SONOS to no longer provide updates to legacy products
 

Are you sure about that? I’m not.

It actually does make sense, 10 years in the digital world is a long time. Since then I am sure they have made improvements. I did the 30 percent trade up deal with one of my connect amps to the new version which definitely sounds better ie more relaxed sounding. New amp. is double the power. I have it running a pair of Sonos Faber Guarneri Mementos along with a Sonos sub. which is providing the front channel for a tv . I gave away my zone units to family members a few years ago. I still have one more connect amp. I use to power outdoor speakers so I'll probably end up buying the new one of those as well. I have a few Sonos sound bars on other TV sets which I have been happy with.

Well - Sonos got the message and has clarified the way forward!!

SONOS to no longer provide updates to legacy products
 

In an email from Sonos...

All Sonos products will continue to work past May


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

As usual the internet panics for no reason.

I called SONOS and spoke with a tech support person. He said that you will still be able to play the same music throughout your legacy and modern systems at the same time. This will be at least until the legacy units are no longer capable of playing the music from services that SONOS links to that goes beyond the capability of the legacy SONOS unit. This sounds reasonable. The CEO could have worded it better regarding "split systems". Seems the split is only regarding the updates and not playing music, at least for the near term. I then asked for information regarding the DAC chip in the SONOS Port. The tech said he will email me information. Hopefully he does and the chip is capable of much higher resolution, even better than the modified SONOS connect.

Sonos has steadfastly focused on 16/44.1 - their system is built around it. It will be interesting to see if and when they move away from that position.

None of their current hardware will accept signals greater than 16/44.1. I have tried. ;)

I have 4 legacy units and they come in handy when you aren’t doing critical listening like in the garage or shed.

is there a reasonable alternative to Sonos, other than a listening device (otherwise known as a smart speaker) from AMZ, Google, etc.?

Thanks.