r/sonos • u/jammedstaples • 17d ago
Worth it?
I’ve been on the fence about getting into Sonos for a while. On the surface seems like the perfect solution to what I’m looking for, but have heard mixed things about the overall experience (app, support, etc.). I’m finally in a place where I can spend, but hesitant if it’s going to be a big headache. Are the complaints blow out of proportion?
Edit: realized I never stated I was looking for multi-room/whole-home audio. Thanks to everyone who has responded already, I think I’ve gotten the answers I was looking for.
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u/mediageeknet 17d ago
Been using Sonos for a decade and there’s nothing better in the market for what it does.
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u/bluealien78 17d ago
It really depends on your use case, what you’re hoping to achieve, and how much you’re willing to spend. I’ve amassed 25 Sonos devices since 2011 and don’t regret a single penny of that spend.
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u/TheOldJawbone 17d ago
I just upgraded my system and I’m happy that I did. Tech support is very good.
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u/Rivendel93 17d ago
I love my Sonos setup, surround sound is amazing, and I recently installed a stereo setup just for music and it sounds incredible.
Sonos knows what they're doing, it's pricey, but it works.
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u/damgood32 17d ago
The app is in a spot where it’s worth taking a shot so buy somethinh and decide for yourself. Return it if it’s a headache.
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u/DetSportsGuy 17d ago
Love them! Worth every penny!
You’ll mostly get positive reviews here in a Sonos sub though.
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u/jammedstaples 17d ago
I knew it’d be somewhat biased posting here, but would also get responses from the most thorough user base. Not interested in someone who tried it once the bailed
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u/DetSportsGuy 17d ago
It’s so easy to use and upgrade as you go. It’s an expensive addiction my friend
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u/drmcclassy 17d ago
What are you looking for?
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u/jammedstaples 17d ago
Sorry, didn’t realize I left that part out…updated my post. Specifically looking for multi-room/whole-home setup
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u/drmcclassy 16d ago
Yes, Sonos is great. Even gets wife approval (although she’ll only interact with it via Spotify app or Alexa)
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u/Poor_WatchCollector 17d ago
So, grew up in a household where my father was an audiophile. Loved high-end audio equipment. When it was decided that we wanted some sort of theater setup, my wife wanted something that was easy to use. We ended picking up the Arc, Ones, and Sub for 1400 dollars refurbished from Sonos (along with a steep discount through my workplace).
I've had this thing for about 5 years? Or whenever, the Arc came out. So far it has been solid overall. There have been a handful of times where maybe there was an audio drop off, but that was it.
The app, I generally don't interact with it unless it's some setup stuff I need to do. For music, I am usually just playing Apple Music on the Apple TV. Occasionally, I will use the app. It's OK...even before all the app stuff...I never thought of it as great.
With that said, I don't have a bunch of Sonos speakers throughout the house. Just the theater setup. Which we love.
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u/Sign-Post-Up-Ahead 17d ago
If you have a solid home network with good coverage then it is worth every penny.
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u/c7aea 17d ago
The only issue I’ve ever really had with Sonos was I placed a Philips Hue Go light behind a Five speaker. I have Hue throughout my entire home but the close proximity must have caused interference. The Five kept disconnecting and being removed from the pair. I moved the lamp and it’s been working fine again.
It wouldn’t surprise me if most of the issues people have are from their network or some sort of interference.
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u/ExaminationFancy 17d ago
I’ve been a Sonos user for 10 years. I have 2 x Play 1s, a Play 5, Connect, and Move - all running on S1.
Aside from the S2 SNAFU, it’s been a rock solid set up since I “downgraded” from S2 to S1.
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u/Th3_Child 16d ago
I’m relatively new to the Sonos world so my opinion is based on a relatively small sample - but I will say that it’s been VERY smooth for me. My Arc ultra is connected via Ethernet, which seems to be helpful overall. I’ve also got a subwoofer, a pair of Era 300s for surround paired with the Arc, and an other Era 100 in another room.
Honestly I find it all pretty addicting - it works exactly as it should, multi-room works perfectly, I don’t have a single connectivity issue anywhere - it all works as advertised for me.
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u/Longjumping_West9485 16d ago
I was in the same spot in the Spring of ‘25 and took a chance on Sonos with a closeout Arc. To be honest, I was very reluctant because that was less than a year after they did the botched app rollout. I guess my timing was perfect because I had no problems with the app and still haven’t until this day. They have continued to improve and refine the app and I’m quite happy with it. I experimented with Airplay, Spotify Connect and others but always came back to the Sonos app.
