My brother asked me for a audio solution for a project of his and proposed Sonos. His use case was basically connecting a phone to the speaker system.
I explained why I wouldn’t take it and my main argument is that any “smart” device isn’t exactly reliable in the long term, be it missing updates for old hardware, cutting out features, servers that stop working etc.
He got a simple Amp with a single volume knob now and some decent passives. Phone connects via line cable.
He may be interested in devices which can connect to a phone via bluetooth and to amps via standard audio cables. They basically turn any old amp/speakers setup into a wireless streaming one, and they work quite well.
I use something exactly like this product (an old one from monoprice actually I believe). Simply plugs into the back of a 2.1 speaker set I have. Guests at my place love it, they can easily just connect to the Bluetooth and play through speakers. Pretty seamless. Not sure of any quality drop, my speakers aren't the best.
Right, I use a TT-BA08 to plug my cheap cable headphones in (since most new Smarthones ditched the 3.5mm), which connects to another one which is only a sender (and has no volume controls). That sender receives a line-out of a little analog mixer into which a PC and other devices plug in.
This is quite nice, because it allows me to stand up and walk around while the PC continues its audio playback.
I explained why I wouldn’t take it and my main argument is that any “smart” device isn’t exactly reliable in the long term, be it missing updates for old hardware, cutting out features, servers that stop working etc.
He got a simple Amp with a single volume knob now and some decent passives. Phone connects via line cable.