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Comment by schappim | Hacker News Reader

> throw it all in the trash and start over

People will think what you’re saying is hyperbole; however, I was on a walk with the family, and I saw a Sonos speaker in the trash. It looked like new and a fairly recent model. I lugged it home, and it was a $US500 Sonos Play:5 speaker system [1].

Once home, I plugged it in, and it powered up.

I tried to pair it with my iPhone using the new Sonos app, and it didn’t work (the app never found the speaker).

I then tried the same again using my development Android device, and it instantly worked!

Once it was set up with the Android app, I could access it via the iPhone version of the app.

I can only imagine some iPhone owner literally threw it in the trash because he couldn’t get the iOS app to work. Bonkers…

[1] https://files.littlebird.com.au/pb-BfEVPbWlDe-hkxfK0.png

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EEVBlog had a video about mod'ing a dumpster-found Sonos Play 5 into a cloud-free working system.

EDIT: Whoops, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeIk-4ItQ70

They (Sonos) basically willfully attempted to brick their consumer devices, and since many sonos customers were prosumer enthusiasts but not technical (hw or sw) it really did signal EOL for the products. Bananas. I still have a my Play1/3/5 infrastructure operating through Home Assistant and AirBridge that turns them into Airplay devices. It's not perfect but still gives them utility. Considering how much they f'n cost..

Perfect! It turns out this was a Sonos Play 5 too[1], although mine is seems to be a newer Model S100!

Funnily enough, I own an electronics company and Dave is just down the road :-)

[1] https://files.littlebird.com.au/pb-BfEVPbWlDe-hkxfK0.png

I have some old Sonos speakers that have been gathering dust for a while.

I decided to sell them because they still have some value but I don't really want them, especially with what the company has done recently.

However, I wanted to set them up again to make sure they work. I spent hours trying to get them to set up again with no luck. I'm sure this is exactly what other users are experiencing. The old app was so nice and reliable. I don't have an opinion on the new app because I just literally can't get it to connect.

And I know they're not dead. One has an audio-in jack and still plays. It works great. There's no reason any of them shouldn't be fine. The only thing that changed was the app. I just want to get them set up so I can sell them on Marketplace for a good price as fully working.

Old Sonos hardware works great with Roon.

I am very annoyed at the planned obsolescence that Sonos has been pushing for a while now. I stopped buying new Sonos hardware, I'm still using all my old hardware, just not with the terrible Sonos apps, but with Roon.

I also took to aggressively repairing very old hardware that was actually failing (ZP80 players), because of the Sonos planned obsolescence policy. Recapping the PSU did the job, and I intend to keep them going for as long as I possibly can.

Wtf, their pricing model is almost as bad as the planned obsolescence. $15 a month just to connect your hardware? Ridiculous.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. I would also like to get everything FREE FREE FREE, but I've grown tired of using software and services whose goals are not aligned with mine. I don't want ads, progressive ensh*ttification, and all the other crap. So I'm paying the $149/year for Roon, and I have perfect lossless (FLAC) audio playback on all of my devices, along with good library management and fantastic liner notes for Jazz.

As a fringe benefit, it lets me use all of my old Sonos devices (as well as a modern Denon). And lets me listen to my FLAC music in a reasonably decent phone app as well.

In other words, I think the value proposition is sound. Importantly, their goals are aligned with mine: I want to listen to music and I pay them to maintain software that lets me listen to music. They want to get paid, so they maintain software that lets me listen to music. This is a very different relationship than most.

Works for me!

It's insane to think of the collective number of hours wasted on this.

Yet people will still buy Sonos!

Are there any alternatives (for multi-speaker synced audio) since the Chromecast Audio was discontinued?

Have a look at these: bluesound, audiopro, bang-olufsen, denon.

Depending on which software is in use for streaming operations, you could also use ‘standard’ WiFi-enabled speakers like something from KEF (LS50) or dynaudio.

Just from top of my head. Maybe someone else has a comprehensive liste at hand.

Soundboks 4 sync wirelessly with each other. They’re also battery driven and absurdly loud, so perfect for bringing outdoors or a dance party somewhere.

They just had a 30% sale for the holidays though, so might not be worth getting them at full price

I’m still using chromecast audio they work great!

Be thankful Sonos no longer have 'recycle mode' - an antifeature which gave customers a discount in exchange for permanently bricking their old Sonos hardware. They were forced to discontinue the practice after backlash.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/5/21166777/sonos-ending-recy...

Funnily enough I bought a Sub Mini last year and had to borrow an iPad to add it to my system because it failed on Android, even when being walked through the process by someone from Sonos support.

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