Contributor I

Question

Why I'm returning / selling my brand new Sonos Play 1

122 replies
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Just bought a Sonos Play 1 today.
I'm not happy with it to say the least.
I was expecting by it's description and it's reviews to produce really high quality sound.
I have to say I like the tone of the audio on some songs, others are to be desired, but whats rubbing me the worst is the actual quality of the audio. There seems to be a blotchy-ness with it that makes it sound almost low-res. There seems to be a lack of harmonic detail, any brass on the drums tends to sound like bad static more then a physical ringing instruments that they are. Something that really shocked me was when I was listing to "The Best You Never Had" by Leona Lewis. There's a synth tune that plays about 0:32 in the song, I like the tune, I tend to hum it when the song comes up, however whats strange is that my Sonos Play One the synth melody is almost inaudible! Then it got me thinking; "If I can't hear that, then what else can't I hear!?" There really is a shocking lack of detail in this speaker. I described it at one point as a sounding almost as a "supermarket speaker".

The sound quality isn't my only issue. It's also support. I understand you only support iOS and Android. The thing is I'm a hobbiest Windows 10 UWP App developer and my smartphone of choice is a Lumia 640 for it's affordability and decent spec and construction. Microsoft Lumia smartphones are officially unsupported by Sonos. Sonos does however support UPNP playback and so I can use that right? Well for about 8 hours of trying my Lumia 640 wasn't connecting to my Sonos. Totally frustrating! It somewhat works now, although I can't adjust the volume. I surprised to see that the Play 1 doesn't have bluetooth connectivity. It's something so common that I just thought it was given and that it a real bummer for me.

One of the only reasons I bought the Sonos over other brands of speakers was the True Audio technology. It made the speaker sound almost atomically customizable. Although I don't have a supported phone, my dad has a Galaxy S4 which he said he would let me borrow to set up this feature, which Is when I found out after I bought my Play One that it only works on Apple smartphone's and tablets, something which highly annoyed me as I don't own one (I'm not THAT rich or technically competent).

I bought my, what I think is a considerably expensive Sonos Play One speaker on the grounds of it having a really great audio quality, being vastly customizable, being able to tailor tune it to my room, being somewhat compatible with my phone, supporting bluetooth connection (Which is my fault really, although their is literally no information on the box and the website is just as cryptic).

What I believe I got is a well made, powerful, low-res wireless speaker that fails to accurately produce the entire frequency range of audio, that contains a shallow app (Using my Windows Laptop) with lack luster configurable options, that is sold under false pretenses to I'd imagine ~70% of customers whom don't own an Apple products, including myself.

Start to finish for me buying, unpacking, using and configuring this product I've had nothing but annoyances (Which I'm probably passing on my irritation to you, for which I apologize.)

I like the Sonos brand. I think the product line needs an update and I'm getting my money back be it via a refund or private sale on a popular auction website.

Thanks for you time and patience.

Nathan.

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K

Kumar

If I recall right, the 3 goes into mono mode in vertical position.

Stereo imaging needs the left/right speakers and the listener to be in something like the corners of an equilateral triangle, and that dictates the limited and very near field stereo effect of these units.

buzz

Grand Maestro

If you put your nose up to the grill, both PLAY:3 and PLAY:5 are stereo -- when horizontally oriented.

nathanielbennett456: SONOS has been UPnP since day one and 3rd party controllers (admittedly somewhat limited compared to the full featured SONOS controllers) emerged shortly after. SONOS is not, however, a DLNA device. If you like, you can call the SONOS controller App from within an iOS App.

AjTrek1

We've talked about this stereo thing at length regarding the Play 3 and 5 which has actually changed the conversation regarding the OP and their unfortunate buying decision process (or lack thereof). But I have one final comment about Stereo imaging....

Back in the day (and I mean back in the day) stereo was not so much about a "sweet" spot. It was more about having two speakers and being able to easily discern for example (and not necessarily in this order) that the drums and lead vocal (if non-instrumental) were center, brass to the right, strings to the left and back ground vocals wherever they were placed. Todays music has very little separation of instruments or vocals - left / right / center. Consequently it's more about the "Sweet" spot in the middle.

I'm not saying todays recording are bad. Just interjecting a bit of history on how the concept of what constitutes "Stereo" has evolved (or if you prefer...changed) ...over the years. Today there's' very little movement (i.e. positioning or localization) of instruments and vocals. It is...what it is 🆒

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

K

Kumar

It was more about having two speakers and being able to easily discern for example (and not necessarily in this order) that the drums and lead vocal (if non-instrumental) were center, brass to the right, strings to the left and back ground vocals wherever they were placed. Todays music has very little separation of instruments or vocals - left / right / center. Consequently it's more about the "Sweet" spot in the middle.

It is still about the same thing today, the term for it is stereo imaging, and it still available via good recordings.

