Sonos Era 300 Comandi Vocali

If you don’t use an iOS device, you don’t have access to the full ‘TruePlay’ experience, although many might argue you’re not missing anything. I have some rooms that it seemed to make a difference, others in which it seemed to make no difference. 

As to the bass, that’s much more of a ‘what do my ears tell me’ sort of thing. I love my Era 300s for surround use mostly (and Atmos encoded music, which is rare), and I use a pair of PLAY:5 gen 2s for regular stereo music. But your experience might be different. 

​@Airgetlam 

Thank you very much for your reply.A curiosity, the Sonos Era 300 does not have its own built-in microphone, does it use it for voice commands, does it not also use its microphone for the trueplay function? (which the Play or Five do not have).Did you configure your two Sonos Plays as two single speakers or a stereo pair? (I read that in a stereo pair they lose a bit of dynamics and bass.Last question, did you put the Plays in a horizontal or vertical position?On the Sonos website they recommend vertical but I did not understand if for a stereo pair (right left) or always like this, but it says that the horizontal one also works well???Thanks a lot for your help.

Several questions there, let me separate them.

1. the Sonos Era 300 does not have its own built-in microphone, does it use it for voice commands, does it not also use its microphone for the trueplay function? (which the Play or Five do not have).
   Not sure if this is a translation error. The Sonos Era 300 does have a microphone. This is used when not in surround mode, both for self-TruePlay, and for voice commands. There is, perhaps, a slight difference between self-TruePlay and the normal iOS version, but you’d need to contact Sonos support for verification.

2. Did you configure your two Sonos Plays as two single speakers or a stereo pair? (I read that in a stereo pair they lose a bit of dynamics and bass.
   Yes, my PLAY:5s are set up as a stereo pair, and used for critical music listening. I’ve never read, or experienced any reduction in dynamics or bass response, and it would make no sense to me if that were true. When a Sub is added to that ‘room’, it would reduce the need for the speakers to reproduce those lower frequencies, so it might open them up perhaps a little, but I don’t have a Sub in that Sonos ‘room’, and have never noticed any issues with my music reproduction.

3. did you put the Plays in a horizontal or vertical position?
   Since mine are in Flexson stands flanking the TV credenza, they’re vertical. Previously, I had them on the credenza horizontally. When the orientation changed, since they were already stereo paired, I don’t recall noticing a difference. That would have likely been more noticeable if they were set up in separate Sonos ‘rooms’. Vertical, as I understand, removes the ‘stereo’ image from the single ‘room’ device, but I’ve always considered, in order to really hear a stereo signal from a box that size, I would need to have my head in the vicinity of 2 to 6 inches away from it. Sonos suggests there’s a slight difference, my ears are not enough to hear it. I have enjoyed my PLAY:5 gen 2s in both horizontal and vertical positions, but they have always been stereo paired. 

​@Airgetlam 

Thank you very much, everything is clear.
You are very kind.

Good morning.

I take this opportunity to ask another thing (I found Sonos Five at the cost of the Era 300) having to put them in a bookcase I think that the Era 300 model can remain too closed between the various shelves of the cabinet and not perform at its best...

I'm considering getting a pair of Fives, but I don't have space in the bookcase to put them vertically, can they work equally if configured as stereo speakers but in a horizontal position, or is it better to lose the stereophonic "effect" and set them as two separate speakers?

Thank you very much.

If it were me, I would always vote for the ‘stereo’ setup. I find that I prefer a stereo set of speakers much more than a pair of ‘mono’ emitters. But the nice thing is that there is no ‘correct’ answer. You should try them in both setups, and see what works better for you and your situation. One if the nice things about Sonos is they make this fairly easy to do. 

Thank you very much.

Please ask another question.
Next week I will receive the Sonos Five (in Italy on promotion at 549 euros).

I would also like to have a Subwoofer.

Some time ago I tried the Sonos Sub mini, but I didn't like it at all, the cutoff frequency seemed too high (I think 80-90 Hz) because it also highlighted a part of the voice, and some instruments that should not have been reproduced by the Subwoofer.

This ruined the sound of the Era 300 without bringing any improvement on the low frequencies if I turned up the volume the subwoofer distorted... after a few days I returned it.

On the Sonos Five I would like to put the Gen3 Subwoofer (650 euros) or Gen4 (850 euros).

I ask you have you had the chance to listen to the Gen3-4 with a Sonos Five? qualitatively is the Gen3-4 much superior to the Sub Mini?

Another option is to get another Five for 549 euros, but I have the impression that the Subwoofer could go lower in frequency (provided that crossover is cut around 40-45 HZ).
Thank you very much.

No, I haven’t. I’d suggest you call Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

Ok thanks

Good morning.

I ran Trueplay on the Sonos Five with my daughter's iPhone (too bad Android doesn't work).

I'm asking you if I buy another Sonos Five to put in the same room do I have to always run Trueplay on the new speaker? If so, do I have to disconnect the previous one for a correct calibration?.

If I pair them in stereo, they must both be active, right?

I know I should contact Sonos service, I've been writing to them for days but they never answer (a useless service!).
Thank you very much for your help.

Trueplay optimizes a speaker for its exact physical location. Since two speakers cannot occupy the same location and there may be minor differences in their output, Trueplay tuning cannot be copied from speaker to speaker. Similarly, when two speakers are bonded as a stereo pair, any previous Trueplay tuning is discarded. Attempting to store a previous tuning would not be valid because it is unlikely that a speaker would be returned to a previous location and orientation with the required precision.

Writing them? To my knowledge, they don’t have an ‘email’ address to which they respond, only a phone number. Have you tried calling in?

​@buzz

Thank you very much.
Then I'll have the system do everything automatically, perfect.

​@Airgetlam 

For Italy there is also an email contact available (the dealer also gave it to me) I don't know if it is also available for other countries.
But it is practically useless..... I will also try by phone.
Thank you.