"High-end" Sonos goes public

You might want to look up the definition of relative. Low, mid, and high end only exist in relation to each other.

 

Your bag is empty.

 

Only because you keep proving my point

 

That you don’t have one? Yes, I have proved that.

 

I have a full Sonos setup in my bedroom for TV watching (Playbar, Sub and two Play3 surrounds). It’s a huge improvement over just about any built-in speaker (that I know of) in a TV. But, I don’t consider it high-end, and I don’t listen to music on it. It probably works for TV’s in small to medium size rooms. I doubt it would be satisfying in a large room.

 

No, this one:
condemnatory, audiophile elitism does nothing to help the audio industry or hobby.

 

That's your perception of my comment. However, you are wrong to perceive it that way. What is truly harmful to the audio world is someone calling Sonos "high end".

 

Keep going, point proven again! Thanks. You're making it too easy.

 

Are you a troll?

 

Still waiting for you to produce evidence of what you imply is fact.

 

No, I'm not a troll. The OP started this thread to take a shot at Sonos and those who consider them to be "high-end". You went further and said that anyone who considers Sonos to be "high-end" hasn't heard anything "high-end". I am simply saying that they are high-end within their category. And yes, I have heard "high-end" equipment. Furthermore, insulting those who believe them to be "high-end" serves no purpose other than to perpetuate my original point.

 

I implied that it was a matter of relativity, not fact.

 

I have never owned any Sonos products though I have heard about the name for many years. Does the company look like it will be successful as a public company? BTW, Harman International, which owns many top audio brands, is now a subsidiary of Samsung. I wonder if Samsung will come out with some real blockbuster products using audio innovations of Harman International ...

Honestly, I think Echo/Alexa have won big against Apple HomePod. Apple AI/VR/AR research is far behind most of its competitors such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and even IBM. Maybe that is the reason Apple just paid big bucks to hire away the AI guru at Google ...

I heard some folks claiming the Sonos speakers sound better than the HomePod, ouch!

 

Curious what “innovations”are in Harman’s Tool bag. They’ve got some decent brands, but hardly anything groundbreaking.

Yes Alexa and Google are better, but you have to decide wow much privacy you are willing to forego.

Sonos has some speakers that sound better than the HomePod and others that do not. Sonos is an ecosystem just as Apple is an ecosystem. Which one is best for you depends on what you are doing. I have a Homepod and several Sonos components, but I seldom listen to music on either.

 

Blockbuster products in the personal audio segment are going to be more about DSP and doing 3D sound on headphones and soundbars. Tech companies need to figure out how to do 3D audio on headphones really well in order to compete in virtual reality. You can't do good virtual reality with poor 3D audio on headphones. So we're going to have tech companies buying audio companies with audio research portfolios and experience in order to get 3D audio DSP processing tech. Just like Samsung buying Harman.

 

I have that little Lepai T-amp with an upgraded power supply.

Sounds pretty good driving a small pair of desktop speakers.

 

I have a Sonos Play 1 in the kitchen and it does a good job for what it is.

I don't know if any of you have ever tried visiting the Sonos forums, but they are completely unbearable because there are a couple of posters that will shout down anyone who tries to suggest that Sonos is anything but high end.

I've seen claims that a pair of Play 5s can compete with any system up to $20K.

 

Yikes! Oh good grief. Sonos is apparently making a reality distortion field. Their strategy for going public must be to get purchased by Apple.

 

There is a little story behind the Lepi amp.

Here was my first office system, with my original Peachtree Nova. Before I acquired the Nova, I bought a pair of Polk Audio's Monitor 70's Series II from NewEgg for #200/ea (the outside tower speakers).

I found out that Peachtree had refurbished units available for $400 off the $1,300 price, I had my local dealer order one for me. In the meantime, I bought the Lepai to tide me over.



Later on, I thought that it might be fun to play with a color organ. I used the Lepi to drive the color organ and hung up some colored light bulbs inside Chinese lanterns.



For about $22, it was a nice little amplifier. I bought it back in 2011 and it is still operational today. A few months back, I had the office repainted and took the lanterns down to paint. If you look to the left, in my close-up photo of the Peachtree, you can see the light bulbs lying next to the Peachtree.

I decided not to rehang the lanterns back up for now. Was thinking about maybe doing something with indirect lighting and the color organ.

 

No, you stated, "What’s your definition of a high end internet based streaming speaker system?"

I said it doesn't exist.

You said, "It does, and it’s not a matter of opinion." If that's not stating something as fact I don't know what is.

Fair enough, but you are doing a lot of side stepping.

Tell you what, we'll have to agree to disagree as this is going nowhere.

 

I had a pair of M-Audio active monitors on my desk, but the amp in the left speaker died, which turned out to be a common failing for that model. I was able to buy a second right speaker on eBay for about $15, and bought the Lepai amp to power the now passive speakers.

It served me well for several months, but I finally upgraded the desktop system to a PS Audio Sprout, small Cambridge Audio bookshelf speakers, and a psb sub.

 

I’m very happy with my modded Sonos transport connected to my DAC and I have heard quite some digital solutions including my own build CAPS with linear power supply with PPA usb card, full M2tech usb stack, Puc 2 Lite and Regen etc.

Happy to be of the computer audiophile/usb road. Now I have a simple setup with very good app and interface and sound for PCM is perfect and high end.

 

I just bought a PS Audio Sprout too, a couple of months back to have for troubleshooting or when I want to test out a new system.

 

Will be interested to see how this all pans out. I’ve had Sonos kit for years (Connect for the lounge system, Play3 in the kitchen, Play1 in the bedroom). The business model of the past has been to sell the speakers/devices, then support them long term with firmware updates, patching in of TruePlay, supporting new services such as Apple Music etc.

Not sure how this will continue as shareholders not only want returns, but year on year growth. Barring an explosion in takeup, where it’s competing against AV OEM soundbars as well as Amazon, Google and Apple’s own smartspeakers alongside older competitors such as Bose, I can only see firmware updates becoming a short term thing and if you want new features, new services etc then buy a new Sonos device.

I hope to be proven wrong.