There is definitely a market for Sonos or something like that. Just take a look at how traditional brands have also come up with amplifiers (whether with expansion options like wireless and sub surround sound or not) which, in my experience, put a lot of money in the market for the sound you get. But, you are right that everything looks much friendlier and easier to make “invisible” inside.

I love the old fashioned myself. Instead wired and especially not ‘smart’, because it always works/will always work (except for hardware failures of course), even if the manufacturer goes bankrupt after a while and the app no ​​longer works.

On top of that, I always find the music sub to sound quite unnatural, usually because the main speakers are actually too small for a good midrange. It also doesn’t help that with most people who have a sub where I come from, it’s set way too present/loud compared to the main speakers. Sure, more bass isn’t always better in my opinion, it has to be balanced, but that seems to be a less popular opinion. A sub is good for series/movies.

You will only get Smart DSP so far. It’s very clever what they can sometimes get from relatively small speakers, but for me I prefer no active postprocessing through the speakers.