They pretend to respect integrators because they're not stupid- they aren't going to intentionally burn a bunch of potential sales just for fun. But the facts that they only develop products that are DIY focused, and that their "integration" with control systems basically forces an end user to interact with their app, make it pretty clear that they are not targeting custom integrators as their major sales channel the way they were a decade ago.

I don't think we are talking about weeks or months of advance notice....we are talking about 1-2 hours of heads up so maybe a customer does not call and ask us about it and we don't know what the heck he is talking about...I am talking about a bare minimum of respect.

Guess I didn't realize that Playbase was a thing. Just got the email. LOL

Sonos partnered with Sanus to create a TV stand/mount that supports the TV above the playbar.  There should be some info about it somewhere on the Sonos website.

I think it will be successful for Sonos, probably just not many sold through our channel.

I don't think so, or rather I don't think that is the whole issue. I think they are absolutely tone deaf. I believe that they "think" that they are dealer centric but have walled off any sort of effective feedback loop from the reps firms. Their sales reps are not trained to understand what we really want but somehow just take back their own message.

You do realize that you are defending a company as caring about your business in a thread that is about how they completely ignored your business with a new product launch, yes?

That's why Sonos, on their website, offers a Sanus stand that sits on the base just for those applications ;).

Edit:
Damn, Paul you beat me to it .

Exactly where do I defend them? I simply offer a different explanation for their deplorable behavior.

[Link: remotecentral.com]

PLaybase might do a bit better than the speakercraft version, but I don't expect to sell any. I wonder how long it will take for the reps to "push" these on your sales or threaten you.
Seems like a product for the big box store for apartment dwellers.

quote of the day. That was good.

Ooohh, only $850 for the combo. I'll just use a PlayBar.

The stats that were being thrown around a while ago were...
Close to 50% of 'TV speakers' sold by Bose were soundbases.
So maybe they fell for that stat and went about designing soundbases.

Ask most other manufacturers and they'll tell you that soundbases simply rot in their warehouses. If Sonos can rejuvenate the soundbase market, then maybe it'll help the other brands do their thing?

I do look forward to the first customer who buys a soundbar with a wireless sub and a couple of Play 3's as rears... I will be laughing at the customer, but secretly high-fiving the person who sold the customer on the concept.

Remember folk, soundbases aren't home theatre - they're a monstrosity.

My partner was receiving phone calls about the product from customers before the announcement reached us.

They seem to communicate with people well- I was called by someone who received a 30% discount offer directly from Sonos after she had looked online, then went to a dealer to get a quote. When she returned home and checked her emails, the one from Sonos showed up and the dealer had no idea they were doing this.

We shouldn't have to compete with manufacturers, EVER!