Which Sonos Devices support AirPlay (NOT AirPlay 2)?

Well, by what protocol are some of the speakers then discovered by my Mac?

Airplay2 is downward compatible, therefore the Sonos devices which support Airplay2 do support Airplay1 as well - kind of, not officially. You’ll need to send the Airplay stream from the Mac initially only to the Sonos ONE, non-Airplay speakers will then be able to join within the Sonos app.

And in my experience, without doing any research on the Apple protocols, it’s not always backward compatible. I’ve found it much safer and consistent to stick with AirPlay 2 when sending to my Sonos. 

'Kind of non officiallly' is right. From my past experiments it is very hit and miss. And I would give it a miss.

The backwards compatibility must be what allows the speakers to be discovered, but Sonos reslly doesn't want to play ball with Airplay 1.

I know that speakers that don‘t support AirPlay 2 can be grouped with e.g. a Sonos ONE and can then play music via AirPlay 2.

My question remains: why does the Play:3 show up in the list of AirPlay speakers but not Play:5 or Play:1?

@Glurz, You’re initial query was about Play:5 Gen 1 supporting Airplay1. I own a stereo pair and never discovered any Airplay compatibility. If anything Airplay is noticeable more reliable when the Play:5s are not being grouped to.

Can you provide a screenshot?

@Smilja Yes, I’m sorry - there was a mistake in my initial post. Listed is a Sonos ONE and my Play:3 stereo pair. The Play:5 (Gen 1) and the Play:1’s are missing.

Wohnzimmer is the stereo pair of Play:3’s

Sonos One is a Sonos ONE ;)

To the best of my knowledge neither the Play:3 nor any other non-Airplay2 compatible speaker has ever been capable of outputting an Airplay1 stream. You don’t have two Sonos rooms named “Wohnzimmer” by accident? Did you ask support for clarification?

@Smilja 🤦‍♂️- you‘re right! My Apple TV also goes under the name Wohnzimmer. That shows up as Airplay device.

Sorry!