"one of the most significant breakthroughs in audio engineering in nearly 100 years”.
It would be one of the most significant breakthroughs in audio industry if Sonos and other WiFi speaker brands would go bankrupt and their workforce would move on to develop something, anything more useful than wifi speaker with proprietary app.
You do not know what you're talking about. The $50 no name soundbar from Walmart might not be an improvement but soundbars from Sonos (and others) are MAJOR upgrades.
A surround sound system will likely sound better (again not the $100 combo pack from Walmart) but requires placing speakers in the proper places...which most people do not even do
I don't place my speakers in the right spots, but luckily (like Sonos and others) room correction software really helps with this. Especially after A1Evo.
Soundbars are a great solution really, I never understood the negativity towards them. It's all I recommend to my friends as I know they are unable to comprehend what a receiver is and then what speakers to get and let's not go into subs.