Sonos Play : 5 + Sonos SUB will it live up to my expectation ?
So guys I am using a JBL Authentics L8 speakers as my wireless Speakers as it has AirPlay and Bluetooth and almost everything to stream music wirelessly! It has 120 Watts of sound output with two tweeters and two woofers 30 Watts for each driver. I want a thunderous BASS which somewhere the JBL Authentics L8 is lacking obviously because of the compact size, but even if for a moment I come to think about contemplating the Sonos Play :5 second generation, due to even its compact size it is not going to give me a thunderous BASS either ? I was told that you can add a Sonos Sub to it which will give you more BASS but my question is will the entire set up not get messed up with this arrangement ? Firstly Sonos does not give details about its drivers (That is again a big problem) so my question is let's say the tweeter of Sonos is 25 watts and there are two of them and let's say it has two woofers (By the way I don't know how many woofers does the Play :5 second generation have?) two woofers are let's say 50 Watts do adding an external Sonos sub has to gel, compliment with the Play :5 right ? Will it be not like a situation that I have a body of a motorcycle and I am adding a Rocket engine the entire set up will be so unbalanced if you guys know what I mean ? Will the Play :5 give me a ground shaking BASS as I like to listen to electronic and house music !
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My pair of Play-5's never stops to amaze me. I listen to classical music mostly. The amount of detail I hear is fantastic. No distortion at all, even in the basses. They do JS Bachs Toccata & Fugue a lot better than on my previous system : a Technics SU-A800D/SU-C800U with 2 Memorex (180W speakers). In the evening, I want to listen at very low volumes but even then I don't miss details. If it's just plain bass you want, I'm not sure they are the right choice for you. You sound like you just want to make a lot of noise 🙂 If you want great quality sound while enjoying the benefits of wireless, streaming music then you should have no doubts.
A fanboy
A fanboy
No If I wanted the 2.1 set up I would have straightaway gone for it. I originally started with the idea of buying only Play:5 but a lot of people here said that Maybe I might have to add a wireless Sonos sub to get that ground shaking BASS. Mind you I already have the JBL Authentics L8 which has 4 drivers (2 Tweeters, and two Woofers 40 watts each) So I am looking out for something which surpasses this.
Kit delivering a given sound level, can be specified in watts ranging from 10 to maybe 500, depending on how you count them. And without straying into outright dishonesty.
If you are not in a position to listen to Sonos kit before buying it, I suggest you don't, and limit yourself to that which you can test by listening to it. As has been suggested here more than once.
My last post on this thread.
If you are not in a position to listen to Sonos kit before buying it, I suggest you don't, and limit yourself to that which you can test by listening to it. As has been suggested here more than once.
My last post on this thread.
My last post on this thread.
Oh Thank You ! Indeed ! For Obliging me ! What a big favor really ? :8
How on God's green Earth could you think adding a POWERED subwoofer to a system will nor add output to the system? Not that it matters, but yes, adding more watts of power increases the output. :8
Well you know the funny part is, nobody has an exact clue about this?? Yesterday I was speaking to Sonos Technical Support and even HR seemed to didn't have any exact answer for this he said adding a wireless will transfer the lower frequency from the Play 5 to it but will it add more watts and output he said he doesn't know ! How gullible is that ??
Sir, that is correct. Adding a powered sub adds more wattage but not necessarily more output depending on other factors. Because you are so obsessed with wattage ratings you refuse to grasp that there is a much more complex relationship going on here. The fact is, just listing the wattage of a system says NOTHING about the output capabilities. Wattage means nothing without knowing other factors at play such as the sensitivity of the speakers, the level and steepness of the crossovers; even room size and distance from the listening position come into play.
But here, I will give what you want: The 2 Play:5s and Sonos Sub will far exceed the output of a 10,000 watt system played through 0dB sensitive speakers. Sound good?
And my sympathies to the Sonos customer service person having to deal with this nonsense. :8
But here, I will give what you want: The 2 Play:5s and Sonos Sub will far exceed the output of a 10,000 watt system played through 0dB sensitive speakers. Sound good?
And my sympathies to the Sonos customer service person having to deal with this nonsense. :8
But here, I will give what you want: The 2 Play:5s and Sonos Sub will far exceed the output of a 10,000 watt system played through 0dB sensitive speakers. Sound good?
And my sympathies to the Sonos customer service person having to deal with this nonsense. :8
If I were to invest so much of money in the set up as you suggest 2 Play:5 and Sub why can't I get a proper 2.1 speaker system What you call nonsense is common sense for a lot of people who would want to use it before taking a decision to make such a blind huge investment not just being a Fan Boy as you sound 🙂
I have repeatedly stated that the only way for you to see if the system is sufficient for your usage is to actually use it. You are the one insisting on hearing numbers to justify the purchase, numbers which mean absolutely nothing to the final sound of the system. All I am doing is trying to prevent you from justifying a purchase on meaningless numbers. That's not being a fanboy, that is giving good, solid advice. If you don't want anyone giving you advice, what are you asking questions for?
And I have said if before aswell Sonos is not available here that too for try and return back. I have to get it from the U.S without any return-refund assurance how do I make such a blind decision, do you get it now?
Of course I get it, you can't easily return your purchase. Regardless, your repeated attempts to get us to justify your purchase using meaningless numbers like watts comparisons is still nonsense. Buy it, or don't buy it. Just stop posting nonsense.
Again you are sounding like a Fanboy and again it maybe nonsense to you, but I was just asking that I use certain watts system will the Sonos Play:5 alone and with the Sub have more Watts and power ! Whats nonsense about it ??
