Retired Sonos Staff

Meet Sonos Five, studio-quality sound

Studio quality sound

Sonos Five delivers the same great sound as the Play:5, with updated internals including increased memory, processing power, and a new wireless radio. Six Class-D digital amplifiers are perfectly tuned for Five’s acoustic architecture to power the three tweeters and three mid-woofers.

The custom-designed woofers deliver rich bass while the sealed architecture eliminates reverb and echo. This ensures faithful playback of vocal frequencies in addition to rich bass without distortion, even at high volumes.

One center tweeter and two precisely-angled side tweeters create a crisp high-frequency response.

This all creates a wide stereo soundstage that directs sound to the left, right, and center from one compact speaker. You can amplify the experience by adding another Sonos Five as a stereo pair in either vertical or horizontal orientations, or bring it to the next level with a Sonos Sub.

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Some more details on Sonos Five:

Simple to set-up. Plug Five into power and bring your phone up to Five to automatically pair and securely transfer WiFi credentials using near-field communication (NFC).
Analogue line-in. With 3.5 mm jack for connecting another device, bring sound to Sonos from anything with a standard audio connection.
Flexible Orientation. Enjoy great sound with a standalone Sonos Five horizontally, or pair two Fives in the upright position for incredibly detailed stereo separation. A pair of Fives can also be used as surrounds for a Sonos home theater speaker.
Control your way. Control Sonos Five with your voice when paired with a voice enabled device, the Sonos app, your favorite music service’s app, or AirPlay 2. Capacitive touch controls for play, pause, skip tracks, adjust the volume, and group rooms just by tapping or swiping the top of the speaker. LED indicates status, and mute status.
Tune with Trueplay. Trueplay puts the speaker-tuning capability of the pros in the palm of your hands, adapting and optimizing the sound of the speaker to the unique acoustics of the room. iOS device required.
Dimensions. The dimensions are (H x W x D) 8.03 x 14.33 x 6.06 inches (203 x 364 x 154 mm) and Five weighs 14 lbs (6.36 kg).

Pre-order today on Sonos.com in black with a black grille and, for the first time, white with a white grille for $499 US (€579 EUR).

We’ve announced details for the Sonos Arc and new Sonos Sub. You can also check out our blog for some great stories.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

So you’d be happier if they didn’t allow you the discount on newer products? Rather silly, no?

No, i would have been happier if they had been up front and told people that 1.gen was being obsoleted, and everyone could get a discount on the 2.gen now, but that there was a 3.gen right around the corner, that the costumer could opt to wait for, before making the swap..

This was obviously a ploy to try and empty the stock of 2.gen’s before announcing the 3.gen

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

Usual misinformation from @DK_Madsen . There is no sense in which the gen 2 has been 'killed'.

And I can't see why anyone would be bothered about their discounted purchase of a great S2-compatible speaker

That is probably gonna be sent to the obsolete heap in 5 years, when sonos once again needs an infusion of money.

The first generation play 5 was supported from November 2009, to may 2020, this is 10½ years.

The 2.gen was released in september 2015, so this means that if we look at previous generations the 2.gen is just about 5 years old, giving it 5½ years before it reaches the same age, at which the 1.gen was obsoleted.

Maybe you dont see any problem in someone taking the discount on the 2.gen, which the past has shown will probably be obsolete in ~5½ years, when they could have waited a week and gotten a device that would last them 10½ years, but i do.

These poor people has had their expected price for 10 years of sonos speaker, effectively doubled as they will have to do another tradeup in 5½ years, that they would not have needed, had it not been for sonos hiding the new 3.gen from people until the last second.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

I don’t think anyone was “lured” into doing anything. Anyone doing their purchasing research would have discovered that the Play:5 Gen 2 was one of the products due for an upgrade and could have factored that into their choice. Moreover, absolutely nothing has changed yet by having a Play:5 Gen 1 as part of your system and won’t until June, so why would anyone rush out and buy a new product immediately.

