Question

Will 2 play 5's Work with playbar? Or did I make a mistake?

  • 12 February 2013
  • 58 replies
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I just bought into the Sonos Experience on New Years. The sales rep. said their was rumor of the playbar..which led to my decision to buy (2) play 5's, in hopes that in the near future I could also use them for Hometheater experience. What I have read thus far concerns me. No mention of Play 5 combined with Playbar.?? Will they work, or did I make a mistake....??

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58 replies

sonos 5 (gen2) works fine with playbar
https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2938/
My post was not to educate the knowledgable .. My search for sonos playbar play 5 led to 3 such posts (1 year - 2 year) and both posts not concluding that the the latest play 5 infact works (unlike gen1 play5) - and my update was for the benefit of such people arriving from search engine.

(I'd have expected mods here to have closed this thread if it was expected none of us to update with the latest on this question "Will 2 play 5's Work with playbar?")
Userlevel 5
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Despite the technical incompatibility, a pair of Play5 as surround speakers would be an overkill.

I don't disagree Peng!
Just arrived at this thread Oct 2016. Thanks for clarifying about the next generation of Play:5s! Your presumption was correct!
Userlevel 5
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Hi. No, the Play:5 will not be able to work in a surround sound setup. Just the Play:3 have the low latency 5 GHz card needed for this. I urge you to take use of the Sonos 45 day money back guarantee and change to two Play:3 devices. Regards, Johan
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Johan, Are you an employee of Sonos? The reason I'm asking, is I called the 1.800.680.2345 number and spoke to support tech. I asked the very same question I posted. The answer I got back was "Asbolutely". I responded by letting him know that it only list play 3 on the website...his response was he "understood my concern, but play 5 will work." Now I'm really confused.....Can someone verify this for me?
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User67513, You were given incorrect information on the phone. Please accept my apologies for that. The PLAY:3 is the only player unit (not counting the SUB) that can be paired with the PLAYBAR. Once again, I apologize for the inaccurate information relayed to you on the phone. John
Userlevel 4
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Hello, Johan is not an employee of Sonos - just a very helpful member of this community. I apologize, you were not given the correct information when you called our support team. The PLAY:5 does not have a 5 GHz WiFi card and does not have the ability to be added in a surround sound setup with the PLAYBAR. Only the Sonos PLAY:3 and SUB have will work as satellite components with the PLAYBAR.
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If this is the case. There is going to be allot of frustrated people who own Sonos Play5's. Allot of us purchased the play 5 for a better Sounding speaker and didn't mind spending the extra cash to get that little extra sound. I hope Sonos has not disregarded those customers by leaving them out of being a part of their Home Theater experience, ....hmmmm??? not cool. This is the whole reason behind the marketing. Sonos Customers will be able to Add sonos components for a more complete experience....Guess they better do away with their marketing campain if this is true...????
Userlevel 7
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As Johan mentioned, the reason is because the Play:3's have the 5GHz wireless capability that the Playbar also has, resulting in a fast enough connection to serve the two rear speakers and the Sub (which also has the 5GHz wireless), all with discrete audio channels at a very low latency.
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Understand the technical issue. But like the previous comment, I too bought the bigger Play 5s for the overall better sound and for a big room. (As this was only last year, it would have been good to have the caveat of the restriction on wireless speed called out at the time.) Maybe SONOS could consider providing a hardware mod to update the wireless chip? Send the Play 5 away and get it back in a few days? Love the gear, company support normally excellent. Yet this just leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth...
I am in the same boat. When I purchased my PLAY:5's I had no choice because the PLAY:3's did not exist. I really don't want to have to replace my PLAY:5's to get 5.1 sound.
The Bose Solo is half the price and puts out enough sound to make it the only need for your TV. and no I am not a Bose employee.
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Thanks Paul. If it were simply a cost issue I would agree. But having already got two Sonos speakers and the SUB in the room this is simply leveraging the investment I have already made rather than add another technology. And the Sonos solution with soundbar + SUB + 2 Play 3s will give me 5.1 surround sound with all the quality of my Sonos system.
I am in the same boat! But my play:5s are WIRED (so the 5GHz card cant be the issue). Is there some way to make this work?
Userlevel 1
i was able to make this work..... although you cannot pair the play 5's w the playbar, you can still use them when watching tv by grouping them together. I have a setup with playbar, sub, and 2 play 3 surrounds, and I then add the play 5's in "stereo" to the mix while watching tv..... i was able to eliminate the audio echo tw the playbar and play 5's by manipulating the lip sych setting within the playbar advanced audio. works fine, all synched up and awesome! For SURROUND purposes, the play 3's with the sub and the playbar are more than adequate for my room - 20' x 20'. The play 5's just give another kick to the mix
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CHECK THIS OUT...(btw. I'm the one who started this post). I recently purchased a sub and playbar with the understanding that my play 5's will not work for 5.1... I wanted it for our home theater experience and to expand my sonos system. I was told by the best buy rep. that the new update will allow us to use paired play fives as rears. I let him know that I would have to see it to believe it....Is this True?? Anyone? btw...the playbar(for music) with Sub sounds just as good if not better than paired play5's with sub....Great Sound!!!!
I'm totally with the boatload of people complaining the Play 5s don't work with the new sound bar and bass! I have the same issue.Your Company is doing great things with wireless but you are also punishing the loyal customers, like me, who bought Play 5s because we wanted more quality in our speaker system. Is this a marketing ploy to get us to buy an inferior speaker to increase your revenue? Figure a way to use the Dock or bridge to convert to the new HRZ level and treat your loyal base right!
I am lost. I just bought the play bar and the sub woofer. Should I add the Play 3s or the 5s for the "best" surround sound experience? Thanks in advance for your input. Phil
Understand the technical issue. But like the previous comment, I too bought the bigger Play 5s for the overall better sound and for a big room. (As this was only last year, it would have been good to have the caveat of the restriction on wireless speed called out at the time.) Maybe SONOS could consider providing a hardware mod to update the wireless chip? Send the Play 5 away and get it back in a few days? Love the gear, company support normally excellent. Yet this just leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth...
ChrisW has stated the issue perfectly. Okay, we get the Play 5s our out of sync with the new products in terms of frequency-why are the good folks at Sonos not trying to figure a retrofit to make the Play fives integrate with the new technology. If my Play fives were even 2 years old I would be willing to write them off because I absolutely love the new soundbar and bass- but my 5s are only months old.

