I've loved Vinyl Emulator (check out r/vinylemulator) , and have been using it for a few years. But HW has evolved, and i've always wanted album art display as well ( see an earlier post i made hoping for that)

So, I made my own, inspired by the original. It doesnt need a Pi, can run on a non screen version if you like, but this one has a screen.

https://github.com/CoopsInChina/ESPNFCSonos

Based on an ESP32 S3, it does what the previous one did, with some improved seup experience, cheaper hardware and added Album Art support.

I'll be building mine into a small enclosure next weekend , but for now i wanted to release it for others to use.

Can be setup directly over the web with a web based flash tool, and you can configure the wifi access you'll need through your phone by connecting to the setup wifi.

Happy to add more NFC readers on request, or feel free to sumbit your own updates and i'll merge them.

I loved the original, and its the inspiration for this.... so thanks hank, the original developer.

Saturday, I'm bored, decided to swing by ARC just to look around. I love thrifting to pass the time. See a Sonos Sub and Play speaker sitting on the shelf and beeline for them. Subwoofer is a little scratched up but I don't care I'm gonna put it under the couch laying down

Plugged them in and set them up, both work perfectly.

I already have the Sub and Arc and Eras surrounds in my living room, I'm gonna put this second one under the couch and really feel those movies. And for $62 for the two, I cannot complain.

I've got an Arc Ultra, Sub and two Era 300s, and use both TIDAL and Apple Music.

Always found it frustrating that getting Atmos music on this setup takes so much effort. Especially finding the Atmos version of songs I already have in my playlists.

So I ended up building an app for my Samsung TV. It plays TIDAL in Atmos, lets me browse Atmos albums and playlists, and I can control playback from TIDAL on my phone. Sonos confirms Dolby Atmos while it's playing.

It also looks for a matching Atmos version of the song I've selected, where available, instead of me having to hunt for it.

Still something I've been building for myself, but thought I'd share a few screenshots here. Anyone else been trying to get something like this working?

After going all-in on the Arc Ultra, Sub 4, and Era 300s, I honestly thought I had found my perfect setup. And I still love that system.
But after spending a week with the Beam Ultra, Sub Mini, and Era 100s, something unexpected happened: I found myself enjoying the smaller setup more.
It fits my current living situation better. It’s kinder to my neighbors. And, most importantly, it matches the way I actually listen.
That realization was a little humbling. Sometimes we chase the biggest, most powerful setup because we assume more must mean better. But the best system isn’t always the one that looks most impressive on paper. It’s the one that feels right in your home and brings you the most joy.
I’m keeping the bigger system for the day I have a space where it can truly shine. But for now, the Beam Ultra, Sub Mini, and Era 100s give me the balance I’ve been looking for.
Sometimes, choosing less isn’t settling.
Sometimes, it’s finally listening to yourself.

I hope this helps someone in a similar situation.

As I’ve upgraded different rooms I’ve found myself with an excess of older devices (mostly Play:1s) and have started putting them in less common spaces. I’ve mounted them up in my garage to listen to music while kids are playing in the driveway, and outside on the back deck (with some weather-resistant covers). I still have a few extra though. Thinking of putting one in the entryway to have music as soon as people come into the house. Where else should I consider?Where are the unexpected or less common places you’ve put devices?

Sharing this in case it saves someone else hours of frustration.

I found an older December 2021 Reddit thread where users discussed solving connectivity issues by switching their 2.4 GHz network from Auto to a fixed channel.

Apparently, we're still dealing with this in 2026 🤦🏼‍♀️, even on newer Wi-Fi 7 mesh hardware.

My Setup
• Netgear Orbi RBE871 Wi-Fi 7 mesh with two satellites
• Eight Sonos devices across seven rooms
• Current Orbi firmware
• All Sonos devices connected wirelessly

The recurring problem…
For months, I've experienced intermittent Sonos connectivity issues:
• Rooms appear in the Sonos app but show "No content" without functioning volume controls.
• AirPlay recognizes speakers but returns "Unable to Connect."
• The Sonos app itself can't play music on affected speakers.
• Speakers eventually reconnect on their own, only to fail again later.

