I currently have 2 x Play 3’s (in different rooms) and looking to add a turntable to setup. I thought the only way this was possible was via the Sonos Port but having looked into this a solution i believe is getting a Five and connecting via line-in. I’m just weighing up my options now. I have a few questions/concerns and would appreciate any inputs from the community! If I was to bring my 2 x Play 3’s together in the same room and pair as L & R - I understand i would need a Sonos Port to connect the turntable to this. Would this give me better sound/pack more of a punch than if i was just to replace with 1 x Five? It’s an average sized living room and currently the 1 x Play 3 in there is adequate for music but i really like the idea of L & R. Could I still get the same richness of sounds from the latest tech and single speaker of the Five? My concern on pairing the 2 x Play 3’s is that these speakers are quite old. While they work perfectly fine and use the latest S2 operating system - could these speakers get left behind in the future with updates as speakers get modernised? Just need to decide on whether it’s the Five or Port i bring into my setup to connect the turntable so welcome any advice. Thanks!

Contributor I

Answered

Connecting a turntable - Sonos Five or Sonos Amp (with 2 x Play 3's as stereo pair)

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 22, 2021
16 replies
466 views

I currently have 2 x Play 3’s (in different rooms) and looking to add a turntable to setup. I thought the only way this was possible was via the Sonos Port but having looked into this a solution i believe is getting a Five and connecting via line-in. I’m just weighing up my options now. I have a few questions/concerns and would appreciate any inputs from the community!

If I was to bring my 2 x Play 3’s together in the same room and pair as L & R - I understand i would need a Sonos Port to connect the turntable to this. Would this give me better sound/pack more of a punch than if i was just to replace with 1 x Five? It’s an average sized living room and currently the 1 x Play 3 in there is adequate for music but i really like the idea of L & R. Could I still get the same richness of sounds from the latest tech and single speaker of the Five?
My concern on pairing the 2 x Play 3’s is that these speakers are quite old. While they work perfectly fine and use the latest S2 operating system - could these speakers get left behind in the future with updates as speakers get modernised?

Just need to decide on whether it’s the Five or Port i bring into my setup to connect the turntable so welcome any advice.

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Best answer by Antifon

One other thing that might favour the Five - it has controls on the unit that allow volume control and the ability to Pause/Mute the whole zone. The Port has no such controls, unlike the equivalent older model that it replaced.

K

Kumar

In most cases a 5 makes sense because with built in speakers it delivers more value for its price that the Port does, but in your case the Port makes better sense.

Almost any speaker pair sounds better than a single speaker if you are used to listening to music in stereo because the stereo effect needs a physically separated pair of speakers. You could even try this just now - bring the 3 units into one room, stereo pair them, and see the result.

In your case the concern would more be of the play 3 hardware failing as it ages. If that were to happen, there are options in the future such as replacing it with a One pair, and releasing the 3 that still works for another room.

Be sure you really want a turntable because it can be a pain to use regularly once the novelty wears off, and that it therefore justifies an investment in the Port.

And ideally, if you can get them on a returnable basis, get both Port and 5 to see how the 5 compares for you against the 3 pair. If it sounds as good, keep the 5 and return the Port.

J

John B

Hi. It’s a no-brainer IMO - get the Five. For not much more than the price of a Port you can at least replace one of your Play:3s. Personally, I would consider getting two Fives (using the 15% discount to which your Play:3s entitle you), then sell the Play:3s to recoup some of the money.

J

jashrafAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for the responses - i’ve just seen about the 15% discount. I’m guessing as i’ve got 2 x Play 3’s the max discount I can get against a Five would be 15%. A bit too good to be true to think than combining them and get 30% off?

J

John B

Thanks for the responses - i’ve just seen about the 15% discount. I’m guessing as i’ve got 2 x Play 3’s the max discount I can get against a Five would be 15%. A bit too good to be true to think than combining them and get 30% off?

Correct - too good to be true. You might be able to use just one of the credits to get a two-speaker ‘bundle’ if that is currently being offered, although that may have little benefit for you.

A

AntifonAnswer

Prodigy III

One other thing that might favour the Five - it has controls on the unit that allow volume control and the ability to Pause/Mute the whole zone. The Port has no such controls, unlike the equivalent older model that it replaced.

J

jashrafAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for the insight all, been really helpful.

Think I'm going to opt for the Five. Seems more value for my money. Also like the idea of adding another Five a few years down the line for stereo L + R.

A final question, once the turntable is plugged into the Five via line in, will this audio play on speakers on other rooms? I originally thought the Port was needed for this feature but I believe from reading around this is possible through just the Five. Is this correct?

Airgetlam

Yes. The analog line in on any Sonos device can be played on any connected Sonos speaker. In fact, it doesn’t have to play on that Five, you can, if you like, have it play somewhere else.

Bruce

J

jashrafAuthor

Contributor I

Brilliant. I'm totally sold on the Five!

L

lohr500

Prodigy I

It might be worth investigating the new Roam with a Bluetooth transmitter attached to your turntable.

If I understand it correctly, the Roam can accept a Bluetooth input and then either play this or share it across an existing Sonos network. I have yet to see this confirmed by any of the new Roam owners, but if it does work, I would be very interested in it myself.

It would be a lot less expensive than a Five or Port and gives the advantage of having an ultra portable speaker to take on holiday etc.

J

jashrafAuthor

Contributor I

It might be worth investigating the new Roam with a Bluetooth transmitter attached to your turntable.

If I understand it correctly, the Roam can accept a Bluetooth input and then either play this or share it across an existing Sonos network. I have yet to see this confirmed by any of the new Roam owners, but if it does work, I would be very interested in it myself.

It would be a lot less expensive than a Five or Port and gives the advantage of having an ultra portable speaker to take on holiday etc.

So if i’m correct in thinking from your summary - audio can be played via Roam using Bluetooth and then from there - whatever is going through the Roam can then connect to other Sonos speakers you have on the network?

This could be a fix for me playing audio from my MacBook through my network of Sonos speakers.

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community