Do you not think that the differences in sound needed by different genres might have been taken into account by the sound engineers in mastering the music?

An equaliser just gives you an almost infinite number of ways to screw up the sound.

It's not for me, but then I am not an audiophile.

I would also, and have on many occasions, suggest that the market being targeted by Sonos is not the so called “audiophile” market, but the larger “ease of use” market, so that more people can “just use it” rather than fiddle with all sorts of random settings.  This gives them a wider opportunity to make money, in smaller amounts, amongst a wider audience. The “audiophile” market seems to prey more on smaller numbers, and higher profit margins on each sale. 

@John B , equalizers have been used all over the world for many years. It has nothing to do with music producers. Every room, every place, every type of speakers and music requires adjustments. A producer cannot create music that will perfect fit on all speakers around the world the first time, that's why the equalizer was invented (analog and digital). In this case, we are talking about digital with sonos we can not even adjust the MID freqences. This is the basis of music! Sonos sells us a Ferrari but we can't adjust the mirrors. Sonos turns a deaf ear to its customers, sad.

@Airgetlam

A 10-band digital equalizer has absolutely nothing to do with audiophiles, it is a basic option that any sound system needs. Even all smart phones players have one, have a look in your android or apple music app.  I don't understand your reasoning of depriving hundreds of thousands of people of basic functionality just in case some don't know how to use it. Those who don't want to use it just don't have to enable it THAT’S IT!

Sonos turns a deaf ear to its customers, sad.

You aren’t the first person to make this request, but the request isn’t really made all that often.  Seems like you might be exaggerating the customer cry out for this feature a little bit here. 

The forum isn't exactly under siege from people demanding this feature. 99.9% of its customers would ignore it. As they probably do on other brands that have this feature.

In the world of hifi, Sonos is a mid to low priced mass market consumer product . As Bruce said, it isn't aimed at audiophiles. 

@John B 

Just because it is a mass market system not mean that we have to do things in a sloppy way. I still paid 3k+ for this system, the basic functionalities must be found there, and customers must not always have to take the seller by the hand while making complaints, the seller must always go ahead customer expectations if it wants to ensure its future, not wait for complaints to pile up.

Please point me to the pile of complaints. 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sonos.acr2&hl=en_CA&gl=US&showAllReviews=true

Some years back I had a Linn system. No tone controls or equaliser there, in a system costing more than I care to admit just for music in one room - quite a bit more than £3.5k. And they’re not the only audiophile company offering amps without tone controls or equalisers. 

While I can see where you are coming from and understand your strong desire for more control; I can also see the desire for simplicity. As someone who has never touched an equalizer in my life (both in cars or with high end audio equipment) I rely on how it was originally done and dare I say trust that they are optimizing it for what the artist had in mind. I would also say that the Sonos staff are extremely dedicated to optimizing each music experience and style on their equipment prior to production. Not sure the style of music you prefer but try Sonos Radio HD or one of the other hi-def services and you will be blown away with what some of those speakers produce. 

Sonos speakers have sophisticated in-built DSP room EQ, called TruePlay.  No need for manual EQ, which most would simply screw up.

@Jeffrey_35 There are people like you who like simplicity, there are people like me who like to maximize the potential of our products. That’s the beauty of it. I respect your choice and Sonos should respect it too.

@chicks This TruePlay system is only available on Apple, no TruePlay on Android devices.

No, the TUNING process can only be done on Apple.  Once tuned, will stay that way, regardless of which OS the control app is running on.  Borrow an iPhone...

Thanks i will try it but i am 100% sure it does not and will never replace a real equalizer that the user chooses to configure by HIMSELF and not one made by a robot. Sometimes you have to go back to the source of things that works and stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

Thanks i will try it but i am 100% sure it does not and will never replace a real equalizer that the user chooses to configure by HIMSELF and not one made by a robot. Sometimes you have to go back to the source of things that works and stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

Trust me, it will stick.  

BTW, every DSP Room correction system, from Anthem, etc, is automated, using a calibrated microphone and a tuning process.  Some of them cost a lot more than a Sonos speaker.  They do correct for room nodes that a yokel with a 10-band EQ will never correct for manually.

SONOS speakers largely under-exploited. Being an audiophile for a long time, I notice that the qualities of the Sonos speakers are of great precision and of great quality. On the other hand it is spoiled at the level of the system which manages them, in effect the application does not offer in ANY WAY to adjust the sound to the top level with an equalizer (10 bands and +). Since every style of music is NOT EQUALS AT ALL, a professional sound system such as SONOS should give us the choice by offering us a QUALITY EQUALIZER option. 

I have spent a decade in the Alice in Wonderland world of audiophiles; it was a very expensive hobby.