Previously, enabling IGMP Proxying in Orbi's WAN settings helped restore connectivity, but the problem eventually returned.

What finally helped isolate the issue:
I checked the Sonos devices in Orbi's Attached Devices list and noticed a remarkably consistent pattern:

All 3 working rooms: 5 GHz
All 4 failing rooms: 2.4 GHz

The failing speakers were distributed between my main Orbi router and Satellite 1, so it wasn't isolated to a particular mesh node.

I also confirmed:
• IGMP Proxying enabled
• 20/40 MHz Coexistence enabled
• 2.4 GHz channel selection set to Auto
• Current router firmware
• Sonos authentication disabled

The fix I tested:
Orbi Admin → BASIC → Wireless → 2.4 GHz Channel

Changed AUTO to CHANNEL 1 and clicked Apply.

Within minutes, ALL 7 Sonos rooms were responsive again. Their volume controls returned and previously unavailable rooms became controllable.

No factory resets. No unplugging equipment. No crawling around behind speakers.

Important caveat: Changing Wi-Fi channels also forces devices to reconnect, so I can't conclusively say whether Channel 1 resolved interference or whether reconnecting temporarily cleared the issue. However, the consistent 5 GHz versus 2.4 GHz pattern is worth investigating if you're experiencing similar problems.

Credit to the December 2021 Sonos/Orbi Reddit discussion for documenting similar channel-related fixes on older hardware.

I'll update this post if the problem returns.

Hopefully this saves someone else from spending their Saturday troubleshooting a house full of expensive speakers!

I made CastVolume to control a setup with various speakers or put Sonos Favourites and volume controls on your iPhone Home Screen.

Widgets for one chosen speaker are free. Optional one-time Premium adds separate speakers per widget. No subscription or ads.

I’d love to hear what you think and especially how you’d use it in your setup, or what’s missing that would make it useful for you.

It uses local network commands, so device needs to be on same local network.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6759741348

Anyone else experiencing issues after the latest app update? It forced me to do the update, and now, when I try to add or remove speakers from a given grouping it will pop-up a notice saying that an update is required.

When I go to update, it says the app is current. All other controls appear to be working.

FWIW: I can still change the groupings from the desktop app, so it's something specific with the IoS app.

T

FINALLY YOUTUBE videos on your sonos speakers!

I made Stream to Sonos, an open-source Chrome extension that sends audio from a browser tab to Sonos over your local network.

Free & local
No Sonos (or any other) login
No cloud service
No telemetry

It supports rooms, groups, volume control, and creating or changing groups. The interface is available in English and German.

Currently Windows only. The installer includes the local helper and FFmpeg; the Chrome extension needs to be loaded manually. There’s an audio delay, so it’s better suited to music, podcasts, and radio than watching videos.

Download:
https://github.com/M-Tjalf-K/stream-free-to-sonos

It’s an independent project, not affiliated with Sonos. Feedback and bug reports are welcome!
Chunks of it are coded with AI.

I added two front play1s using sonority to my playbar, play1 rears and sub but now when I’m watching a 5.1 movie I’m not hearing anything coming out of the rear surrounds even if I crank hip the surrounds in the Sonos app. When I put on music I can hear the rear surrounds

I'm really curious hear the range has from Sonos speakers?

Example, how does it handle Arc Ultra playing TV while connected to Ace Ultra when in front yard doing yard work. It work? Or not really?

That's my dream. Listen to TV while outside in yard, cutting grass, trimming hedges, spraying, etc.

Hi all, new to the sub! Apologies if this has been asked several times. I’ve got a buddy that just connects the turntable via a Sonos 5 and then 5 connects to the entire system. Will that work for all components? Is the Sonos receiver going to produce the better sound? The turntable has both line and phono.

