Agreed. As it happens I bought quite a few CR100s when it was the only controller Sonos supported - that’s to say before they had iPhone or Android apps - and even after the apps were available the CR100 was arguably a much better controller in some ways. So I feel a strong sense of deja vu about the recent announcement, although it does seem that Sonos are handling it somewhat more reasonably this time round by allowing folks the chance to continue using legacy products in a “walled-off” manner without the risk of accidental updates.
This feels like well-orchestrated plan to appease the Board. They seem to initially be fair, but even new units will not take updates with legacy units in the network. If you trade in against their retail, your current unit is de-activated permanently, rendered useless.
I believe it could be handled better. For example, they inform us as to how many units they can see in our network. They “could” offer a unit price to swap everything, but I fear that they know this would be daunting.
Again, I would rather have seen an alternative that felt “fair” but…they are accountable to investors more than customers. I understand that.
@Jim_F, and if I assembled that (would probably take me an hour and not 1/2 an hour is I am slow), then perhaps I can include my Meridian as a DAC on my main system? And then group all of that together with other Raspberrys about the house? That may be what I shoot for over as I retire SONOS units. Sounds cheaper than modding the Connects, maybe. And perhaps I can save my SONOS 5 by adding a Raspberry to that, and continue to use the powered speaker. It has an input on the back. The Three will just become extinct when it does I guess.
I’m not familiar with how grouping works in Roon, but I think so. My Raspberry Pi 4 connects to my router with ethernet in and then USB out to my Dragonfly Cobalt DAC. I think you could use just about any DAC that has USB in.
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Reading some more, and it looks like I can make a Raspberry set up RAAT compliant and then I can group all the RAAT devices. That will be the goal for replacing the SONOS as I go, and move away from SONOS over time. Make it all RAAT compliant. Then it appears I can group it.
Meanwhile, I can use the SONOS stuff as I am for casual listening. I have some time. And it looks like it is possible.
When we built our house 15 years ago I ran good old fashioned speaker wires everywhere. A couple of years ago I said if I had it to do over with what’s available nowadays I’d probably just use Sonos. Today I’m glad I have speaker wires. They don’t seem in any imminent danger of being obsoleted by the manufacturer.
Bonus: all my zones play in perfect synch!
I received my notice today that my Sonos Connects (3 units) will not be support after May. My thought was to gradually replace my Connects. I thought about possibly replacing with the new Sonos Port, Allo Katana, Allo Boss, Audioquest Dragonfly Red, or Pro-Ject Pre-Box Ultra. I would like to keep the cost between $300-$400 per unit. One thing I do like about Sonos is that they do have excellent customer support. What endpoint would you recommend in replacing the Sonos Connect? Assume the Port would be a good alternative but hi-res is limited compared to other alternatives. I would appreciate the forum members thoughts.
Oh boy… the internet is buzzing with sonos customers’ messages expressing frustration. While I understand that sonos speakers are really a bundle: wireless services + computer + amp + speaker, I do feel sympathy for people who bought sonos thinking / expecting a longer life with sonos support. Sonos pushed hard with the message of “we are different and better because our products last”. They did not say how long of course 
They pledged a minimum of 5 years if I remember correctly but that was not as prominent in their communication. In fairness, sonos speakers will not be ‘bricked’ after support discontinues but at the same time there is no certainty what service may drop (Spotify?) and how quickly once support ends. The standard ‘we do not share future plans / releases / updates of service’ comes back to bite here.
Granted, since this is an interconnected bundle, the ‘computer’ part of the speaker will become the weak link sooner rahter than later. This brings into question the entire idea of filling a home with sonos speakers. Are we ok with having to replace the entire lot every 5 years? Even if we stretch this a bit, one would have to replace sonos every 7 years to ensure all updates / security patches and new services are available. Assuming Playbar + surrounds + sub and then 3-4 sonos ones around the rest of the home, that means £2000 and above. That essentially becomes a recurring cost every 5 - 7 years. Compare this with replacing a family car over the same period, it does not seem crazy. BUT… a home audio system is not perceived in the same way by the average consumer (including myself). We could stretch a bluetooth speaker’s life to 10 years (excluding battery). A traditional HiFi will go on for decades (and sound much much much better). There is certainly an issue of Perceived value in use taking a hit.
I can see two things that Sonos could have done differently:
- Offer an upgrade path at certain cost: Send in the old / legacy unit and have the ‘computer’ part of it upgraded.
- Continue support of old units with basic security patches etc. and restrict any new features / services to the new generation of devices. Certainly avoid splitting the system as they propose.