Paradoxically, I'm frustrated yet pleased with what you folks at Sonos are doing to get rid of all those damn wires and improve sound quality!

Bruce from Oregon
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Hello. I'm not happy with this comment either. If you look at the top left room in the Sonos 'house' in the Sonos web videos (the room with the brown coffee table and brown shelves opposite the TV), you will see two P5s opposite a TV and a playbar with a Sub beside the TV. Is this a fib or just two different systems in the same room?
Has Sonos ever thought about some sort of exchange system? I've got a pair of Play 5's and would buy a Playbar in a heartbeat if it was compatible. 
I'm pissed! Just purchased two Play 5's and a Playbar from future shop. They didn't have a sub in stock so I was going to add one of those at a later date. Sales guy at future shop told me the play 5's could be used on their own for listening to music, or be combined with Playbar and sub for surround sound. Obviously this is not the case. I'll be returning these items tomorrow. I had great expectations and hopes for the sonos system but feel I've been misled by both sonus and future shop. I'm not a happy camper.
Understand the technical issue. But like the previous comment, I too bought the bigger Play 5s for the overall better sound and for a big room. (As this was only last year, it would have been good to have the caveat of the restriction on wireless speed called out at the time.) Maybe SONOS could consider providing a hardware mod to update the wireless chip? Send the Play 5 away and get it back in a few days? Love the gear, company support normally excellent. Yet this just leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth...
I have exactly the same frustrations and issues.  I tried to buy top end and find that only the cheaper play 1 & play 3 are suitable.  I also just bought my complete system together due to the great individual sound.  Very disappointed in Sonos for not trying to resolve our issue with some solution given my system is only 2 months old.
User67513, You were given incorrect information on the phone. Please accept my apologies for that. The PLAY:3 is the only player unit (not counting the SUB) that can be paired with the PLAYBAR. Once again, I apologize for the inaccurate information relayed to you on the phone. John
Has anyone at Sonos read through all posts in this thread?