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Contributor I
January 3, 2017
Question

Bluetooth adapter for Play 5

Hi Sonos Community!

The short question: Which Bluetooth adapter do you recommend to use with Sonos Play 5 (via line-in)?

I've just bought Sonos Play 5 and I am greatly disappointed. Sound quality is truly amazing. The lack of Bluetooth is really annoying. I knew it before buying but in practice you need Bluetooth some times!
The Bluetooth would make this speaker perfect. For this reason I am considering return and going with Bose SoundTouch 30.

However I decided to give it a shot with Bluetooth adapter. Can you please recommend one which would not lower the quality of the sound?

Thx!
Greg
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18 replies

ratty
January 3, 2017
Lowering the quality of the sound is what Bluetooth does as a matter of course (never mind Bose...), unless the Bluetooth supports the aptX codec. Note that both ends of the connection would need to be aptX capable, so any recommendation would need to take account of the intended source devices.
Renowned Enthusiast II
January 3, 2017
Yes Bluetooth results in some loss of fidelity in many cases as ratty has pointed out. However I do maintain that Sonos should have included both Bluetooth and line in in their 2nd gen Play products. These are ubiquitous connectivity options that many consumers are well accustomed to. It should not start a debate about the relative strengths of wifi vs Bluetooth. We all know the former is superior. It's about presenting a good set of options to users.
(1) Play 1, (1) Play 3, (2) Play 5s Gen 1, (1) Play 5 Gen 2, (1) Connect Amp powering a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, (2) Echo Dots.
Lyricist I
January 3, 2017
I have a Logitech 980-000910 adapter attached to my Play 5 and it works well for those few times I've want/needed it.
jgatie
January 3, 2017
Other manufacturers decided to include Bluetooth and deal with its limitations and the hit on reliability and/or sound quality. Sonos decided to forgo Bluetooth in favor of more reliability and better sound. All of this is quite plain to the consumer, so buying one while simultaneously wishing for the other(s) seems to be a strange purchasing decision.
Renowned Enthusiast II
January 3, 2017
Jgatie I remain totally confused about this hit on quality. Including Bluetooth does not impact the main wifi service you are offering. What it does is add another connectivity option that would cover other content sources not covered in Sonos portfolio of services.

I hear that some people may not do the best research into what they buy. But I say let's not over exaggerate this talk about reliability and quality hit. Wifi connectivity IS MAINTAINED. There are a million Bluetooth companies out there - it is not the most complicated technology requiring a ton of support.

Sonos has made their choice it is not one I agree with and the fact is many reputable tech review sites list this omission as a con.
(1) Play 1, (1) Play 3, (2) Play 5s Gen 1, (1) Play 5 Gen 2, (1) Connect Amp powering a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, (2) Echo Dots.
Renowned Enthusiast II
January 3, 2017
Btw I too have a Logitech adaptor to stem the gap.
(1) Play 1, (1) Play 3, (2) Play 5s Gen 1, (1) Play 5 Gen 2, (1) Connect Amp powering a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, (2) Echo Dots.
jgatie
January 3, 2017
Bluetooth has limited bandwidth, so it decreases sound quality by using lossy compression, unless you are using apt-x capable devices.

Yes, it is a con for some who want Bluetooth natively. It's also a pro for those of us who don't need it, and would rather the savings in manufacturing costs, not to mention the support costs for an inferior technology, get spent elsewhere. Luckily, we have purchasing choices.
Renowned Enthusiast II
January 4, 2017
Again I am confused. Does the existence of Bluetooth prevent you from accessing the high quality of wifi? It is well known the limitations of Bluetooth. I am saying that not having it in the Play product is a bigger limitation. People will happily use Bluetooth to listen where it is their best option and wifi when that's the best option. For example my default listening mode on my Play 5 with Bluetooth adaptor attached is wifi. I revert to Bluetooth only when the audio I want is not available through available services. It is very handy.

The savings in manufacturing cost is not a benefit to you but to Sonos. And yes businesses exist to make money but if they are not careful in monitoring what are now base feature offerings from their competitors they may run into problems. Apple eventually had a lot of their meals eaten by Samsung for a period due to being stubborn in adding some features.

In this day and age you selling a pricy speaker with only wifi??? Who does that anymore??? Someone who is very confident or taking certain things for granted.
(1) Play 1, (1) Play 3, (2) Play 5s Gen 1, (1) Play 5 Gen 2, (1) Connect Amp powering a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, (2) Echo Dots.
kgrzesiuAuthor
Contributor I
January 4, 2017
@jgatie I've made decision based on sound quality. Sonos is simply better sounding speaker then Bose. I thought WiFi only is fine until I started to use it. I will buy a Bluetooth adapter and see how it works with that.
However I think that including Bluetooth would simply make usability much better and looking though the forums I am not the only one who thinks like that.

@ratty Thanks for the tip with the aptX codec devices. I will buy one of those.
Lyricist III
January 4, 2017
I use this for multiple applications - Tv to Headphones, old record/cd player combo to bluetooth speaker. It's great! http://amzn.to/2hPkNIg