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Ryan S
Ryan SAnswer
Retired Sonos Staff
May 8, 2018
Hi everyone, thanks for sharing your feedback and voice. The official answer on this topic is in the thread, but it's a bit buried at this point.

To be clear, the Sonos One can be used with all Sonos players. It can control what's playing on itself and other rooms with voice, where available. However, Sonos One will only pair with another Sonos One if you are looking to set it up as a stereo pair or as part of a surround setup, it can't bond with a Play:1.

While the Play:1 and Sonos One share a similar appearance and sound, the two are aesthetically and acoustically two different speakers. Stereo pairing the two is not possible through the Sonos app.

This comes down to the hardware in the players themselves. You're going to start seeing more differences between the Play:1 and the Sonos One when it comes to features in the future, as new things are added to the system that might not be compatible with older hardware. We strive to keep products working with core functionality for as long as possible. As we add new features, older products may have more limitations.

You might have heard recently that we're bringing Airplay 2 to Sonos on a selection of players. The Sonos One will be available as an Airplay 2 target, but the Play:1 will not be. The first Sonos players ever, the ZP100, is still out there rocking today, so don't worry about the life of your Play:1s. That one won't be an Airplay 2 target either, but you'd be able to group a Sonos One with a ZP100 and play Airplay 2 to both, just like with a Play:1. The group is different from stereo bonding.

There are some community suggestions for ways to bond a Play:1 with a Sonos One, mentioned in this thread, but they aren't officially recommended. They may work for what you're looking for, but the setup could potentially be unstable.

Thanks again everyone for sharing, and we'll make sure the team knows this is still something you'd like to see happen, but there aren't any plans to share on bonding a Play:1 and Sonos One as a pair.
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Marv23
Lyricist I
October 18, 2017
I too would like to see the Sonos One be able to be bonded with the original Play:1. I have 8 Play:1’s and would love to stereo pair them with ones and have Alexa in more places around the house! PLEASE make this possible!!
    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    October 18, 2017


    However I would not be prepared to replace both my 5.1 surrounds, and as others have mentioned, having two voice control speakers in the same room is pretty pointless. If I was ever to replace a second Play:1 it would be the one in the bedroom

    Are you sure it's pointless? For larger rooms, having one mic location can get a little difficult. I can see where having 2 can be useful. I haven't tired it yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised if I have a better experience.


    I'm sure that sonically the Play:1 and the One are close enough to work seamlessly as a mismatched pair.


    Based on what information? The fact that they are around the same size?


    Perhaps just provide a caveat message in the app when setting up that this is not officially supported / won't provide a quite optimal experience / etc when compared to a matched pair.


    Sonos doesn't really like doing that kind of thing. They don't seem to want to allow the customers to setup the system in a way they know will not sound good. Probably a big reason why they don't do bluetooth.
    Danny
    Welshdoc17
    Contributor I
    October 18, 2017
    Personally, I'm hugely disappointed that a One can't be stereo paired with a Play 1, especially given today's press reviews that just about all confirm that both are sonically indistinguishably identical! It also makes no sense that both models have the same RRP. Surely the One should cost more (ignoring current retail discounts)? Here's hoping for something special on Black Friday.
      Steve-R
      Trending Lyricist I
      October 18, 2017
      Are you sure it's pointless? For larger rooms, having one mic location can get a little difficult. I can see where having 2 can be useful. I haven't tired it yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised if I have a better experience.
      Maybe if your room is really large, but my surrounds sit about 2 metres either side of my central TV watching position. I am going to pick up a Google Home mini and an Echo Dot to mess about with shortly though, so I'll reserve judgement on how well far-field mics work in my particular environment.


      Based on what information? The fact that they are around the same size?

      Based on the specs sheet and a bunch of early impressions saying it sounds basically the same.

      https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/18/sonos-one-review/

      The Sonos One uses the same audio components and speakers as those found in the Play:1, but the internal layout had to be completely redesigned in order to fit the microphones.