And the sweet spot is where the listener needs to be to get the illusion of the stereo image from the sound that is projected from two speakers. Sweet spot does not refer to anything in the image itself.

In the early days of stereo, recordings were made with some instruments only from the left and some only from the right. That doesn't sound very nice after the gimmick effect has worn of; often the mono version of the same performance sounds better.

S

Stever750

Avid Contributor I

It's the recording process that's changed. A crossed pair is vastly different from close mic'd multi tracked. Most studio albums positioning info or stereo depth is artificial, as each instrument is single tracked and positioned in the mix.

S

Stever750

Avid Contributor I

Whereas a crossed pair recording a live event would be a much closer approximation of how the human ears would hear it. Then we're back to the room acoustics you replay it in...!

AjTrek1

It was more about having two speakers and being able to easily discern for example (and not necessarily in this order) that the drums and lead vocal (if non-instrumental) were center, brass to the right, strings to the left and back ground vocals wherever they were placed. Todays music has very little separation of instruments or vocals - left / right / center. Consequently it's more about the "Sweet" spot in the middle.

It is still about the same thing today, the term for it is stereo imaging, and it still available via good recordings.

And the sweet spot is where the listener needs to be to get the illusion of the stereo image from the sound that is projected from two speakers. Sweet spot does not refer to anything in the image itself.

In the early days of stereo, recordings were made with some instruments only from the left and some only from the right. That doesn't sound very nice after the gimmick effect has worn of; often the mono version of the same performance sounds better.

Thanks for the response. I understand the concept of stereo imaging and the illusion created by the "Sweet" spot. I love listening to music in the manner it presented today. As I told someone that the true test IMO given the recording techniques used is to be able to stand maybe two feet in front of a left or right speaker and not be able to tell that you are off to the left or right. The sweet spot or sound stage is perfectly balanced.

Back to my original comment about Left / Center / Right / placement of instruments (and/or vocals). Back in the day....even when sitting in the so-called sweet spot you could tell if a horn was positioned to the right or left. It was more like being at a live concert...which is how I like to immerse myself.

In the 70's stereo almost gave way to Quadraphonic sound (not to be confused with surround sound as those who never experienced Quad try to compare it to). Quad was Four full size speakers positioned around the listener. The recordings were awesome instruments/vocals were very localized yet combined. The only problem was the positioning aspect. The open concept in living quarters hadn't taken off as people were still sitting in a chair or sofa that was positioned against a wall. Consequently, Quad became a fad and lasted only a few years before Stereo recordings continued to rule.

Back in the 90's DVD-Audio tried to revive the Quadraphonic concept using the surround speakers in a home theater setup in conjunction with the front left/right speakers. Given that Home Theater was still an emerging concept and very few low-end systems existed DVD-Audio became more of a listening experience for the well-heeled vs. the masses. DVD-Audio did a pretty good job of approximating what Quad had sought to offer back in the 70's but as you know surround speakers are not intended as full speakers which is what Quad utilized.

So, in conclusion IMO listening to music wherein a drum was center and a horn was left or right was not a gimmick it was just true old-school 2 channel recording. The tracks were mixed to mimic the placement of the instruments in the studio. There was no recording the horn in one location, the drum in another and mix them together in a 3rd. All instruments were together in the same room. Sweet 🆒

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

K

Kumar

the illusion created by the "Sweet" spot.

So, in conclusion IMO listening to music wherein a drum was center and a horn was left or right was not a gimmick it was just true old-school 2 channel recording.

Where I don't agree with respect to the above:
The illusion isn't created by the sweet spot, it is available to be heard only in the sweet spot.

And to the second quoted sentence - I agree it is not a gimmick but that is exactly what good stereo recordings do today as well - provide as it were a virtual stage, with different instruments on different parts of it, with nothing seeming to emanate from just either speaker - not just everything stacked to either the left, or to the right speaker with a hole in the middle. I have many jazz albums from the fifties/sixties that are recorded and mixed in this latter manner and the same albums include mono versions that usually sound a lot better because they don't suffer from this effect. One doesn't usually get albums mixed to give that kind of stereo effect these days, and that is a good thing.

User543046

Contributor I

I have five Play1s dotted around the house and the sonic performance for their size never ceases to amaze me.

You do not really say in your post what source you are feeding to the speaker?

I have 3 play1s and think they are well made products that sound just fine for $150. I have also seen sound quality vary CONSIDERABLY based on what content you are playing (Youtube vs Pandora vs Rhapsody) which is directly related to the streaming quality and the audio bitrate available to the service.

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

Great discussion everyone, and thanks for jumping in. @nathanielbennett456 wherever you land I hope you're happy and can enjoy your music, good luck! Maybe someday you'll check out Sonos again now that you've got some more information.

I just wanted to let everyone know I've moved this thread over to the Wireless Speakers board instead of the New Community Feedback section.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

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