Play 3 sound distortion/ terrible sound after update.

Odd, neither of my PLAY:3s, which I use daily, are exhibiting this behavior. I could see, however, at the age of the PLAY:3s, they could be potentially more affected by a power surge, etc. They are effectively ‘ancient’ electronics, having been designed and manufactured many years ago, with different CPUs, different RAM and different power supplies.

I can’t imagine the CS folks would lie to you in any way, if they’re seeing hardware failures. I’d certainly give some consideration to replacement. I’ve recently moved my PLAY:3s from bedroom duty, and replaced them with Sonos Ones, which are no longer produced in favor of the Era 100, but sound the same, to me, as the PLAY:3s.

Thanks for the reply. They did not say they were seeing a hardware failure, but said because a factory reset had not cured the problem it must be hardware related. I asked if they had any idea what it could be, ie amp or speakers or something else they just said they are 10 years old. That is when I said they had both failed at exactly the same time which was strange. He agreed it was strange but they are old.

Interestingly, ALL of my PLAY:3's are exhibiting exactly the same behaviour. Seems very odd and, almost suspicious, and I'm not a conspiracy guy here, but, all of them concurrently displaying exactly the same issue... I have six of the PLAY:3's... I don't play them too loud.

I have been extremely respectful of these products over the years. And, BOOM!

I remember with the old analog speakers, after a while, they would start to make that exact noise!

SUPER FRUSTRATING AND DISAPPOINTING!!!

Anyone else?!

Thanks for your reply, I am of the same suspicion. I have rarely used mine in the last six months and always use them respectfully. I have been using my play 1’s in the Conservatory regularly , I updated them at the same time and they are fine. I went to use my play 3’s and it said update needs installing first. I did that and had the problem ever since. I could have understood if one had failed but for both to have the same issue is too much of a coincidence for me.  
Looks like we are stuck though, I don’t know what to do next, hence me posting on here.

Do you bite the bullet and buy new or get these repaired only for the same thing to happen further down the line . 

I use my PLAY:3s daily, using the latest ‘firmware’ version, and the most recent iOS controller to listen to iHeart radio, and do not experience this at all. The PLAY:1s in my ‘system’ tend to play music from an NAS, and are also not experiencing any issues. I see no ‘conspiracy’ at all here. 

Something is strange. I think it’s very rare for two to fault at the same time, but six !!!

I think I’ll try the factory reset!! Have nothing to lose, right?!

The thing about SONOS for me was that, from the beginning, we were buying into quality - for the prices paid, they should last forever, with respectful use! That was my thinking when I purchased my first of 19 speakers, 12 years ago, plus - yes, I’m hooked - I’ve invested!!!

Good luck. Hope it works for you. Please let me know how you get on. I have tried 3 times and they are still the same.

If you build quality that lasts for 10 years or more and people invest then who can they sell to once the market is flooded. People are not going to buy new unless they fault !!.

did any of you got a solution yet? I am stuc with the same problem with two Play:3.

best regards,

Dominik

I would call Sonos Support to discuss it.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

ok thanks.

one interesting fact i tried:

when i play a song with spotify to the play:3 → crackling noise randomly at any volume

when i play the exact same song over another service (like Sonos Tube or similar) to the Play:3 → Perfect sound, no cracking

Can anybody explain this to me? Is it really a complete software issue?!

Or, possibly, a physical issue with your PLAY:3, like the speaker cone breaking in some manner. I use a pair of PLAY:3s daily with S2, and haven’t experienced this issue, so my guess is it’s local to your setup in some way. 

Hello,

a little update/info for those who have the same problem.

I now tried several hours with the Streaming App “Tidal” to play some songs with the Play:3 → perfect sound and no cracking

When i switch to play songs over Spotify to the Play:3 → instant cracking noises.

So it is everything fine with the speaker, looks like a software issue?!? Very strange indeed.

Best regards,

Dominik

Since you, and we other users here, can't see the internal data you should try playing one source and submitting a diagnostic for it, then the other, followed by a call to support as that is likely the best option.

yes you are completely right and i will do this today , just wanted to share my findings, so other People can try this out to eliminate hardware problems with their speaker..

I made the diagnostics and submitted them to Sonos.

Short Summary: They did not find anything suspicious, why this cracking noises happen, their only advice was to uninstall and install the Spotify service inside the Sonos App…

Not very satisfying, but it’s ok for me, i will use the Tidal App instead of Spotify for a good sound quality.

Since Sonos uses the same software to play all streams, it would be unusual for one stream to be impacted, but not another. If Tidal is working, but Spotify isn’t, it certainly suggests either an issue with your speakers reaching the Spotify servers, or an issue with the data that your speakers are getting from them. 

yeah sounds like. 

But i have a setup of 10 Sonos Speakers in the same network. And the problem only occurs on the two Play:3 speakers and only after the latest Update from Sonos.

But as i said, i am not satisfied with it, but i am ok with it…

I’ve had exactly the same issues with Play 1’s and Play 3’s all with Spotify even my Arc with Era 100’s / Sub but it’s less common on those speakers - which is annoying as that is my preferred streaming service - I thought it was my Sonos speakers until I had the same issue with Apple Home Pods with Spotify - admittedly it’s not always happening and sometimes a hard reboot of my phone sorts it out but yep, I’m pretty convinced it’s a software interface issue most of the time… one thing I may try is if happens on my Play 5 (although it’s on the S1 app - why we have to have two apps I don’t know - ridiculous) with a line in connection when I notice it crackling - that way I should in theory be able to tell if it’s an amplifier stage hardware issue or it is indeed just Spotify wireless streaming 😂

Just noticed it with my PLAY 3. I dont use it rarely. Distortion at any volume (Distortion is same volume). However not constantly. Sound like a dirty vinyl/record or a bad Jack connecntion hower none of them is of cause the case. When the distortion is not present the sound is so good (now lossless with Spotify)
Sad if software destroys an otherwise great product.

Worse if it’s a hardware issue, which is more difficult to ‘fix’ than software. I’ve noticed no changes at all in either of my PLAY:3s, which are running S2.