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danniee
Contributor I
January 25, 2025

Sonos Five not loud enough

I just bought my first Sonos product and I have to say, so far it’s been underwhelming.

I have my Sonos Five in my living room and it’s just not loud enough. Anything below 50% is ridiculously low and I was surprised I could even push it to 100% without being blown away.

It’s loud, but not so loud that 100% becomes as unbearable as one would expect.

I don’t have volume limit on. I did the truesound thing and volume is pushed to max on my Spotify app as well as on my phone.

I’ve googled a bit and this doesn’t seem to be a very uncommon issue people experience. Some say already at 50% it’s really loud and others say they have to crank it like I do to even get loudness from it.

Not sure what to expect here. How do I know if I have a defect unit?

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    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    January 26, 2025

    SUB makes my windows, and other things, vibrate.

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      nik9669a
      Senior Virtuoso
      January 26, 2025

      Do you currently have a one-speaker or a stereo-pair two-speaker setup, ​@danniee? Two speakers and a wider soundstage can also seem “louder”. 

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      dannieeAuthor
      Contributor I
      January 27, 2025

      Do you currently have a one-speaker or a stereo-pair two-speaker setup, ​@danniee? Two speakers and a wider soundstage can also seem “louder”. 

      Only one speaker so far but will try to get another one for stereo :)

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      nik9669a
      Senior Virtuoso
      January 27, 2025

      Do you currently have a one-speaker or a stereo-pair two-speaker setup, ​@danniee? Two speakers and a wider soundstage can also seem “louder”. 

      Only one speaker so far but will try to get another one for stereo :)

      I meant in the system you’re replacing with the Five, the kit that you think was much louder. What amp, what speakers? 

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      dannieeAuthor
      Contributor I
      January 27, 2025

      Do you currently have a one-speaker or a stereo-pair two-speaker setup, ​@danniee? Two speakers and a wider soundstage can also seem “louder”. 

      Only one speaker so far but will try to get another one for stereo :)

      I meant in the system you’re replacing with the Five, the kit that you think was much louder. What amp, what speakers? 

      I don’t have anything special. I have a couple of harmans which are smaller. Given the size of the Sonos 5 and the price, I was simply expecting it to go a little bit louder on max. I see others have made similar complains, so it doesn’t seem to be an isolated thing.

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      buzz
      buzz
      Grand Maestro
      January 27, 2025

      “Loud” is even more complicated than I’m indicating here. In traditions established decades ago, FIVE’s are small speakers. Small speakers will not deliver as much bass as large speakers. My college speakers required two people to carry and the pair would not fit in some autos. I mentioned that I got constant (stress yelled) requests to “turn it up”, but there was one spot in the room … . Room physics is such that bass varies significantly, point by point, in three dimensions. There was one spot in that room where the bass seemed to explode from within one’s body. That was the favorite chair for males and the sound was satisfyingly “loud” at that spot. If I moved the chair a couple inches the effect was gone.

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        buzz
        Grand Maestro
        January 27, 2025

        By the way, my (self constructed on a budget) college speakers would sound terrible compared to FIVE’s, but my speakers could “thump” more than FIVE’s.

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        dannieeAuthor
        Contributor I
        January 27, 2025

        Now that I’ve had some more time to listen, the Sonos 5 is impressive as heck! It’s amazing and have exactly all the features I want. It was worth every cent guys.

        It IS loud as heck. I can even feel my couch vibrating when some tracks come on. I still feel that it could have been a tiiiiny bit louder but then again it’s so rarely going to be played on max that it doesn’t really matter all that much.

        This is by far the best speaker I have ever owned.

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          Stan radical
          Lyricist III
          March 29, 2025

          the five is an great product from Sonos and it give undistorted sound that is clear.if the room is large than the sound wood seam not loud but the qualityof sound is good try useing  in different spots in the room .I have use mine  in the back yard with a projector and the sound is great not ear popping but clear with detail.dont give up on it..you can get speakers  that are loud with thumping bass but no no no detail..

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