Sonos S1 in 2023?

mungler

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I’m considering buying a few cheap S1 Sonos amps as a cheapish whole home audio upgrade.

Background: moved to a new house which had a legacy Linn Knect system, didn’t like the sound and found it a bit clunky. Handy for me it used CAT-5e cabling so re-terminated the ends and now have a whole-home network at least.

I initially replaced the Linn RoomAmps with Raspberry Pi 3B units with HifiBerry Amp2 add-ons, running HifiBerryOS. We really like the sound quality and convenience, and using Spotify Connect works fine. Multi-zone sync is where the problems start - the open source AirPlay2 implementation is very flaky, things will randomly stop working and essentially it’s not meeting that Wife Acceptance Factor. So I’m left with unamplified ceiling speakers in each room, and network cables in place, looking for a solution.

I’m not finding many options out there, unless I’m willing to get seriously spendy. There are six places I’d need amps and I don’t have the budget for eg the Sonos S2 Amp.

I’m not very familiar with Sonos gear, but I think I’m getting my head around the S1 / S2 split.

I’m wondering, since the S1 stuff is still supported, and it’s possible to pick up ZP100/ZP120s fairly cheap on eBay, might this be a solution?

All I really need is the ability for family members to stream Spotify to one or more zones in the house, ideally with EQ controls from iOS.

Thanks a lot in advance for any wisdom!
 
For what it's worth, my entire Sonos system (4 amps, 1 connect, a Play 3 and a couple of Play 1s) are all still v1 and I can't, for now anyway, think of a reason to upgrade so I'd say they are still entirely practical in 2023...
 
Hi,

Thanks for your reply. In fact I went all in on this plan and bought:

7x ZP100 amps
1x ZP80 to connect to an existing amp
3x Play:5 speakers for rooms that lack built in speakers

Total cost about £800

And I have to say I’m very happy with the results. The system does everything I (and more importantly the wife) needs, and sounds great. The Play:5 units are phenomenal.

As a primarily Spotify but also Soundcloud family, it does everything we need. There’s no Airplay but I never really use it anyway, and I strongly suspect we’ll get a good number of years from this system yet.

Very happy!

Cheers!
 
There’s no Airplay but I never really use it anyway

That’s a bargain, people are so keen to upgrade they often forget what a bargain old kit is if it still meets your needs.

If you did want to add AirPlay support, there are various apps like SonoAir based on the open source AirConnect library that can act as a bridge between AirPlay & Sonos - basically it makes every Sonos speaker / endpoint appear as a virtual AirPlay device.

I used to run it in the background on my NAS when I had a Sonos setup.

Also, for other thinking of using older Sonos S1 kit it’s worth pointing out that they make good / cheap Roon endpoints.
 
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That’s a bargain, people are so keep to upgrade they often forget what a bargain old kit is if it still meets your needs.

If you did want to add AirPlay support, there are various apps like SonoAir based on the open source AirConnect library that can act as a bridge between AirPlay & Sonos - basically it makes every Sonos speaker / endpoint appear as a virtual AirPlay device.

I used to run it in the background on my NAS when I had a Sonos setup.

Also, for other thinking of using older Sonos S1 kit it’s worth pointing out that they make good / cheap Roon endpoints.
Hey, thanks a lot for your thoughts. I wasn’t aware of AirConnect / SonoAir - thanks for the tip!

I’m over the moon with my new setup, I’d encourage anyone in a similar position to do the same.
 
Do you have any concerns that Sonos will stop service to these devices , I own one and am concerned that at some point it will become a door stop if S1 becomes a shut down for Sonos ?
 
Not really, I don’t see how they realistically could without doing something to allow them to keep working, even if it means open-sourcing the control app and relevant infrastructure somehow, because people have spent thousands on these systems. Maybe I’m wrong but I think I’ll get my money’s worth over the next few years at least.
 
Hi,

Thanks for your reply. In fact I went all in on this plan and bought:

7x ZP100 amps
1x ZP80 to connect to an existing amp
3x Play:5 speakers for rooms that lack built in speakers

Total cost about £800

And I have to say I’m very happy with the results. The system does everything I (and more importantly the wife) needs, and sounds great. The Play:5 units are phenomenal.

As a primarily Spotify but also Soundcloud family, it does everything we need. There’s no Airplay but I never really use it anyway, and I strongly suspect we’ll get a good number of years from this system yet.