It is nonsense because watts means nothing without other information like speaker sensitivity. Do you know the sensitivity of your speakers? Do you know that a speaker using the same watts can put out 50% more output depending on the sensitivity? That a 50 watt amp can supply the same speaker output of a 100 watt amp depending on speaker sensitivity? So without knowing the sensitivity, watts means nothing. So mentioning watts as a factor means nothing, i.e. it is nonsense.
What if I told you that Sonos has 1000 watts of power? That would be awesome! But what if that 1000 watts was put through very inefficient speakers that made less output than your current system? Would you be thanking us?
Or what if Sonos has 50 watts? By your criteria, you wouldn't buy it. But seeing as how Sonos is a contained system designed to be efficient, those 50 watts will probably blow away your inefficient speakers with 240 watts, and you would have missed out by not buying it.
Get it now?
What if I told you that Sonos has 1000 watts of power? That would be awesome! But what if that 1000 watts was put through very inefficient speakers that made less output than your current system? Would you be thanking us?
Or what if Sonos has 50 watts? By your criteria, you wouldn't buy it. But seeing as how Sonos is a contained system designed to be efficient, those 50 watts will probably blow away your inefficient speakers with 240 watts, and you would have missed out by not buying it.
Get it now?
What if I told you that Sonos has 1000 watts of power? That would be awesome! But what if that 1000 watts was put through very inefficient speakers that made less output than your current system? Would you be thanking us?
Or what if Sonos has 50 watts? By your criteria, you wouldn't buy it. But seeing as how Sonos is a contained system designed to be efficient, those 50 watts will probably blow away your inefficient speakers with 240 watts, and you would have missed out by not buying it.
Get it now?
I still don't completely subscribe to what you are saying, but I have to listen to the Sonos Play:5 once again thoroughly !!
You don't subscribe to pure unadulterared facts?
Me dies! :8
Me dies! :8
These are self-contained powered speakers made to work seamlessly together. Stop with the "xx Watts" this and the "zz Watts" that; watts mean nothing when you do not know the efficiency and/or crossovers of the actual components and it means even less when talking about a self-contained powered speaker. In addition, the Sub can be configured for as much or as little bass as you wish, and it sounds as good if not better than any non-wireless powered sub in its price range.
Are you a Sonos employee ? You sound too much in favour of talking about Sonos 😃
No, but he is a long time user and has been helping people here in these forums for years, without any pay. Are you surprised to find people who are in favor of Sonos in a forum of Sonos support?
It is impossible to answer about thunderous bass. My thunderous can be more thunderous than yours. Or less.
Try the set up at home with your thunderous music and decide. Sonos has a generous returns policy.
Try the set up at home with your thunderous music and decide. Sonos has a generous returns policy.
Are you a Sonos employee ? You sound too much in favour of talking about Sonos :D
No, I am not. You don't have to be a Sonos employee to know that watts ratings are useless without knowing speaker sensitivity and/or crossover. If you compare very efficient speaker vs. a less efficient one, the output from the same amount of watts at 1 meter can be as much as 5-6 dB. Since dB is a logarithmic scale, a differences in 5-6 decibels is about 1.5 times as loud out of the exact same amount of watts. That's 50% louder for the sensitive speaker!
Also, lower frequencies need more power. So if the sub you connect has steady power, and the crossover is set high, some of the massive amounts of power needed for the low end is being funneled to the high end, robbing you of "thunderous BASS". Conversely, if the crossover is set low, then the Sub is not as taxed and can play more low end. Simply measuring watts doesn't even tell you part of the story without knowing these other far more important specs. Bottom line, watts is merely a measuring contest for people who do not know any better.
That is a strong rebuff !! and some heavy bombardment of technical stuff having said that a layman would decide going by the watts ! is it not ?
That is a strong rebuff !! and some heavy bombardment of technical stuff having said that a layman would decide going by the watts ! is it not ?
No, one should never "decide" anything according to watts and watts only. That would be stupid, and exactly what the audio manufacturers want you to do. So you can remain a "layman" and get fooled, or you can learn from my post and not be fooled. Simple fact is, a "50 watts" amplifier like the Connect:Amp can outperform a 100 watt amp, given the correct speaker choice.
And that doesn't even take into account the deceiving wattage measurements that only include certain frequency ranges, or ignore terrible distortion levels in order to get the wattage rating up. Would you really want your "thunderous bass" powered by an amp whose power that drops off a cliff, or becomes terribly distorted below 60 Hz? That could be a "1200 Watts!!!" amp that is only measuring 1200 watts in a tiny frequency band, but drops like a stone or distorts when it has to power your subwoofer. But hey, you got "1200 Watts!!!!"
All I am saying is, All I want is ! I have an existing sound system as a yardstick I want something which sounds better which gives me a humongous BASS than what my current system gives me which is 60 Watts of BASS which I still find inadequate for my kind of music ! And I want it to be wireless speakers. I do not want a conventional 2.1 or 5.1 setup do not have the space nor inclination ! Now how do I decide if the Play : 5 has something to offer or is it a run of the mill speakers ? I just heard it once, just had a small glimpse in October-2016 in an Apple Store in Berlin and that was too insufficient and inadequate to be able to decide because I could not blast the sound and since it was an Apple Store there were whole lot of customs and rules that I had to follow ! They won't let me play as I would play in my house 🙂
Good grief. Buy it, take it home, try it out. If it is not to your liking, Sonos gives a 45 day return period. Note: That return period may not apply to your local dealer, but it does if you buy from Sonos direct.
Userlevel 7
+20
A PLAY:5 plus SUB will provide strong bass performance (a PLAY:5 alone is pretty good), but it does bias towards fidelity over artificial bass emphasis. It's a lot of money top spend, so -- as others have indicated -- you really need to find a way to try the system out on a returnable basis, preferably in the environment in which it will be used.
It'a also worth verifying that you are OK with the lack of Bluetooth and (currently) Airplay.
Good luck -- hope it works out.
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