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Need bluetooth for Play 1, thinking of buying a Play 5, but need to be able to play music without accessing the Sonos app at all


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We have purchased a Play 1 for a home owner who wanted wireless audio in the bathroom. Our issues though are: 1) he refuses to use the Sonos app and 2) it turns out he mostly uses the YouTube app on an iPhone as a music source.
After researching the forums thoroughly, I have come to understand that we could buy a Play 5 for him along with a Bluetooth receiver, put it in another room, and the audio could be sent to both the Play 5 and the Play 1 that way. What I need to understand before investing in another Sonos is speaker is whether (after the initial setup) the audio could be sent from the iPhone via Bluetooth without using the Sonos app at all: just turn on bluetooth, connect to the receiver and play audio from the phone.
If that's the case, during the initial setup in the Sonos app I could select whether the audio is sent automatically to the Play 1, the Play 5 or both, right? And if I manage to convince him to learn how to use the app, he could use it to select which of the speakers (or both) will play music.
But again, it's very important for him to be able to play music to at least one of the speakers without opening the Sonos app at all.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I hope my description is not confusing. If it's not too much to ask, maybe someone with a similar setup could test it? He's already not impressed with the Play 1 purchase, if we get him a 5 and it doesn't work the way he wants he'll be fuming.
Thanks in advance.
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Best answer by pwt 9 October 2017, 14:54

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10 replies

Userlevel 4
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To be fair, sounds like you should just replace it with a bluetooth speaker then. Seems like a waste of money and time to try and change the Play:1 into a BT capable speaker.
Userlevel 7
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Yes, you can do this. You set up Autoplay for the Line In to which the BT receiver is connected, and you can nominate a single Autoplay Room (not multiple rooms or a group). However, as the previous poster indicated, this does seem to be jumping through (costly) hoops to achieve a result that would be native to a simple BT speaker.
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Thank you both for your replies. I know I'm going to extremes, but I'm trying to examine all cases before deciding the play 1 is to be replaced. One more question: since only one room can be nominated as "autoplay room", would it be possible for both speakers to be added to this room and as a result sound from the bluetooth receiver would be sent to both the play 5 and the play 1? Another solution (besides the ideal, purchasing a bluetooth or airplay speaker) would be to buy a connect instead of a play 5, achieving a similar result, right?
Userlevel 4
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Yes, a Connect, or a Connect:AMP which also has line-in would give you the same functionality. The Connect would be the least costly one, but also the least versatile. A Play:5 you can at least listen to without any other gear 🙂
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Yes, a Connect, or a Connect:AMP which also has line-in would give you the same functionality. The Connect would be the least costly one, but also the least versatile. A Play:5 you can at least listen to without any other gear :)
My thoughts exactly, but can anyone confirm that I could use the autoplay function of the 5's line in to listen from both speakers (adding them to the same room maybe)?
If the autoplay will only work for a single speaker then either the play 1 will remain unused (and I could switch a new bluetooth or airplay speaker instead of a sonos) or the play 5 will only be used as a line in source (and as a result could be replaced by a cheaper connect). But if the autoplay can work for both speakers, fantastic. I have added another speaker and bluetooth connectivity, an expensive but acceptable solution!
Userlevel 4
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You can listen to line-in synchronized on as many player as you want, but I think you need to manually group them (using the Sonos app) since the auto line-in can only be configured for a single speaker.

I don't recall exactly, and don't have my system readily available at this moment. pwt mentioned that it is restricted to a single room, meaning grouping is a secondary step. So it would be an ill fit for someone who refuses to use the Sonos app.
Userlevel 7
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I don't recall exactly, and don't have my system readily available at this moment. pwt mentioned that it is restricted to a single room, meaning grouping is a secondary step. So it would be an ill fit for someone who refuses to use the Sonos app.

I don't know for sure, either, as to whether currently set-up groups are respected when Autoplay kicks in. I doubt it, but I'd have to test it -- sorry.
All speakers grouped with the Autoplay speaker will play, unless you set the 'Ungroup on Autoplay" setting to on.
Userlevel 7
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All speakers grouped with the Autoplay speaker will play, unless you set the 'Ungroup on Autoplay" setting to on.
You're right. The 'Include Grouped Rooms' check-box appears once an Autoplay Room has been selected. (That's how it's presented on the PC interface, anyway.)
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Thank you all very much for taking the time to examine my situation. I think I'll propose buying a Play 5 to the owner and see what he thinks. I'll let you know how it goes in due time...