Very happy!

Cheers!
Hey Buddy, I’ve been thinking of a similar affordable setup and I’ve gotten myself confused with all the options out there.

Your Play:5’s, are they the Gen. 1?
I see i can get the Gen 1 Play:3 & 5 for approximately £100 each and wondered if these could work just for streaming audio in a temporary WFH office.
Please let me know.
Cheers.
 
Hey,

Yeah, the Play:5 is gen1. I actually looked at the Play:3 too, but tbh in second hand terms, I found the Play:5 to be around the same price as the Play:3 - like £10-20 difference, so I went with the 5's.

In fact, looking back at my ebay purchases, I paid £75 for a black Play:5 in great condition!

Good luck, keep us posted!
 
Hey,

Yeah, the Play:5 is gen1. I actually looked at the Play:3 too, but tbh in second hand terms, I found the Play:5 to be around the same price as the Play:3 - like £10-20 difference, so I went with the 5's.

In fact, looking back at my ebay purchases, I paid £75 for a black Play:5 in great condition!

Good luck, keep us posted!
Excellent! Reddit was all doom and gloom about buying a Gen 1 Play 5 that i kind of got cold feet.
Decided to check on here and found your post.
Exciting times!
I’ll be getting mine off CEX and will post up once it’s here and setup.
 
Well I’m glad, although now feel a bit concerned that they’ll suddenly pull the plug on S1. Somehow I doubt it though, and even if official support ended, I think the hacking community would come up with solutions.
 
Well I’m glad, although now feel a bit concerned that they’ll suddenly pull the plug on S1. Somehow I doubt it though, and even if official support ended, I think the hacking community would come up with solutions.
End of support isn't the end of the world I think.
Device should still work as intended and not have any new features added to it.
I have an iPad 2 from the early 60's (tech wise), support ended a while ago but it still works for the occasional Netflix.
Another thing, all i need to use the Sonos Play 5 is the S1 app and wifi yeah?
I noticed you bought a bunch of ZP100 amps.
Just need to be sure all my ducks are in a row before pulling the trigger.
 
I bought horses for courses, basically:

  • ZP100 amps for rooms that already had unpowered wired ceiling speakers
  • ZP80 for the living room, connected via TOSlink / optical to our existing AV receiver
  • Play 5 units for the home office, hallway and one bedroom which lacked speakers

So, to confirm - you should be totally fine with the Play 5, wifi and the S1 app :)
 
By the way, I only twigged that CeX is a good source (2 year warranty! Accurate condition reports!) after buying most of my stuff off eBay. One of the ZP100s I bought off eBay turned out to be in Recycling Mode - i.e. bricked. The guy claimed not to have been aware but anyway accepted a return and refunded me, so no big deal.
 
A few photos of my aged-but-still-great kit and my install :)
 

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I just read there is a bit of an audio delay if connected via 3.5mm to a TV or monitor.
I guess that rules it out for me.
Unless getting a zone player will sort that out? Optical to ZP and ZP to Play:5?
 
Hmm, I’ve no idea dude, sorry. I thought the optical port on eg the ZP80 is an output only (that’s how I’m using it) but I could be wrong. Not totally sure what you’re trying to achieve, but I understand that the Play 5 can be used as a “dumb” speaker via 3.5mm input - whether that involves a delay or not, I’m not sure. Good luck!
 
Actually the ZP80 has RCA inputs, which are selectable as an audio source in the S1 app so I guess that would work?
 
Hmm, I’ve no idea dude, sorry. I thought the optical port on eg the ZP80 is an output only (that’s how I’m using it) but I could be wrong. Not totally sure what you’re trying to achieve, but I understand that the Play 5 can be used as a “dumb” speaker via 3.5mm input - whether that involves a delay or not, I’m not sure. Good luck!
What i'm trying to achieve is having a wireless speaker in my home office, with decent sound, at a decent price, that i can also connect to my TV/Monitor for casual gaming or watching the odd movie/show.
I had considered studio monitors briefly (Edifier) then logitech PC speakers, and now, here i am.
 
I'd say give it a try with the Play:5. In the app, there are options for configuring audio delay from line-in sources (at least, there are for the ZonePlayers, i'm away from home right now so can't check the Play:5s...) and if you're unhappy you could very likely sell it on for about the same price you paid. (If you do this, hit me up, i'll probably buy it :D )
 

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