 needed? I would think consolidation down to 2 and driving cost reduction via volume would be better way.
New Connect needs Atmos support with ability to drive 7.1 system of speakers.
New Connect needs Atmos support with ability to drive 7.1 system of speakers.
1. A new Play 3 with Alexa and of course AirPlay 2 compatibility. Think it has the potential to be its most versatile product particularly if Google assistant added.
Maybe. As Chris said, it may make sense to create something around the $300--350 range that becomes more of a replacement for the 3 and 5. It's really all speculation. I'm not sure how it would be the most versatile product though.
2. A smaller sub would be great to pair with the Beam. This will make a great setup for smaller rooms - I think the current sub is a bit overkill and mismatched.
I don't know that we'll see a smaller sub. Maybe a price drop at some point, but there really isn't any new features that need to be added to the Sub since it's not a stand alone speaker. Since it always needs to be bonded to another speaker, there is no reason to add voice control, airplay compatibility, or anything like that. Making a smaller sub would be a lot of design/development work for nothing really new. If you can change the coloring to match the modern sonos design, and maybe reduce the cost of parts to reduce the retail price, then great. Is it really the physical size that's the problem or just the price?
3 New PlayBar with Alexa, Airplay and maybe Dolby Atmos
I'm not seeing Dolby Atmos in a Sonos soundbar. The puriest are always going to say that there needs to be more separation in the left and right channels. And maybe I'm wrong on this, but if you're limited to 5.1 speakers, is there really much difference between Atmos and Atmos downgraded to DD 5.1
I agree with Chris. I'd like to see a superconnect that can drive 7.1 speakers or more for a HT experience. I don't know that there's enough of a market for that though. I also wonder if using 5.0 GHZ wireless to send signals to 8 or so speakers isn't stable enough (but I really have no idea)
I certainly would be a supporter of the 7.1 "super connect". Or even an updated PLAYBAR with HDMI, voice and 7.1. I concur with the arguments around Atmos, although with some engineering help, I suppose anything might be possible, but then I don't tend to think of Sonos as a high end home theater company, just more as an excellent wireless speaker company. I'd be delighted to have them prove me wrong.
Bruce
+17How about a voice controlled, usb powered, airplay2 dongle with loads of processing power, that can be added to rooms to bring all the old products to the party.
How is that different that a Sonos One, other than the USB power?
+17Hopefully alot cheaper, like a super function chromecast audio sitting on top of a PLAY1.
Ah, gotcha. Missed the cheaper part.
Not sure I'd put money on that one, but who knows. I wouldn't have bet on the Beam, either, if you'd told me about that before its release.
Not sure I'd put money on that one, but who knows. I wouldn't have bet on the Beam, either, if you'd told me about that before its release.
Interesting. I am just wondering.....Do you guys think that the products you are asking for will progress a company that has just launched an IPO? So of the component updates being asked for is really for more of a niche crowd. Not that anything is wrong with wanting it per se. I just don't think that these product developments will drive growth. Good for keeping a diversified mix of options though.
No, I don’t. And I wasn’t expecting the Beam, either. I suspect that Sonos has market analysis folks that have much more data than I.
Never hurts to make suggestions, Sonos doesn't seem to have a really bad case of "Not Invented Here" so it might point them in a direction they hadn't considered.
Is it really the physical size that's the problem or just the price?
More the price than the physical size. That was the number 1 inhibitor for me not getting that piece off kit. As a stand alone speaker that really does nothing other than add low end I would never pay that price. I also do think a smaller sub will also be aesthetically a better match for the Beam as well while also delivering a good punch.
Apple, Sky, Netflix and Amazon streaming movie/video services all look to be heading in the direction of Dolby Atmos... I think a virtual DD Atmos System is what many Home users will want and I think Sonos will probably head in that same direction.
So I would like to see a new centre front speaker, similar in size to the Beam, plus four separate surrounds coupled with a new designed sub. The four surrounds will also need upward firing speakers to reflect sound off the ceiling giving a virtual 5.1.4 Atmos system, all of which may run in the 5ghz wifi Band, but it’s wireless connection, would be 'exclusive' and via Sonos's own in-built STP Boost Mode 5ghz WiFi, called 'Sono5Net' or something similar.
The centre speaker would need to have built-in voice control services for use with Alexa, Google and Siri and it will link via HDMI ARC and be AirPlay 2 compatible.
That’s what I would like to see, but it’s really just mostly 'wishful thinking'.
So I would like to see a new centre front speaker, similar in size to the Beam, plus four separate surrounds coupled with a new designed sub. The four surrounds will also need upward firing speakers to reflect sound off the ceiling giving a virtual 5.1.4 Atmos system, all of which may run in the 5ghz wifi Band, but it’s wireless connection, would be 'exclusive' and via Sonos's own in-built STP Boost Mode 5ghz WiFi, called 'Sono5Net' or something similar.
The centre speaker would need to have built-in voice control services for use with Alexa, Google and Siri and it will link via HDMI ARC and be AirPlay 2 compatible.
That’s what I would like to see, but it’s really just mostly 'wishful thinking'.
More the price than the physical size. That was the number 1 inhibitor for me not getting that piece off kit. As a stand alone speaker that really does nothing other than add low end I would never pay that price. I also do think a smaller sub will also be aesthetically a better match for the Beam as well while also delivering a good punch.
I get that. I'm not an expert in marketing or anything, but it seems to me that most companies drop prices on items after they've been out for a while. Sort of the match supply/demand and maximize profits I'd guess. Since Sonos hasn't dropped the price of the sub, you could guess demand is still high or some other reason. I wouldn't be surprised to see the price drop on the Sub, but then again I'm not surprised if it remains unchanged.
So I would like to see a new centre front speaker, similar in size to the Beam, plus four separate surrounds coupled with a new designed sub. The four surrounds will also need upward firing speakers to reflect sound off the ceiling giving a virtual 5.1.4 Atmos system, all of which may run in the 5ghz wifi Band, but it’s wireless connection, would be 'exclusive' and via Sonos's own in-built STP Boost Mode 5ghz WiFi, called 'Sono5Net' or something similar.
I do wonder if 5ghz wireless can handle that many speakers playing in sync, or that the likelihood that it's too unstable or too likely to run into interference is an issue.
One thought on this though, you might be able to get more market appeal of the device could be used to bond speakers for more than just a HT situation. There are a lot of customers out there that want to use 2 or more pairs of speakers in a room/zone instead of just a single pair. Or maybe a pair and a single speaker. I understand that grouping the rooms is a relatively minor inconvenience, but I'd bet there are a lot of customer who'd be interested in a device that could do that, especially if you can trueplay it.
Burt said: "2. A smaller sub would be great to pair with the Beam. This will make a great setup for smaller rooms - I think the current sub is a bit overkill and mismatched." Burt I agree with you I'd love a compact sub with a slightly smaller and less weighty form factor and price tag. I'd buy that in a heartbeat. I regret not having taken note of the 35 lb weight of the current iteration before purchasing it as there was no way I was getting it up the stairs of my home to the room I wanted it to be in on my own thus it was returned. So here's hoping your prognostication might one day come to pass.
What are your expectations of the ones likely to follow and that you want / need to see follow in the next 12 months? I will start with the following:
1. A new Play 3 with Alexa and of course AirPlay 2 compatibility. Think it has the potential to be its most versatile product particularly if Google assistant added.
2. A smaller sub would be great to pair with the Beam. This will make a great setup for smaller rooms - I think the current sub is a bit overkill and mismatched.
3 New PlayBar with Alexa, Airplay and maybe Dolby Atmos
What else would you want to see in next 12 months???
Smaller sub definitely
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