Sonos Ace

[What Hi-Fi?]

Sonos goes big and drops its first-ever wireless headphones – but has it dropped the ball too?

Sonos Ace : Read more

 

[NexusAnarchy]

As always, a thorough review. My first time posting...

I read the initial version of your review over a week ago (ish), which said they were potentially good (with some clearly stated caveats, so no beef there!). I was tempted with a 15% discount offer (previous Sonos upgrade credit) so I've ordered these, and now they've arrived.

But after reading the updated review... I've stopped at the line, and not yet unsealed the box! Other reviewers are giving these a good rap, but I know they're not really coming from an "audiophiles" angle like you guys do.

The sound quality comments and score concerns me the most. All the other features seem good, even with some of the current glitches or others still to arrive.

So I wonder, how much of the final sound output is related to the physical dynamics of the build, the choice of components, versus the DAC and other software / device processing, sound profiling / EQ etc?

I.e. is it likely or possible (or probable!) that the sound muddyness and lack of presence etc might be improved after a firmware or software update?

To be fair, my general use case is listening to music and doing the occasional Zoom or call at the office, or on the plane when I travel. I'm replacing my old Bose Quiet Comfort 35s, which did the job nicely. So maybe they're perfectly suited for that? If a little pricey!

 Hmmm. To return them unopened, or unbox and try them out?!?

 

[Richard Howlett]

As always, a thorough review. My first time posting...

I read the initial version of your review over a week ago (ish), which said they were potentially good (with some clearly stated caveats, so no beef there!). I was tempted with a 15% discount offer (previous Sonos upgrade credit) so I've ordered these, and now they've arrived.

But after reading the updated review... I've stopped at the line, and not yet unsealed the box! Other reviewers are giving these a good rap, but I know they're not really coming from an "audiophiles" angle like you guys do.

The sound quality comments and score concerns me the most. All the other features seem good, even with some of the current glitches or others still to arrive.

So I wonder, how much of the final sound output is related to the physical dynamics of the build, the choice of components, versus the DAC and other software / device processing, sound profiling / EQ etc?

I.e. is it likely or possible (or probable!) that the sound muddyness and lack of presence etc might be improved after a firmware or software update?

To be fair, my general use case is listening to music and doing the occasional Zoom or call at the office, or on the plane when I travel. I'm replacing my old Bose Quiet Comfort 35s, which did the job nicely. So maybe they're perfectly suited for that? If a little pricey!

 Hmmm. To return them unopened, or unbox and try them out?!?

Why don't you open them and try them out. You have 30 days to return them free for a full refund when purchased direct from Sonos. Their return scheme is excellent; I have used it.

 

[Amadeus1756]

I agree with Richard; use the return policy, see how *you* find the sound - it may be that to your ears they sound great, but if they don't, send the headphones back and you can look at alternatives (even with the Sonos name, my understanding is that there is some missing expected functionality when it comes to integration with any existing Sonos environment that you have). Personally, I find the research one of the fun aspects (but historically I've been gutted and fallen into paralysis when I expected a product purchase to be a no-brainer but found after trial there was some kind of blocker for me).
Note also the ongoing Sonos issues with the controller app which I just posted about here.