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I’m looking for a Play:5 Gen 1 and have noticed that there are three variants in the UK secondhand market:

  • Backplate with Chinese characters (Play:5 in small letters) - about 60% of units on sale
  • Backplate with Wireless System Zone Player - about 25% of units on sale
  • Backplate with Play:5 in large letters, no Chinese characters - about 15% of units on sale

Anyone know what the differences (if any) are? Clearly the Zone Player speakers were the first production run but I can’t understand why most of the speakers in the UK are Chinese character versions..?

And does the same thing occur in other countries?

Thanks

Nick

Hi @nick777vvv,

The difference on the backplates is tied to the manufacture date as you know with the Zone Player backplate. The Play:5 Gen 1 was manufactured in China, which explains the Chinese characters on the back; the overall timeline of the Play:5 Gen 1 seems to be the Zone Player → Play:5 in small letters → Play:5 in larger letters. This is likely the same for our older speakers in other countries.

There wont be a difference in the sound quality between the three versions as we save those changes for new speaker models, such as the Play:5 Gen 2 and the Sonos Five, so any of those would be good to pick for your system.

I hope this information helps!

Much appreciated!

 

Rgds

Nick

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