What critical innovation did Sonos implement to transform the consumer experience with multi-room audio starting in the early 2000s?

Answer

A software layer allowing easy grouping, ungrouping, and synchronized control across zones from a single interface.

While earlier systems proved the concept, Sonos is credited with solving the usability problem that plagued complex wired setups. Their transformation lay not just in using standard Wi-Fi for wireless connection, but in developing sophisticated software. This software layer provided users with an intuitive interface, often via a smartphone app, that allowed for immediate grouping and perfectly synchronized playback across multiple designated zones, such as the kitchen and dining room. This abstracted the complexity of managing discrete zones and eliminated the audible delays or phase issues that plagued earlier analog attempts at synchronization.

What critical innovation did Sonos implement to transform the consumer experience with multi-room audio starting in the early 2000s?

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