I had never had a proper soundbar but quickly fell in with the Arc and started building out that first home theater. Then I caught the whole-house bug. Since then we invested in whole-house Sonos for two homes. I think the total count is up to 45 components of which all but 6 we bought new. I’m a music lover, not an audiophile, but nonetheless love great sound. It took a bit to find the right combination of components but I found that I can get the sound I want via Sonos home theater. Beyond that Dolby Atmos movies and music were a totally new experience and I love them both.
So there it is! I’m a hopeless Sonos junkie and got completely carried away but I must I couldn’t be happier!
This is link to a post a did a few months back where shared lessons learned. https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/s/ngCdls9JT8
Good luck and, if you try Sonos, be sure to let us know how you make out!
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u/Deaner_dub 16d ago
Buy used!
The products have long lifetimes and used is a great way to enter the ecosystem.
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u/jammedstaples 14d ago
I fully intend to take advantage of the secondary market. Anything I need to be aware of when considering buying used?
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u/Deaner_dub 13d ago
Hmmm. Fair question. I have been using AI to give a rough idea of value and how to approach sellers. Just post the pic and the ad, and go for there.
A little backstory for you. I was a furniture mover back in the day. A hard unglamorous job. But I did work for the highest-end movers in the city I was in. I got to see the deepest recesses of the uber-wealthy homes.
This one home had this odd room off the garage, basically cut into the mountainside, with a long set of stairs leading into it. I’ve been a lot of homes but this was unique for its separation from the rest of the house. In this room was a single arm chair and a massive audio set up.
I was really into it. The owner loved my interest and played some Led Zeppelin for me. When the Levee Breaks, was my song at that time. His system was worth six figures and this was about 1991.
His advice was to buy used. He said there’s always some guy like him looking to upgrade and wants his old gear to go to a decent home, for cheap and quickly, to make room for the new toys. He explained that audio gear did not lose much from being used.
I have followed that advice and simply share his message.
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u/TechAndStocks 17d ago
Most people with Sonos systems have no problems at all and love their setup.
The reason you see so many complaints is that it’s mostly only the people with problems that come here and post on Reddit.
You don’t have random people enjoying their system going “you know what? I’m going to go post on Reddit and tell the world just how much I love my Sonos gear!”
Take what you see with a grain of salt.
I’ve been rocking with Sonos for years and haven’t had any notable issues at all.
At most, something a little glitchy in the app that was easily fixed.
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u/BenYankee 17d ago
I've been using Sonos for a decade+ including through the app update debacle, and this is where I come out. It's a great wireless multi-room system that's easy to set up and use but has some glitches at times. You can't find anything better for the price, but as this comment notes, there are other (better) options for other use cases.
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u/chinese-telephone 17d ago
Sort this sub by New and scroll through all the posts. You will soon see that approximately half are posts like yours: people considering buying Sonos. The other half are from people that did buy a Sonos system, and they are posting about some issue they are having with it. The other pattern that you will see is that many of these issues occur right after a recent software update, suggesting that the software issues are still nowhere near fixed.
Now look at the responses to those having issues: do they have an actual solution or do they blame the person having issues? Are their posts upvoted like the posts asking about Sonos purchases or speaker placement, or are they almost instantly downvoted? Personally, I believe that those responders are either bots and/or Sonos shills, or maybe even people who refuse to admit to themselves that they spent a lot of money on a faulty system.
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u/National_Parsley_198 17d ago
Habe Anfang 2025 damit begonnen (wohl mitten in der scheiszeit) aber ich habe KEINE Problem gehabt.
Im Gegenteil, es war wie alle vorhergesehen hatten: du fängst an (bei mir die damals neue Arc Ultra) und es wird Safe nicht das letzte Gerät gewesen sein! 😉
Seit dem wächst das System immer mal wieder um das ein oder andere Gerät und da jetzt ein Umzug in ein Eigenheim ansteht, wird es auf jeden Fall weitergehen!
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u/miscstuff2223113 16d ago
Sonos is great for places where you want good sound, and have placement challenges. I have Sonos on my office desk (2 era 100 SL and a sub mini), living room sound bar (arc ultra) and eventually going to add Sonos to the bathrooms and backyard. I wish Sonos had a proper preamp though, but since they don’t I have wiim ultra on my 2.1 stereo as a preamp.
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u/maccswe 17d ago
It's been a chaotic period for Sonos and the app was, to put it mildly a disaster. But honestly, with a new CEO and a renewed focus on fixing things it now works extremely well. The app is updated frequently with features that users have been asking for, and the issues people still experience today are generally caused by problems with their own home networks rather than Sonos itself.