Contributor I

2 One’s and a sub or 2 Fives?

17 replies
8593 views

Apologies if this has been asked before but I’m curious as to what people think.

I’m thinking of getting a few speakers for the living room. I often sit at the piano and like to play along to what I’m listening to so I need a setup that won’t be drowned out by my (questionable) playing. My aim is to create a stereo pair and then position them each side of the piano.

The conundrum I have is whether to go for 2 Ones and a Sub, which I assume (hope) will give me better separation of highs from lows OR 2 Fives without a separate Sub.

I listen to a really wide variety of music including classical and Jazz so the mids and trebles are just as important to me as the thumbing bass.

Thoughts?

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G

GuitarSuperstar

Lead Maestro

Most users would agree that Sonos’ best speaker setup for music is a stereo pair of Fives. The mids on the Five are far superior than the One. And two Fives will give you plenty of bass without a subwoofer.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi

K

Kumar

I go in the direction of preferring a separate Sub whenever possible. For one thing, it cleans up the midrange in the main speakers, and for another, it allows the music to remain rich sounding even at low sound levels. Something that Sub does very well, in addition to providing a natural bass for even acoustic instruments at all sound levels; the Sub is more than just thumping bass that can disturb the neighbours if you let it.

But this only if you have a good place to locate the Sub, somewhere between the two main speakers, in the same plane. And you have to true play tune the Sub for best results.

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

It’s initially an expensive solution, but buy them all and try them out - including 2xFives and a sub. Once you’ve decided what you like, return the rejected speakers for a refund under the home trial terms.

K

Kumar

return the rejected speakers for a refund under the home trial terms.

What does Sonos or the reseller do with such returned items, I wonder...

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nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

What does Sonos or the reseller do with such returned items, I wonder...

Resell as Refurbished, I assume?

Of course, you could also set up the other speakers in another room, @ctmaddison !

C

ctmaddisonAuthor

Contributor I

Most users would agree that Sonos’ best speaker setup for music is a stereo pair of Fives. The mids on the Five are far superior than the One. And two Fives will give you plenty of bass without a subwoofer.

Thanks for the advice. Having looked a little more at the fives and seeing how they’re constructed I can certainly see the temptation and possible advantage over the Ones + Sub. I’m leaning more in the direction of the fives now.

C

ctmaddisonAuthor

Contributor I

I go in the direction of preferring a separate Sub whenever possible. For one thing, it cleans up the midrange in the main speakers, and for another, it allows the music to remain rich sounding even at low sound levels. Something that Sub does very well, in addition to providing a natural bass for even acoustic instruments at all sound levels; the Sub is more than just thumping bass that can disturb the neighbours if you let it.

But this only if you have a good place to locate the Sub, somewhere between the two main speakers, in the same plane. And you have to true play tune the Sub for best results.

This was my initial thinking but having seen the design of the tweeters in the Fives I’m swayed in that direction. The other issue I'd have is that I wouldn’t be able to place a sub between the two L+R speakers as that’s where the piano is. I think I best go find a decent audio shop and see if I can attempt to listen to these speakers in person and see what I think.

C

ctmaddisonAuthor

Contributor I

What does Sonos or the reseller do with such returned items, I wonder...

Resell as Refurbished, I assume?

Of course, you could also set up the other speakers in another room, @ctmaddison !

Yep, there’s a Refurbished section in the footer of the Sonos website - with some pretty decent price reductions!

K

Kumar

The other issue I'd have is that I wouldn’t be able to place a sub between the two L+R speakers as that’s where the piano is.

If the Sub can be placed adjacent to the piano such that it is still between the two speakers, even if not at the centre between them, that is good enough. You don't want it off to one side beyond the speaker pair, basically.

Listening is always the best way to go. But for such an investment, the listening should be in the target space, with music you like. Where the speakers are playing can make a night and day difference to how they sound. And true play tuning necessary to get the best of them is location specific.

Hence the suggestion to buy everything and return what comes off second best in a test at home.

C

Clemdog

Avid Contributor I

So I’ve been following this thread with interest…

I have a stereo pair of Fives hooked up for 2 channel audio only to a turntable and CD player.
the Fives of course sound awesome. Just wondering how much more a sub would add?

Id be willing to cough up the $$ to add one if it’d make a audible difference.
Thoughts?

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