Era 300s for stereo

Hopefully you’ll get enough use out of your iPad to make it worth the cost before it goes obsolete and you need to buy a new one.

Thanks for your help.   I was all set to order a pair of Fives. It appears, though, that the tallest stand offered for the Five is only 31 inches tall, which is a couple inches shy of what I need.   That may have narrowed down my choice some. 

There is no reason you can’t put a booster under a speaker stand.

I’ve made some very nice risers using a simple rectangle of 1” oak board with an oak plywood center. Simple cutting and then glue together for a very nice project. If you are going to paint them pine will do as well and be cheaper.

Not a bad idea. 

Hi

@Rob_95 

If you search the web the recommended speaker stand is 24 to 28 inches. My Flexson Sonos Five stands are 31 inches tall. 

My floors are hardwood with very few soft surfaces excluding my leather recliners and a cloth love seat. I’m seated about 10 feet from my Fives. 

My point here is that unless you have carpeted floors and/or a lot of sound adsorbing surfaces the reflected sound from floor, ceiling and walls should provide an enjoyable listening experience. Using Trueplay with an iOS device should help as well (in most settings).

In any event if not satisfied you can of course take the great advice of @Stanley_4 and build risers.

Thanks @AjTrek1 , I need the extra height to get over some furniture.   I'll just use some slices of 2x12 initially, until I decide on a final configuration.  Looking forward to getting my 300s back to the home theater. 

I took the advise of @AjTrek1 and purchased a pair of Fives so I could compare them with the 300s.   So far, my listening results largely mirror Aj's.  Sort of.  I don't find the Fives either better or worse than the 300s, but different. 

The Fives produce slightly better detail, particularly in the lower mids and bass.   I believe they produce clearer sound, which is beneficial when listening to individual instruments.  So if I want to focus on a drum or bass solo of a jazz quartet, the Fives are marginally superior.   Here, though, the difference is subtle, and you likely wouldn't notice without listening to each side by side. 

The 300s, on the other hand, fill the room better, and I think are more enjoyable than the Fives when listening to the music as a whole.   For instance, orchestral music sounds superior on the 300s than on the Fives, as does big band, or even an entire jazz quartet.  The 300s produce a slight reverb that feels more like a live performance that I think I prefer.   I suppose a hifi purist would not want this, but then such a purist would likely not "settle" for sonos in the first place.  Purist's sound systems get crazy expensive. 

In short, based upon my limited listening,  I think the 300s make music sound better while the Fives make instruments sound better.  Right now, I'm leaning toward the 300s. 

I'd be interested in anyone else's opinion on this, whether they agree or disagree.   Thanks to everyone for their helpful comments. 

Rob

I'll add that a big advantage to the Fives is that balance control.   The 300s need that, in spite of what Sonos says. 

I think you also need to factor in the room your playing in, when comparing Fives and Era 300s.  The Fives are going to fill up a larger space that the Era 300s, so I would recommend Fives for a large open concept space for example.

I think you also need to consider atmos music. Obviously, you get atmos with Era 300s, but not with Fives.  What people don’t consider as well is whether or not you have other rooms in the house that are atmos capable.  Grouping 2 atmos capable rooms, with an atmos track, gets atmos in both rooms.  If you group 2 rooms and only one is atmos capable, you get stereo in both rooms.  In that regards, using Era 300s gives you more flexibility, even if you don’t care too much about atmos in the room you are placing the speakers.

Speaking of atmos, and looping back in the question of what room your playing in, the listening area matters for atmos music.  If there is no definitive listening area (say a couch, chair, table) but people will be listening frequently in multiple spots in the room, then stereo is a better option for the room.  You may want Fives then even if it’s a smaller room, or you group with an atmos room frequently.  So again, an open concept spaces isn’t ideal for atmos, and thus Fives would make more sense.