The real kick in the nuts is that Sonos is quite handy if you’re looking for whole house audio. Or it used to be.
Decent speakers that run over WiFi and don’t require knocking holes in walls. Could stream from your NAS, from a line in jack from a tv, or bridge your “real” stereo to your sonos products.
But they keep breaking all the things one by one. At this point I’m just waiting for someone to hack the speakers so I can use them with a foss alternative.
I’m glad I am on their older version. Their recent update was a shit show. They removed: sleep timer, queue management, access to music on a NAS… you know, all things I bought the product for. And then they’re announcing adding them back like it’s a good thing they’re doing. “We listened…!”
I know I’m just an undereducated consumer, but rough month for Sonos as far as my purchase plans went.
I went out mid-May to get a soundbar and headphones. As hard as it is, I sucked up my impulsive purchase drive because reportedly there was a big sale (25%) coming plus the new headphones had leaked and were going to be WiFi.
June comes. Headphones aren’t WiFi. Seeing privacy stories about Sonos.
So I let the 25% deal go by and still haven’t bought anything.
This is my take also: if I ever spend money on good audio, I'll be stuck spending lots of audio for the rest of my life. I'd rather live in the dark and by cheap second hand stuff that's probably not great than never enjoy music again without spending thousands.
If she cares about aesthetics but is fine with the current functions. Maybe there is a way to do some kind of low level mod of the outside that wouldn't mess with the actual sound? I am not a case modder on really any level. But with all the folks that love making stuff "theirs," I would bet there are guides about changing the look of basic speakers. Or even audio shops that do custom builds that could allow for her to get the aesthetics (and even mean more) while keeping the functions that you want to keep. Though I also imagine that it would cost more up-front, but I think that we are going to see stuff that isn't "smart" or requiring accounts tied to apps that will eventually stop working artificially be the most expensive options.
But those "dumb" devices will last many years longer. Just really hate how these current "premium" brands make shit that is both less well made AND constantly sell off our data. Also bullshit that the concept of repairing stuff is being made basically pointless as they make sure it costs around the same or more than buying the new one.