Watts and Ohms

To my knowledge, they've never been published. Probably why support couldn't give them to you.

Why does it matter? Doesn't the actual sound of the speaker beat any numbers comparison? Isn't that what you're purchasing speakers for, the sound?

This requirement is a obsoleted carry over from the days of buying separate amplifier and speakers, made by different makes, where it was needed to match these components for best results. With integrated units of the kind you are buying, all that matters is does it have a sound signature that I like and does it go as loud as I need my music to go. And of course, the feature set, reliability, after sales support and price. Watts/ohm information adds no value to the buying decision and may even mislead you.

Well from experience it was a measure of proformance. I had Macintosh speakers back in the day ran on fuses each speaker was a 1000 watts a pair in 1980 were 5500. Lol I had receivers equalizers amps. I know times have changed. Sonos is great I have 4 play 5s 1 sound bar 2 subs just would be nice to say my system is so many watts. I’m guessing each speaker is about 40

TowergardenFlyer wrote:

Sonos is great I have 4 play 5s 1 sound bar 2 subs just would be nice to say my system is so many watts. I’m guessing each speaker is about 40

Pick any number that you think will impress and toss it out. There is no way it can be disproved.

The reason I say the above is because even back in the day, one could do this. I had a HIFi stereo that was sold as a 40 watt system, had specs published in the manual that said 10 watts rms per channel, and went louder than a boom box that had a splashy label of 1600 watts PMPO on it.

You can buy high wattage surround systems quite cheaply that sound awful. Adding watts is cheap and easy for a manufacturer. It's adding sound quality and fidelity that takes expertise. Clarity at high volumes, that's the tricky bit. Forget watts.

TowergardenFlyer wrote:

just would be nice to say my system is so many watts. I’m guessing each speaker is about 40

Or 4, or 400. As others have pointed out, the wattage is totally irrelevant.

Class D amps are very efficient. The drive units could have low sensitivity and powerful amps.

Alternatively if the drive units/acoustics had the efficiency of a Voigt corner horn I'm afraid you'd have to scratch around elsewhere for something to brag about.

Thanks everyone. Its going to be interesting to see what kind of new speakers sonos develops. Its crazy to think how far we came in 30 years. I do hope sonos will encorporate a equalizer in future updates...i understand true play and bass and trebble settings but an equalizer to calibrate and change your self would be nice..i like to tinker...

TowergardenFlyer wrote:

i like to tinker...

That however is not something that Sonos will indulge you in. Which is why it does true play tuning that leaves a lot less in your hands than what is permitted by even the limited EQ controls it sports. By design, based on what it sees as what its target market desires.

TowergardenFlyer wrote:

Well from experience it was a measure of proformance.

No, it really wasn't, not totally. Without other measurements (that some manufacturers are loathe to publish) like distortion levels, drop off at lower or higher frequencies, and speaker sensitivity, there is no way to actually measure "performance" with just wattage and Ohms. You could very easily have a low sensitivity speaker and a high level wattage amp outperformed by a high sensitivity speaker and a low wattage amp. Also, amplifiers with the same wattage "rating" could sound vastly different at high volume because of distortion, or drop off of frequency response on the amplifiers and/or speakers. Simply put, unless clarified by other factors, watts are for bragging rights . . . and not much else.

I put one of my Play 5's (Gen2) on a watt meter and I have seen it peak at just over 80 watts.