Well, sonos pushed hard, as early as november 2019, as far as i remember, so THEY really wanted you ro “rush“ out and take the discount on the 2.gen

Now we know why. (They knew 3.gen was round the corner, and probably had a huge stock of 2.gen that they needed clearing)

Also, about a month ago, i began seeing the playbar, discounted 20% from the usual price here, that was also a telltale that they were trying to clear stock for that particular speaker, normally sonos cost the same everywhere, and suddenly every seller had it at the same, heavily discounted price.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

Thanks for confirming I am correct about the 5 year minimum software support guarantee. What was inaccurate or immoderate about my language if I may ask?

Your specific experience with a long support time is great, I hope my devices will get at least 10 years of updates. But not everyone got 10 years right? There are a lot of people who only got 5, 6 years of updates and I would like to avoid that.

That’s “easy”

Just never buy a sonos product that is not “just released”.

The play 5 got 10½ years from introduction until it was put on the “old stuff, we dont support” heap.

Also beware, if buying sonos, always do your homework, they have a nasty habit of naming their units the same, even if they upgrade the internals. The new sub is still called the sub, so if you are in the market for one, make absolutely sure you get the “new sub”. I saw a few that got burnt with the connect i think...Bought a few units a few months apart, and it ended up, that some was obsoleted, and some were “modern” and will still received updates.

arcadelt

Enthusiast I

So you’d be happier if they didn’t allow you the discount on newer products? Rather silly, no?

No, i would have been happier if they had been up front and told people that 1.gen was being obsoleted, and everyone could get a discount on the 2.gen now, but that there was a 3.gen right around the corner, that the costumer could opt to wait for, before making the swap..

This was obviously a ploy to try and empty the stock of 2.gen’s before announcing the 3.gen

A quick search would reveal the following:

https://en.community.sonos.com/wireless-speakers-228992/when-will-the-play-5-gen-2-be-replaced-updated-6835892

https://en.community.sonos.com/what-to-get-228989/play-5-updates-6822240

However, maybe what we need is a buyer’s guide like they have over at MacRumours:

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com

D

DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

A quick search would reveal the following:

https://en.community.sonos.com/wireless-speakers-228992/when-will-the-play-5-gen-2-be-replaced-updated-6835892

https://en.community.sonos.com/what-to-get-228989/play-5-updates-6822240

However, maybe what we need is a buyer’s guide like they have over at MacRumours:

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com

Yeah, a legitimate question, that was never answered by sonos, deflected by fanboys and then the subject was closed.

That does not at all look like they were trying to hide the 3.gen for as long as possible to try and empty the current stock of 2.gen.

arcadelt

Enthusiast I

I don’t think anyone was “lured” into doing anything. Anyone doing their purchasing research would have discovered that the Play:5 Gen 2 was one of the products due for an upgrade and could have factored that into their choice. Moreover, absolutely nothing has changed yet by having a Play:5 Gen 1 as part of your system and won’t until June, so why would anyone rush out and buy a new product immediately.

Well, sonos pushed hard, as early as november 2019, as far as i remember, so THEY really wanted you ro “rush“ out and take the discount on the 2.gen

Now we know why. (They knew 3.gen was round the corner, and probably had a huge stock of 2.gen that they needed clearing)

Also, about a month ago, i began seeing the playbar, discounted 20% from the usual price here, that was also a telltale that they were trying to clear stock for that particular speaker, normally sonos cost the same everywhere, and suddenly every seller had it at the same, heavily discounted price.

That’s how product releases happen with most companies. The customer gets to make a choice - buy the current one at a big discount, or get the new one without discount. Both have the same warranty, so no big deal there. I can tell you, nothing like that happens with Apple - one day you are buying a device at full price, and the next day it’s replaced.

