You can “bond” the Sub to the speaker or speakers that have been set up as a room. That could be a single speaker or a stereo pair (or a home theatre system with soundbar and two surrounds). But the sub has to be “de-bonded” to assign it to a different room. When grouping rooms, if the Sub is part of a room configuration it will still play, even if there is no Sub in the other rooms in the group. 

Thank you. I’m not looking to move it different rooms, just use it with that one room, and the 4 speaks that make up that room. So it’ll work with all 4, and pull the bass from them?

It will “pull the bass” from whichever speaker(s) you bond it to. 

Can I bond it to the two stereo pairs at the same time, same group same room?

Didn’t I already answer that? It can be bonded to one room, whether that’s a stereo pair or a single speaker. But only to one room. 

No.  A Sub can bond to a single Sonos Room, i.e. a single speaker, a stereo speaker pair, or a home theater system.  Each of these are defined as a Sonos "Room" and just because you have multiple speakers grouped in the same location does not make them a Sonos Room.

Ok that answers that question, thank you. 
would you bond it to the 5s or the ones?

Try it bonded to one stereo pair. It may give different results depending on placement in your room, so try it in a few locations. Then try it bonded to the other pair, again in several locations. 
Whichever combination and placement sounds the best to you is the way to go. 

Hi

Just for further clarification…

If you intend to ALWAYS play the Fives and Ones together (IMO) it doesn’t matter whether you bond the sub to the Fives or Ones.

Let's take Sonos out of the conversation for a moment and talk about the audio being sent to any speaker (Sonos or any brand).

The source sending the audio doesn’t know if the audio will be heard through a speaker with a single driver or one with multiple drivers capable of processing Highs, Mids and Lows individually. The source will send the same number of packets regardless. The speaker then decides how it will process the information.

If the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) sees that if can separate the packets of high, mid and low frequencies to multiple drivers it will do so. The drivers depending upon their size and materials used determines the clarity of the sound. A silk dome tweeter produces better highs than a paper dome tweeter. However the packets sent by the source are the same.

Back to Sonos. If the DAC in the Five or One determines it can send the packet of low frequencies to the Sonos Sub then it will do so. The sub then processes the low frequency packets of information based upon how Sonos has designed it to do so. The Five or Ones now have more head room to better process the high and mid range frequency packets. 

When a Sonos sub is properly set the low-end frequency should be non-directional. That said if the Fives and Ones are grouped in the same room the only disticntion you should hear is a difference in the processing of the high and mid range frequencies based upon your relative position to the Fives or Ones. If standing equal distance from all four speakers the listening curve should sound flat; meaning the music sounds the same from any direction.

If you listen to your Fives and Ones separately I’d bond the sub to the Ones for a better low-end as the Fives perform quite well without the sub. When grouped the listening results would be the same as described above. For optimum results; assuming you have or have access to an iOS device, I recommend Trueplay tuning of the Fives and Ones each as an individual room/zone.

I have a rectangle living room, roughly 26x12. This is a picture of how/where it’s setup. The fives and ones are always played together. 

I have a rectangle living room, roughly 26x12. This is a picture of how/where it’s setup. The fives and ones are always played together. 

 

I would still bond the sub to the Ones for the reasons I stated. When in your listening position you should not be able to determine the direction the low-end (aka the placement of the sub). Typically placing the sub in a corner (my choice) or behind/underneath a sofa gives the best results. You may have to experiment to determine the best location.

I had it in the corner near the stove and I could DEFINITELY hear it and tell where it’s coming from. It’s better where it is now. I have it set at 7. I’m not really sure if it’s worth what I paid for it, honestly. I think I’d rather buy outdoor speakers and connect them to the system. 

When the sub was in the corner were you able to use true play? 

No I didn’t….  I guess I could put it back there and try it. 

Ideally a subwoofer should be in the same plain, midway between the speakers. In general, if blindfolded and brought into a room with an active subwoofer, your accuracy at being able to point to the subwoofer location is very low. If, for example, the subwoofer is placed in a corner behind you, your pointing accuracy will improve.

As you have discovered, subwoofers are very sensitive to their location in the room. Efficiency increases dramatically when placed in a corner. Overall, only you will know what sounds “best”.

Thank you. And yes in front with only one sounds better, it is halfway in between the fives. I turned the bass on the speakers down. One to -2 and fives to +3 with treble at 6 on both. The sub is set at +7 and it sounds right to me. Just enough bass but but to much. On certain stuff it needs turned down. But most of the stuff we listen to, red dirt, rock n roll, generally stuff with guitars it sounds right. I just don’t know if it sounds $640 right though. 

Obviously, adding a subwoofer to a smaller speaker system increases the amount of bass. Another improvement is an increase in overall midrange clarity because the job presented to the smaller speaker is simplified.