There was and probably still exists a very strong body of opinion in that world about how tone controls of any kind do not have a place in a truly audiophile set up, because they corrupt the signal. The supposedly virgin signal. Which is why even today, many stereo amps offer a choice to bypass tone controls because the belief is that even if the tone controls are set to flat, that circuitry corrupts the virgin.

Then there are respected makes like Quad that know that the final result isn't from the virgin signal alone, but how it, fed into the speakers, makes the speakers deliver sound that interacts with room acoustics before it is heard and that this corruption needs to be countered by the corruption of tilt control - in essence a way to change the slope of the entire frequency response such that no frequency is allowed to unnaturally jump out.

And there are the conventional tone controls, the kind Sonos has. A equaliser is nothing but a toy for boys that want to imagine themselves at mixing consoles, or even on the bridge of Starship Enterprise. It does little more to the SQ than what Sonos Eq can do if used in every permutation/combination of the Sonos sliders. Where it does more, is by rendering the sound to be unnatural. Now, there are some who want that option, but Sonos does not seem to see that lot as its target market.

True play is of course just the Sonos opinion of what is the correct sound for a given room. I find that it either has no more than a very subtle or no effect, or a beneficial one where the Sub is in the mix. But that does not mean that it has to be everyone’s taste, this Sonos opinion, which is why Sonos offers the option of toggling it off. Which can be done on Android devices as well.

@Kumar

Kumar I don't understand why you treat people like boys who play games, those who use an equalizer. We should first of all respect people. Then since I was 10 years old that I appreciate the quality of sound, today I work in music and I am in relation with people who work with concert sound equipment of very great value and let me tell you, these people all have analog equalizers and aren't playing with toys. They are qualified people who know what they are doing. Now with regard to Sonos if the option can affect the virgin quality of the signal then it will be necessary to weigh the pros and cons, either to have a loss to the virgin signal or to have a poorly calibrated sound. As a customer I would like to HAVE THE CHOICE and well for the moment it is obviously not possible. If unfortunately the sound would not be virgin even in flat mode, then simply have a button to bypass this mode completely according to the customer's desire.

in relation with people who work with concert sound equipment of very great value and let me tell you, these people all have analog equalizers and aren't having fun like boys. They are qualified people who know what they are doing.

If you think that by adding an equaliser to Sonos at home, you will get the same kind of control that people referred to above get in a sound mixing studio, it is not going to happen. That is what I meant by equaliser use - I was not referring to those that use it in a mixing studio.

I do not for a moment believe that a quality home sound system must have an equaliser, and I suspect Sonos thinks the same way. So there is very little chance that Sonos will give you this feature - you have to now figure out your next steps.

@Kumar 

In an ideal world everyone would listen to the same music and everyone would enjoy the same type of sound. On the other hand, the beauty of it is that in the world we live in, not everyone has the same tastes. There are several frequencies of low, mid and high and all enjoyed in certain ways. If Sonos does not want to hear anything then just AT LEAST put us a slide to control the mid-range, at least I will have the feeling to have the equivalent of settings as in my old car.

Something for you to think over - I have heard how the designer of Harbeth speakers designs his speakers that are well known for delivering natural sound. He does this using the human voice, and the piano. He holds that if these two sound good/natural, so will everything else within the limitations of the frequency response of the speaker design. He does not spent time listening to every possible frequency and how that sounds, for very long.

You can of course disagree.

And that would be a horrible world. Imagine the spice girls 24/7/365 as one example.

@Thewizard2000 . Development resource is finite, and the list of possible enhancements almost endless.  If Sonos believed that adding this feature would be the best use of resource - in terms of long term sales and profits -  then they would have done it.  They must believe that for the vast majority of their target market, this is irrelevant to their enjoyment of the system in practice and to their consequent purchasing decisions.

Whether Sonos are right or wrong, it’s fundamentally a commercial decision.  It is not primarily about whether or not a graphic equaliser could ‘improve’ the Sonos experience, if a user could be bothered with it..

I don’t recall seeing any review of the Sonos system or products that listed ‘lack of a graphic equaliser’ as a downside.  There may well be some out there, but I have missed them.  Interestingly. lack of ‘hires’ support is often cited as a downside in reviews, and I suspect that Sonos have begun to offer hires support purely because of perception and marketing, not because of any technical merit in favour of hires.

@John B If the Development resource is finite then they should add us at least the slide to adjust the MID-RANGE. For me, this frequency breaks my ears, I hate it, I usually put it to a minimum and the sound is much more pleasant, it's my taste and for the health of my eardrums. I understand that the Development resource is limited, but with a market cap of 3.77 billion I believe they should get there with a little effort. I took a programming course, it's not complicated you copy the same line of code for the bass or treble slide and you just modify the ranges. Where we are going to send them a request? Because obviously here it seems that we are talking into the void, just with this post now of 25 comments I have seen absolutely no official representative of SONOS interested in our discussion, it confirms what I said since the beginning of this post.