Combinations required for FLAC play, specific to Qobuz app.

As my ZonePlayer 80 and original Play 5 (gen 1) could play FLAC I'm not sure what you are thinking needs an upgrade?

My Beam (gen 1) and P.ay 1s have no issues playing surround audio or FLAC files ripped from CDs.

You can Group Sonos speakers in different Sonos Rooms to play together.

Thanks for response. I currently have playbar paired with 2x play 1 for surround sound in tv room. Sorry, did not mention that. I believe that playbar does not play lossless flac. It sounds like I could replace playbar with beam to get lossless flac. Does that seem right?

Every Sonos device ever made is able to stream lossless FLAC.  Even before streaming services existed, Sonos could stream FLAC from a local library.

 I have no issues playing Qobuz files.  My guess is Sonos downsamples anything over 24/48 to a compatible sample rate.

The Playbar supports Qobuz at 24/48, including any surrounds.

The Play:1s when used as standalone or in a stereo pair will stream Qobuz at 16-bit/48kHz, which will also be the case when you group other rooms as the stream is based on the quality of the least capable player in the group.

Take a look at the following article for further info.

https://www.techhive.com/article/579291/sonos-drops-the-needle-on-high-resolution-music-streaming-via-qobuz.html

Thanks all for responses. I am glad that I asked. Its a cool thing, to be happy with what is and let go the pressure to get expensively unnecessarily better! Thanks again. 

In your Qobuz account settings (on the web site) under “My External Services” are settings for the highest quality playback you would like sent to your Sonos system. MP3 320 kbps, CD 16-bit / 44.1 kHz or Hi-Res 24-bit / up to 48 kHz.

Edit to add:

You mention the Qobuz app… The Qobuz app does not play directly to your Sonos system. Although you could use Airplay. But then that’s not lossless.

You can play flac files you’ve purchased or downloaded from Qobuz on Sonos from a local library.

The streaming discussion here is in reference to streaming from the Quboz service from inside the Sonos app.

It is set for Hi-Res 24-Bit/ up to 48 kHz. Just signed up for free month today. Subscription must not be fully started as yet. I must say that the 30 sec play sounds really good! Thanks for asking.

 Thanks for the info.  Mine was set to MP3.

I thought I’d offer my take at the end of this discussion. My thoughts had been stuck on information relevant before the sound bar and play:1 were integrated into the Sonos 2 controller. That was many years ago. So, I have been listening to high quality since the integration. I learned that the controller is the key component in the Sonos system relevant to question of lossy or lossless compression. Again, thanks all for input. It really helped!!