SPEAKERS UPGRADE OR NEW PLAY 5

1. No, the missing stereo effects means you are better off with a good speaker pair + Connect Amp. These days, your budget will get very decent speakers.

2. A more difficult question because the new 5 speakers are HiFi capable. And you could spend a couple of thousand pounds and still not get something as good. But presuming you are talking about using these with the Connect Amp, I can't think of any speaker pair that it will drive well, that goes as low as the 5 units can. But if you can live without the bass being as deep/good, there are many speakers for the budget you talk about.

You seem to be a regular voice! Thanks. Point one fine, cleared up.
Point 2 I'm not clear about. "not getting something as good......" - good as which ? And what do you mean by "As low as.."?
If I have Either one new play 5 OR upgrade connect amp with a pair of £300 ish speakers OR as funds allow , a pair of stereo new play 5s how would they all compare? Are you suggesting new play 5s are particularly good as a single unit?

You are gong off in a different direction, more of a sideways move...

JPW Minimonitirs are fantastic speakers, ignore their cost, the black ask cabinets and ignore that they were probably made my inmates.

Personally I would take the mini monitors along to a hi-fi dealer (presume you are in the UK) who sell Sonos and get them to demo...

A connect with amp on your speakers (try a basic NAD as a starter)

A pair of Play 5's

A connect amp with new speakers such as the Q acoustic 3010 / 3020.

Thanks Its difficult to tell 1) how good JPWs are compared to 2) One, or 3) a pair of play 5s are or 4) how much better Q acoustics would be . Richer sounds Exeter lost most of their shop in a fire recently (not the weekend fire!) so have not got a demo room back yet. What order would you expect those to perform in?

Unfortunately only you can decide which is better, that's why it's very important to have a demo, a home trial would be best.

The new Play 5 produces lots of deep bass if that's your thing, a pair sounds considerably better overall and have the added benefit of only two power cables and looking very smart. Not as good as a decent amp and a pair of 3010's which is better (apart from that deep bass which cannot be truly heard you less you have a vast living room).

If it were me I would try the Q's on the existing connect amp, buy via mail order if you cannot get a demo, you get to keep your wide soundstage. This way you can send them back if no good for your ears.

I could live live with a pair of Play 5's as my main hi-fi but the cost is nearly £900 which may be a factor.

Point 2 I'm not clear about. "not getting something as good......" - good as which ? And what do you mean by "As low as.."?
If I have Either one new play 5 OR upgrade connect amp with a pair of £300 ish speakers OR as funds allow , a pair of stereo new play 5s how would they all compare? Are you suggesting new play 5s are particularly good as a single unit?
To the first two questions quoted above: As good as a 5 pair. And by low, I mean in terms of bass delivery.
A 5 pair, placed with as much care as you would place hifi speakers, would be the best of the three. But this IS subjective, so nothing like a home demo, which ought to be possible using the Sonos returns feature - for kit you don't end up wanting to retain.

For completeness, an alternative you haven't mentioned, that may be the best of the lot - a play 1 pair + Sonos Sub.

Some will say that it isn't as good as a 5 pair, and I don't have a view on that but I think it will certainly sound better when listening at low volume levels, where music usually sounds anaemic. The Sub prevents that from happening by keeping music from getting so, better than any solution I know of. And where budget is a constraint, a 1 pair to start with and a Sub added later is the way to go.

I would use the Sonos returns policy to decide between a 5 pair, and a 1 pair + Sub. In each case, after careful speaker placement and then using Trueplay tuning - which, by the way, isn't available on Connect Amp.

I would probably lean toward a powered subwoofer to add to current system. A good sub that can give you decent mid-low can work well with small satellite speakers like you have.

I would probably lean toward a powered subwoofer to add to current system. A good sub that can give you decent mid-low can work well with small satellite speakers like you have.
Yes, that is another workable option; but I have never been able to obtain good integration of a third party Sub with another speaker pair for music, until I came across the Sonos Sub which made me a convert to the satellite/Sub set up for best sound quality for music play.