How many of the 32 Sonos zones can be a play bar with a sub and surrounds?

The limit is not actually 32 zones (that was the term before you could pair and/or bond devices), it is 32 total Sonos components. A component includes players and Bridges. So a Playbar, SUB and 2 P:3's would be 4 components.

Yes, however, I've heard through the custom installer grapevine that the Playbar circumvents or at least bends this rule...

Then I misunderstood the question. I've not heard that rumor.

Any official response?

Hi Eric, The PLAYBAR still counts as a component towards the 32 component limit on a household. It is not true that you can have 32 home theater setups with PLAYBARs, PLAY:3s, and SUBs.

There was a retail project I did that wired up 40 plus Play:3s, all wired up. It works, but as long I don't group more than 32 speakers at one time. (App will crash)

Today, I have a project that once again has more than 32 components. All went well until I added a 5.1 with wireless sub and play3. The sub and play3 refused to give me sound though paired w playbar already. After I turned off several connect:amps, and power toggled the 5.1, then finally it worked.

Anyone knows how I can work around this?

There is no work around. The system is limited to 32 speakers/players/Boosts/Bridges, and 32 controllers. The fact that you can squeeze in over the limit by turning some off just means the limit is strictly enforced. Your only option is to operate two or more subnets, effectively running two separate Sonos systems. Or inform the client of the limitations and rework the design to conform to the limitations.

Split the system into two independent households. They can co-exist on the same IP subnet.

BTW in case there's any doubt about the limit, point a browser to http://player_IP:1400/status/upnp and click on 'Incoming Subscriptions'. The words "max: 32" appear throughout.

@ratty this is an interesting one. If the whole house is covered by APs on same subnet, likewise all Lan ports, how do I even create 2 households then