      So yeah, it might not be sonically identical due to the 'internal layout being redesigned' but if the hardware is the same a mismatched pair should be able to be sent exactly the same audio signal as a matched pair. Any differences would be purely acoustic, akin to having one of your pair on a bookshelf and one on a table, for example.

      Sonos doesn't really like doing that kind of thing. They don't seem to want to allow the customers to setup the system in a way they know will not sound good. Probably a big reason why they don't do bluetooth.
      True, which is a very Apple-ish 'we know better than you' approach and kinda frustrating for a die-hard Android user and tech tinkerer. Luckily AirAudio allows you to stream any system audio source from a rooted Android to Sonos 🙂
        snappingsam
        Lyricist I
        October 19, 2017
        Would love to pair a Sonos One and Play:1 in my bedroom. It's not a big enough room that I need two speakers with microphones...

        Exactly my thoughts Perhaps SONOS have shot themselves in the foot by making a device that looks like a Play1 and have called it a One.... so its understandable why people want to pair them. If you had called them a Play2 and made them look different there wouldn't be this hastle. Your focus groups must of missed this. So I assume that both the Play 1 and the One will both be available for some time - so that I can finish of pairs with matching speakers....
          Silverthorn
          Prodigy II
          October 20, 2017
          Are you sure it's pointless? For larger rooms, having one mic location can get a little difficult. I can see where having 2 can be useful. I haven't tired it yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised if I have a better experience.
          Maybe if your room is really large, but my surrounds sit about 2 metres either side of my central TV watching position. I am going to pick up a Google Home mini and an Echo Dot to mess about with shortly though, so I'll reserve judgement on how well far-field mics work in my particular environment.


          Based on what information? The fact that they are around the same size?

          Based on the specs sheet and a bunch of early impressions saying it sounds basically the same.

          https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/18/sonos-one-review/

          The Sonos One uses the same audio components and speakers as those found in the Play:1, but the internal layout had to be completely redesigned in order to fit the microphones.

          So yeah, it might not be sonically identical due to the 'internal layout being redesigned' but if the hardware is the same a mismatched pair should be able to be sent exactly the same audio signal as a matched pair. Any differences would be purely acoustic, akin to having one of your pair on a bookshelf and one on a table, for example.

          Sonos doesn't really like doing that kind of thing. They don't seem to want to allow the customers to setup the system in a way they know will not sound good. Probably a big reason why they don't do bluetooth.
          True, which is a very Apple-ish 'we know better than you' approach and kinda frustrating for a die-hard Android user and tech tinkerer. Luckily AirAudio allows you to stream any system audio source from a rooted Android to Sonos :)

          Sonos said in one of the announcements here that the new One is revamped with only the base and power input the same so expecting to pair the 1 and One is not realistic. The play 1 has been around a while so it would be likely that they would update the player.
          "I saw the Stooges and the MC5"
          Paultards
          Lyricist II
          October 22, 2017
          Agree with the majority here - I have been waiting for this product to stereo pair with my existing Sonos. Will sell it now and go all in on Google home because I don't want to wait for a year for a Google smart speaker that I can't even pair with my old one.
          jgatie
          jgatie
          October 22, 2017
          Agree with the majority here - I have been waiting for this product to stereo pair with my existing Sonos. Will sell it now and go all in on Google home because I don't want to wait for a year for a Google smart speaker that I can't even pair with my old one.

          Waiting for this product? Were you psychic? Because the product wasn't announced until two weeks ago, and it was stated shortly after launch it could not be paired with a Play:1. And now because their speakers can only be paired with the same model, you are dumping Sonos for Google? Uh, you do realise that Google can't pair any of their speakers at all?
          porterh
          Lyricist III
          October 23, 2017
          Another vote for the Sonos One be able to be bonded with the original Play:1. I was disappointed today when I discovered this was not possible.
            devScott
            Lyricist III
            October 24, 2017
            according to the verge, "Sonos says it might change this with a future update if enough customers want it"

            https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/18/16490866/sonos-one-speaker-review-alexa

            I definitely want to link to an existing play:1 in my kitchen due to the layout I only need one mic.
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