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Hi - I have some questions for the community on my Sonos setup.  I have a Sonos Arc that is flanked by two Play:5’s.  See attached picture for my set up.

  • Should I keep the Sonos Arc strictly for TV and the Play:5’s for music?  I initially set the Arc, and the two Play:5’s as a group in the ‘Living Room’ group - now when I play music - the music is coming from the Arc AND the two Play:5’s
    • I fear that I’m not maximizing the ‘stereo’ advantages of both Play:5’s with the Arc doing some of the heavy lifting when it comes to playing music.  I did do the ‘Truetuning’ exercise by walking around the room - but again, I still fear I’m not getting that ‘stereo’ sound from my two Play:5’s
    • During set up - it asked if I wanted to set up the Arc and two Play:5’s as ‘surrounds’ - but I’m not sure if that was a good idea or the point of it - since the Play:5’s are below my TV and Arc - not ‘behind’ me etc.
  • Set up the Play:5’s as a Stereo Pair.
    • Stereo - I did not set up the Play 5’s as a ‘stereo pair’ as the set up process did not ask me to do that - but I think that’s because I put them in the same ‘group’ as the the Arc in the Living Room
    • I’d like to set up the Play:5’s as a Stereo Pair - I noticed in the setup instructions online it says ‘Both Speakers must be added to your stereo as separate rooms before they can be paid.’
      • Does this mean I need to list BOTH Play:5’s in separate rooms/groups in order to ‘pair them as a stereo.’?  For example, list one Play:5 as ‘Living Room’ and one Play:5 as ‘Dining Room’?  (even though the Play:5’s are really in the same room and only a about a meter a part from each other)
  • De-coupling speakers
    • Per my note above - I fear I ‘grouped’ my Arc, one Play:5, and my second Play:5.  Is there any way to easily ‘de-couple’ the group or ‘forget this device’ and ‘re-set up’ the Play:5’s?  For example, put them in separate rooms and set them up as a stereo pair?

Sorry about all the questions.  Would love to hear advice from more seasoned audiophiles!

 

 

You need to disconnect your Fives from the Arc as surrounds and create a new zone (or room) with each Five. You will then pair the Fives as a stereo pair. Be sure to perform Trueplay tuning again for the Arc and the stereo pair of Fives separately.

When listening to music, you can use just the Fives, just the Arc, or group the Arc with the pair of Fives and use them together. If you group them together when watching TV, the Fives will have a slight audio delay with this setup.

First, Sonos uses the term room (zone) for bonded or paired speakers that always play together at the same volume.  A group is more than one room connect temporarily to play audio together at different volumes.  Look at the link at the top right of this site for “The Sonos App - An Introduction” for some help in understand this and other concepts in the app.

So it sounds like you actually setup the Arc and Fives as a single room, with the Fives as surround, based on what you described.  As you pointed out, if you want to use them as surrounds, they should be behind the seating area.  If you want to use them as surrounds, then move them to the right place.  If you want them for music only, a separate Sonos room (I would recommend this), they you need to remove them as surrounds.  That will them create two new rooms, one for each Five, to your system.  To then make those a stereo pair, follow these instructions

Hi @kev613 

Good advice given thus far. As has been said set the Five’s as a stereo pair for music only if you intend to leave them upfront. The Arc will be dedicated as to the LG as the primary speaker. 

It appears you have a Sonos Amp or Port below the table which I assume you have the Turntable connected to? Or could the Amp (if that’s what it is) be powering the in-wall speakers behind TV for whatever reason? If you require help to bring in the Turntable...please let us know.

FYI, I have the same setup where I have two Five’s in stereo pair flanking my LG that are dedicated to music. My naming convention for the Five’s is simply “Stereo”. My LG with Arc is called “LG”.  The only rooms named as as a room are Master Bedroom, Guest Room, Office and Living Room. I mention this so you’ll know that setting up a room/zone doesn’t have to be a brain taxer.

One last note….Your Five’s are upside down. The little “nubs” on top are actually the feet that should be in contact with the table when mounted vertically. :relaxed:

@AjTrek1 I believe Fives have feet on both ends now. Mine did. If you look at the promo image of the Fives on the product page, you can see white fives sitting on a table, with sonos logos facing inwards.

Thanks all!  Much appreciated you all taking the time to respond!  It truly helps - looks like I have to re-set up these Play:5’s!

 

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