Re-purpose Play: One speakers?

  • 24 December 2022
  • 12 replies
  • 188 views

I just got a pair of Play SL speakers so I can have Airplay 2 functionality. (Yay!) I’m annoyed, however that my perfectly good Play: 1 speakers are effectively “bricked” now. Any suggestions on how to re-purpose these speakers?. For example: can I use them as monitor speakers or computer speaker via the Ethernet port? Should I just sell them on eBay?

 


12 replies

Why would they be “bricked”?  You can still use them as before, and if you need them to play Airplay sources, you can group them with the One SL speakers. 

Userlevel 7
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For future reference you the speakers you already had are Play 1’s, the new ones are One SL’s.

They’ll fetch a nice price on eBay, but you could still use them in other rooms, indeed grouping them with the Airplay capable One SL’s.

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Or use them as surrounds with your Playbar. 

Perhaps the OP is under the impression the PLAY:1s don’t run s2? 
 

I have PLAY:1s running S2, which are bonded to my Sonos Arc. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Why did you bury your speakers under some bricks? You can’t hear them very well then. Please send them to me once you dig them out.

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments!

From Sonos (found on web):

"The new Sonos S2 app and operating system is compatible with all Sonos products manufactured after 2015.” 

My Play:1 speakers were made in 2013. Sonos contacted me to inform me that these speakers were *not* compatible with S2 software, but I could continue to use them with the S1software- which I did, and they worked: so technically “bricked” is a bit strong of a term, but I don’t want to open the app every time I want to use the speakers. Plus it didn’t work that well.
I do stand by my point though: when Apple upgraded to AirPlay 2, my Play: 1 speakers could no longer play directly from my devices- which is why I got them in the first place. My reason for getting a Sonos system was to eliminate the whole stereo component mess, with speaker wires and separate boxes all wired together. Sonos was a neat, elegant alternative- plus they sound great. 

Now I’ve got that functionality back. I can pick up a device and see my speakers right there and select them. My One SLs are split into a stereo pair; I can use them together with my soundbar for home theater use, etc. or all together when I want to get loud.

It bugs me that I can’t use these speakers as computer monitors or something. They’re good speakers, but I don’t need speakers all over the house or 2 separate Sonus systems. Seems like there should be a way to bypass the DSP circuitry and McGuyver a direct audio in to turn them into powered monitor speakers. Probably best to sell them and just buy some powered monitor speakers, duh!

thanks again folks!

That information is in direct conflict with the data at 

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-s2-compatibility

With whom did you speak? They certainly gave you incorrect information. You might assist Sonos in doing some retraining if you could post that information. All PLAY:1 speakers are S2 compatible. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

The quote "The new Sonos S2 app and operating system is compatible with all Sonos products manufactured after 2015” does not explicitly say speakers made before 2013 are incompatible.

Because there are no ‘generations’ of the PLAY:1, they all have the same internal CPU and RAM, which is why they are all compatible with S2, as indicated on that page. 

Well- I’m certainly not trying to misinform any one here. It’s been several years since I talked to anyone about this, but I do recall being told I would need to use the S1 software to make my Play: 1s and my playbar work together. It was after Apple changed over to Airplay 2? I was annoyed when my Play: 1s weren’t directly controllable by my iOS devices anymore. 
Anyway, I don’t want to depend on the app to use my speakers. That’s what I’m getting at. If I misunderstood some of the other issues that’s unfortunate. 

As suggested above, use this as your S1/S2 compatibility resource.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

@PKBenson The only thing that changed (caused by Apple) was that you could not play music stored in your iPhone directly to the speakers. Controlling your speakers has always needed the Sonos app. Some music services (like Spotify) can also control the speakers directly without the need to use Airplay.

As pointed out, you could use the Play 1’s as surrounds for the Playbar. Then they are not separately visible in the app and would heighten the enjoyment of your system.

Just a mention: you are not using a Sonos Bridge, are you? Because that’s the only cause I can think of your system would not have been be S2-capable.

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