… and of course all this has a bigger picture:
… imagine your wonderful ‘smart’ fridge becoming legacy after 5 years of operation. “Unfortunately this product is now legacy. It will continue to function but the freezer section will soon cease to be supported by the app. You can upgrade to a new smart fridge model with 30% off” 
My appreciation for what RPi offers has taken multiple steps upwards
Same goes for what Roon offers
Nice analysis. Being in the boat of having 6 total units between Connects (which are basically “end points” for SONOS feeding my older but nice sounding stereo gear) and 2 out of 3 standalone speakers. The third, a one in my wife’s home office, will survive this transition. I am spending a lot of time getting myself up to speed on how Roon works, and what I will need to have and do to replace the computer portion of what my SONOS units did. Seems like Raspbery Pi based units, paired with some sort of good but economical DAC (I have to figure this part out, I have one Meridian Explorer 2 that hopefully could be connected (USB) to a Rpi based end point), will work with Roon to replace the functionality and experience SONOS provided. And I have time as my SONOS gear still works with the SONOS app now, and hopefully will for at least several months after they stop updating, and hopefully I can extend that a while by using Roon.
Then I can replace as I go. But once I find an economical “bang for the buck” option that gives me Hi-Rez and Tidal MQA (RAAT?), I will likely replace the three Connects at once so I can then group them. And I bet a way will emerge to replace the brains in my SONOS:5 at least, and maybe even the 3. Not sure my wife would love an Rpi sitting on top of the old SONOS speakers, but maybe I could hide it behind or something. It all feels very LEGO and Millenium falcon to me, with the computer board look of all the RPi and HAT stuff.
Perhaps there is or will be a way to open up and gut my old Connects, and put my RPi and HAT stuff inside those boxes. I know WyredforSound is doing mods to Connects, but it is costly, and maybe not as good as some of the RPi options. But maybe it could be recreated using RPi type stuff.
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My first thought when o found out 75% of my sonos system will be effected by this was to replace with ropiee units and use room, my only problem is that room doesn’t have a lot of streaming services, Sirius XM is one that I will. Use in the back yard when I have a BBQ for back ground music or to play the Yankee game.
If roon could integrate more services I could retire the sonos system right now and not care.
The next option is to go to bluesound but this is an expensive buy in just to be able to match what I have now. I thought about playfi but I don’t like what I am reading about reliability and the fact that the stream goes from the phone to the device as opposed to the phone just sending the device the stream address, I roam with the phone all over the house, I can see this causing problems. Then there is heos which I feel is most comparable to sonos but again it would be a larger buy in.
Come on roon, let’s get sirusxm on the list, you guys could literally take over the Sonos market and capitalize on all the disgruntled Sonos people.
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I’ll bet your old Sonos continues to work longer than you think. Only time will tell, I guess.
We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:
First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work just as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.
Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.
While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.
Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.
Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos
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Looks like Sonos are “clarifying” their position, here’s an email from their CEO:
======================================================
We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:
First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work just as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.
Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.
While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.
Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.
If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to [contact us]
Sincerely,
Patrick
Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos
We will as best as we can. We are not deprecating anything in relation to these devices.
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As a Sonos owner since 2006 I have had great value out of my 12 years of ownership of various devices around my house and office and I have given away several ZP100 and ZP80 devices to family and friends who have gone on to buy more Sonos equipment as well.
I look at this as the beginning of the end for the old wireless B based Equipment that was originally used on the early boards as well as equipment starting to struggle with modern technology requirements.
While I think Sonos could have done better with the message (same of the trade in program as well) besides the original Play 5 the other equipment is really old with low amounts of ram and processor and no other company that I can think of has supported their devices nearly as long as the ZP80 and ZP100 have been around.
I think once Sonos sort out their message more clearly we will find that our systems continue to work and as long as Room continues to talk directly to the Sonos devices then everything will be fine for the foreseeable future.
Mike
I’m glad someone posted on this, since I think that Sonos are really being jerks here. I can see wanting to “encourage” their customer base to buy the latest and greatest, but telling them that their “old” stuff either won’t work or won’t work as well, is just crappy.
That said, I’m using a Sonos Connect only as an endpoint (i.e., I’m not using the Sonos DAC, it’s connected to my DAC via coax) so if Sonos doesn’t update my unit with goodies, I don’t care.
Manufacturers can’t support old equipment forever. I’m sure it will continue to work as it does today if you don’t change something else in your system.
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This, or similar, and Roon was looking like the answer to me. But then I found out Roon and Spotify don’t work together, and my family is deep into the Spotify musicverse. So, looking like for right now, Bluesound is going to have to be the way I go. And maybe add Roon on top, once I can afford that. Too bad. I was hoping just to go with Roon.
And of course I know nothing will need to happen right away, as my legacy SONOS stuff will keep working for a good while yet, or so it looks, esp. after the CEO’s announcement.
So use Rpi units, PiCorePlayer OS, and LMS (Squeezebox). Plays your own music, works with spotify and tidal, and does multiroom sync. You can even run LMS ON a RPi. Pre roon (and parallel to Roon for me currently) that was rock solid system for me.
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Huh!!?? I am learning stuff every day on this forum. Had no idea about any of this stuff. Good thing my SONOS stuff is going to work a while so I can figure it all out. That sounds like it has promise. So, I can multi-room sync, up to 6 stations? And it works? Do I need one of those Squeezebox touches? Thanks for the heads up. I am a newb to all this stuff other than SONOS.
Oh, and for this to fly in my house, my wife needs to be able to run it from her phone (newer iPhone, 8 I believe). Does that work?