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Playbase + 2 Play 1's

  • 15 November 2017
  • 5 replies
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Z
Hello,

Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice/feedback. I have a longish rectangular shaped room. At one end, I have two Play 1's mounted (stereo paired) with brackets in the corners (about 15 feet apart). Also in one of the corners, more or less directly below one of the Play1'a is my TV (note :to one side of the room, not in the middle of the room)



I'm considering getting a Playbase and using the Play1's in conjunction with the Playbase as possessed to using them in a surround type set up. Firstly, do the Play 1's and Playbase compliment each other using them in this way? I realize I won't be getting any surround sound benefits, but I'm not that bothers. Secondly, does the Playbase like open spaces? I've read that in order to get the most from it, it kind of needs to be in smaller spaces so sound can reflect easliy. Thirdly, any suggestions on how minimize issues from the lopsided positioning of the Playone's compared to the Playbase?

Thanks very much, any feedback appreciated.
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Best answer by Airgetlam 15 November 2017, 19:45

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5 replies

Airgetlam
Well, here's some feedback, from someone who can't be specific about the cases, but I do have some suggestions, based on my own experience with a PLAYBAR and open space. First off, it should be fine. My PLAYBAR is against a wall that has a hallway on one side, and a wall about 20 feet away on the other. A quick Trueplay tuned it up quite well.

You won't like the PLAY:1s where they are as surround speakers, it will confuse you. I'd put them halfway down the room, about equal with the word Sofa if I were you, and even would get speaker stands for them rather than wall mounting, since you want them closer to ear level.

The PLAYBASE would be enough to pump music in to the kitchen as desired.
Bruce
Z
Hi Bruce, thanks very much for your answer. Great to hear you think the Playbase should be ok in a larger open space.

I realize now that I wasn't quite clear that the Play1's are going to stay where they are and won't be moved. I'm not fussed about getting a true surround sound experience. I was hoping that the Play 1's and the Playbase would work together as one expanded center channel type of thing. I was hoping that someone who uses a pair of Play 1's and a Playbase in this fashion might let me know if it works ok, or not.

I guess it's hard to imagine how the playbase and paired play one's would act together!?!

thanks again
Airgetlam
Yea, that's actually the problem. The Sonos doesn't allow any "center" "left" and "right" signals to get out of the PLAYBASE/PLAYBAR, so you wouldn't be able to use the PLAY:1s as front speakers. But, at the end of the day, I don't think you're in a world of trouble, either. Just use the PLAY:1s for music, and don't bond them to the PLAYBASE. You'll still get good sound out of the PLAYBASE for TV, and then when you're playing music, you can just choose the PLAY:1s as a stereo pair. You're just going to set up the PLAYBASE as a different "room" in the Sonos software.

You could potentially try to "group" the two rooms while playing something from the TV, but due to the way Sonos works, I'm pretty sure there would be a 70ms or so delay between the two devices, mostly due to buffering the signal to go across the 2.4Ghz channel, which doesn't happen when they're surrounds, since surrounds use a lower latency 5Ghz channel. And no, there's no way in the software to force that change, Sonos handles that for you.

But when playing streaming music, you're already on the 2.4Ghz band, and at that point, they'd group just fine, with no delay between the two.

Hope this helps.
Bruce
Z
right - I see. hummm, that's all really good to know, if a little disappointing (about the tv channels).

What got me on this whole train of thought was when I finally decided to do something about the lack of bass from my paired Play 1's. I thought the Playbase might give me enough base to liven up the Play 1's (and it might still do that) and the Play 1's would partner up with the Playbase for a nice AV experience. I guess even if the PLay 1's are in surround mode, they'll still add a little bit of fill + ambiance.

it would be best if I could afford the Sub as well as the Playbase, but afraid it's one or the other for now.

thanks again for the very useful information.
nifoxke
Userlevel 3
Badge +9
If you're looking for bass to compliment the Play:1s, go for the Sub for now and add the Playbase down the road. I can tell you if you were to put everything together into a full blow 5.1 system, you'll really enjoy it. I have mine set so the Play:1s act as surrounds watching TV but they play full volume when listening to music. Sounds great.
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