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Hello Community, 

I started as Sonos customer with 2 play 5 Gen 2 one year and a half ago, short after I’ve added a Sub (gen2)  to my setup. This is for me the best audio experienced I’ve ever had in my live wile streaming through Tidal or Spotify. The one thing I was missing was good sound for my Tv, so i've linked one of the two Gen's 2 through an Aux wire and as you can expect from an Aux wire in some good recorded movies the sound was good but in a lot of other movies it was just awful to listen to (like a Star is born as example). Last week I received my Sonos Arc, and started trying the following setup. 

 

  • Sonos arc use only, this is awesome but I was really missing the ‘punch’ of the sub and the wide sound effect I had with the play 5's. 
  • Sonos Arc with sub, awesome punch,breath taking clear voices but yes, still missing the ‘wide stage effect’
  • Sonos Arc with sub and Play 5 as surround speakers, actually not that good, in my short living room this was just overkill and I really was missing my uncredible sound ( 2 play 5 with sub) 

And most important of all, I with the setup above I had to sacrifice my 2 play 5 gen 2 with sub setup witch I fell in love with. 

Since I was a little disappointed I decided to buy a pair of One's to complete the surround and guess what? This was awesome! 

So my current setup is as follows: 

  • Sonos Arc with sub and a pair of one's as surround speakers, the two play 5' gen 2 next to the Tv and the soundbar ( 1.5 meter way from the Tv on each side ) 

The problem I am experiencing is that I can’t easily switch the Sub from the arc to the play 5's  because this cancels my Trueplay setup.. very annoying. For movie's the sound is awesome but for music I don’t have what I had before and this annoys me a lot for a system that expensive. 

When I turn on the music on either the Arc group and the play 5 gen 2 group I miss the clarity on the gen’s 2 and it is also a bit overkill. 

 The way I see it I have the options below.

 

  • Sell the arc and the ones and go back to what I had before. 
  • Sell the Play 5's and adapt to a great soundstage but less wide than I had. 
  • Keep it as I have right now( bit overkill) 
  • Switch the Sub back to the play 5’s. and accept a less deep bass during movies. 

 

 

This is my Room. 

Red: Tv and play 5

Green: Sofa's 

Yellow: Pair of One's 

Purple: Sub. 

 

 

 

Your forgot:

Get another Sub and avoid having to switch it back and forth?:relaxed:

Thank you Kumar, that's also an option but spending 4500 euro's on a soundsystem is really painfull haha! I was thinking, what If I linked the sub back to the play 5's and than activate that room while watching a movie? Is it common to have to side speakers next to a soundbar? Won’t it kill the surround effect? 

If TV is a source to the Arc, the non Arc Sonos speakers will see a lag with out of sync sound from them.

Try for yourself and see. 

Having the ability to “share” a Sub between a home theatre and audio setup is something I and others have asked for in the past. I would love to move my pair of Fives that are currently surround speakers to the front of the room purely for listening to music. But then to have the ability to toggle the Sub between the Fives for audio listening and Arc based home theatre for movies. I would replace the Fives as surrounds with Ones as I think for surround speakers the Ones are fine.

Jasper...First off,you have some wonderful/state of the art equipmnt.From what I understand in your post,you want the best of both worlds….Who wouldn’t?

I also have 2 Play 5 Gen 2’s and the Sub,in a music configuration.I use a good soundbar for my movies,because(only my own taste) once I get involved in a movie,or show,the sound “thing” is pretty much secondary to me.I want good TV sound,but it does not have to be great.

The Play 5 pair and the Sub is absolutely GREAT!

I could not live without it,since I am a music lover and former serious audiophile,who had spent multiple thousands on hi fi equipment,over the years(Sheesh,I wish I had all that money back...Ha)..

In my opinion,this configuration embarrasses a good amount of really top notch high end systems,but it does not require all the additional equipment and cables to give the listener great sound.

Takes up far less space too and is easy to deal with,if you have to move something,or need to diagnose a problem.Not to mention that Sonos as a company seems to be really caring,regarding keeping their customer base happy.

Anyway,back to your querry…..If it were me,I’d go back to the sub and Play 5 combo….but…..I’d seriously consider waitning for a Black Friday sale and pick up another sub at a hefty discount!

My pal did this and got the sub for $550   Not bad!

Anyway,you have exceptional stuff…..Good luck-:)

Hello guys, 

Finally I followed your advise Magictwanger and linked the sub back to the play5, the bass of the arc is still enough and only with truly big action scenes you missed the punch. 

Maybe I’ll add a 2nd sub later :) 

Good move…...Best regards

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