Now, with 16 legacy devices in my system, I am certainly in the target market for an upgrade and I didn’t feel like anyone was pushing/rushing/luring me to buy anything. In fact, it was quite obvious that I had until June (originally May) to think about my situation, and even then nothing would change so I could continue to think about it for a while longer.

R

rwrgeo

Renowned Enthusiast II

I don’t think anyone was “lured” into doing anything. Anyone doing their purchasing research would have discovered that the Play:5 Gen 2 was one of the products due for an upgrade and could have factored that into their choice. Moreover, absolutely nothing has changed yet by having a Play:5 Gen 1 as part of your system and won’t until June, so why would anyone rush out and buy a new product immediately.

Well, sonos pushed hard, as early as november 2019, as far as i remember, so THEY really wanted you ro “rush“ out and take the discount on the 2.gen

Now we know why. (They knew 3.gen was round the corner, and probably had a huge stock of 2.gen that they needed clearing)

Also, about a month ago, i began seeing the playbar, discounted 20% from the usual price here, that was also a telltale that they were trying to clear stock for that particular speaker, normally sonos cost the same everywhere, and suddenly every seller had it at the same, heavily discounted price.

That’s how product releases happen with most companies. The customer gets to make a choice - buy the current one at a big discount, or get the new one without discount. Both have the same warranty, so no big deal there. I can tell you, nothing like that happens with Apple - one day you are buying a device at full price, and the next day it’s replaced.

Now, with 16 legacy devices in my system, I am certainly in the target market for an upgrade and I didn’t feel like anyone was pushing/rushing/luring me to buy anything. In fact, it was quite obvious that I had until June (originally May) to think about my situation, and even then nothing would change so I could continue to think about it for a while longer.

I guess the thing that is different here that is causing some concern is that ‘big discount’ in this case is the 30% that applies equally to the gen 2 and gen 3.

Both are S2 compatible, so I do see this refresh might be about giving flexibility for Sonos to introduce S3 without gen 2 support in five years time. It also signals to buyers like me that were reluctant to get the older gen 2 that is safe to buy the Five, although unfortunately I was holding out for voice control also...

R

rwrgeo

Renowned Enthusiast II

I hadn't seen that Verge link when I posted so am surprised that it is an identical listening experience to the Play 5 Gen 2 but can't be stereo paired with it.

Does anyone know what’s up with this :point_up: - why can’t they pair if they are the same sound?

Great discussion folks! In this regard, while their physical dimensions and acoustic profile are similar, Five and Play:5 Gen 2 have very different internal processors and computing platforms. The gap in processing capabilities means that we will not be able to offer a stable stereo experience. Stereo pairing takes a lot of complicated computing work and it just didn’t work properly because of the differences here.

Just trying to understand here and I appreciate your response. If I understand correctly, you are saying the different processors mean that they can’t pair, fair enough. Since it’s a technical reason I guess Sonosequencer won’t be able to pair them either (I was actually hoping you would say the reason is because of sound so sonosequencer would be able to pair them if I go down that road).

It’s possible that the app may be able to pair them, we just can’t guaranty the performance of that pair if it does work. I believe that app can pair Sonos devices that have no business being paired, like a Play:1 and a Play:5, which have different processors. When we build pairing for devices into the Sonos app, we need to be sure of the quality and longevity.

i’ve not tried this or looked at Sonossequencer but is it possible to group random speakers while setting their balance to full L or R accordingly? Is that all that does and how bad a solution is it?

L

lonestay

Trending Lyricist I

My rule of thumb is if Amazon are out of the product I want ,the manufacturer is offering big discounts, and is subsequently out of stock, and an announcement is imminent from manufacturer, then keep your money in your pocket until after said announcement. Nobody has been tricked here the choice is a money saving on slightly older equipment that is perfectly fine and will give many years of excellent listening, or paying full price on equipment that will keep you future proofed a little longer, in the end it's all about choices. I chose to preorder the sonos5 simply because I am coming from a gen 1play5 and there didn't seem to be a reason to not come bang up to date .

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