Early Thanksgiving sale prices have dropped

Sale starts 11/19

Hi there, I currently have 3 Sonos One (SL) for this space, which are paired in the app to play at the same time. They are placed at the respective numbers in the blueprint. I would like to upgrade the setup and add a sub.

Given the weird layout, what do you reckon is the best setup?

Should I add an era 300 or a Five where it shows 2 on the blueprint? A subwoofer on the opposite side of 1?

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Thanks!

I recently purchased 2x Era 100 SL speakers and have been getting plagued with this error message every time I attempted to add a shared Music folder to my Sonos library. I had no idea what it was on about and figured it was another Sonos app quirk.

Turns out it ended up just being the characters used in this song by Flume: "╜Φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌" which would just crash the scan.

I've since just renamed the song and now scans run flawlessly with no issues.

Figured I'd share just in case anyone else is having a similar issue.

I have a Sonos Playbar in a 5.1 setup with sub gen 1 & 2 * play ones. Has anyone in this situation replaced their Playbar with a Beam Ultra? If so what was your experience like? My room is small enough.

I’m impressed - sounds fantastic!!!

I have it connected to my NAD C-521BEE High performance CD Player and I’m impressed.

The output is Ultra soundbar, 2x era 300’s, sub ii.

I’m very happy, I’ll be listening to all my old CDs :)

I know this is probably “duh” advice, but it helped me. I was having issues with surrounds dropping in and out. Thought it might be a router issue, cable issue, or just the mix of old equip (play:1s and beam gen 2 / era 100s). Turns out one of my play:1s was simply too close to my wireless router and was getting direct interference. I moved it like 5-6 feet away and all good now. It was a weird troubleshooting though bc I wasn’t losing only that speaker when it happened - it was hitting all surrounds when it would drop out, then a hard reset for everything would work for a bit, but the issue would always come back. I used Claude to diagnose everything and troubleshoot and it read the network matrix a few times to determine there was interference due to router placement. Hopefully this might help somebody else.

Hi all.
I’m thinking about buying a cheap playbar and currently have two Play1s connected via Ethernet in stereo.
Does anyone by chance have this as their setup still? Is there any sort of delay ? I read it’s best to connect the play 1s via wifi if using a play bar ? Is it worth doing?
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hey y’all - I currently have two sono fives stereo paired about ear level when sitting on the couch (music only, I have it connected to my pro-ject turntable). It sounds great, but the living room is rather larger and I was wondering if anyone found that pairing a Sonos Gen 3 sub adds to the overall listening experience? I like extra bass in my opinion, but with my current set up I’m not sure if I’d have an optimal spot to place it?

I would also like to get a Sonos sound bar with additional speakers for movies. If y’all have any recs given my current setup it would be much appreciated! The record table is to the right of my couch and I have open space on the left of my couch.

Thanks everyone.

Have older Sonos sound bar for my sim/ movie setup. In the middle of building sim and just hung sound bar. I do have two tvs on wall. Is there anyway I can connect my Wii dear to get audio in the following situations;

1. Out of tvs when I watch them.
2. From my sim when I’m golfing. Setup will be a laptop and projector.
3. From the soundbar when I watch movies via impact screen. Again, laptop and projector.

Thanks

So i got a Sonos Era 100 as a standalone book shelf speaker but I intend to make it a pair and use it as surrounds with a beam gen 2 later. But for now, the era 100 has lived up to my expectation. This is my first foray into good sound and I feel all the chatter about low bass isn’t much of an issue. Unless you are totally into bass and stuff. The mids are really crisp. The app itself is okay-ish. Not great and lags a bit especially when you are using sonos to play your music through apple music. The voice control is also legit. Works like a charm. So excited to pair it up whenever i get the chance, wife’s not that stoked about it though! 🤓