Apple lossless with Play5 / Sub Configuration

the Sonos system is configured as a home theater setup

How are the Play 5s connected for a HT setup? Are the Play 5s paired as surrounds? If so, you have to add the Sub to the main speaker/soundbar.

I am not looking for a home theater setup; I just want a good listening experience with the paired Play:5’s and the Sub.  Here is my current basic configuration.  When I delete the Sub, I get lossless from the Apple Music stream.  When I add it to the room, I lose the lossless stream (as indicated in the Sonos IOS app).  Thanks for your reply - TD
 

When playing music with Play 5s and Sub, drag the playback line forward and let it play a few seconds, then back and let it play, then forwards and so on a couple of times - see if the Lossless logo appears. Sometimes it can be that it is playing in Lossless but the symbol hasn’t appeared. 

You can also check if it’s lossless by checking the data stream in your router for the device. Lossless will be ~1400 kbps. Lossy will be lower. 
 

I’ve attached a picture of an Apple Music stream playing to a Port. Should be lossless. It’s  not showing lossless in the app and the bandwidth shows it’s a lossy stream. 
 

Thanks, Rhonny. Scrubbing did not work, but adding/deleting the Sub definitely drives this.
I’ll take a closer look at my network, and keep my fingers crossed for further improvements in the app && firmware to deal with this issue.  Thx again.

Thanks, Almazri.
When I dig into the network, I’ll check out the data stream delivery in various configurations, including the newer Ones and Roam, which seem to be rock-solid.  Appreciate your reply!

To conclude this discussion:

Rhonny - I did see that at times the newer speakers (One, Roam) sometimes did NOT show lossless on the IOS app, but after scrubbing, the Lossless badge would appear and remain.

Almazri -  I setup Wireshark and looked at TCP streaming traffic on various speakers.
I can confim that the Lossless badge did appear on the newer speakers, and they did reach 1400kbps.
My Play5’s with the subs were slightly lower at about 1250kbps - 1300kbps, thus close to lossless but perhaps some downsampling happening when the Sub is added to the room configuration.

Thanks all (including Poole) for your insights.

As I recall in a post a while back, playback resolution is based on the capability of the lowest common denominator. If the Sub is Gen 1, that might be the limiting factor? 

Nik,

That very well could be.

Or alternatively, the addition of the Sub creates sync overhead to the point that Sonos downsamples, opting for stability over uncertain hi fidelity results.  
 

I’ve had some of this Sonos gear for eight years, and consider myself fortunate that it all works in the S2  environment.  Eventually I will find a newer product to replace the Sub.  Thanks for your reply.