5.1 System with 5's as rears

  • 8 November 2020
  • 9 replies
  • 239 views

Hi, I have searched and cannot find anything “exactly” the same as my query.

I have a very large living room, currently with a traditional 5.1 system setup.

I want to change it all and go with a Sonos system.

I want the Arc, 1 x sub and 5’s for the rears. I then also want to add some 1’s in other rooms, but, not related to this query. Would the 5’s for rears offer a significant difference over the traditional 1’s for rears in a 5.1 system in a large room please?

The main listening we do is standard TV, films, netflix etc, but, we listen to a lot of music also.

Thanks in anticipation. 


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9 replies

Not during 5.1 playback, IMHO, but when playing music, yes. When acting as surround speakers, there just isn’t that much ‘activity’ to exercise the Five. 

Thats interesting, thanks for the reply Bruce. I have heard this before.

So, to drill down a bit please.

In a 5.1 system, playing either a film, or music DVD for example, the 5’s will react quite the same as if I had 1’s.

But, if feeding them with a spotify stream directly, then they come alive? Is that what you mean please?

Another scenario, what if I was to feed the 5.1 system with a music stream, would they sound the same as 1’s, or, come alive?

What I am trying to understand is under what exact circumstances they will come alive.

Hope that makes sense.

Thats interesting, thanks for the reply Bruce. I have heard this before.

So, to drill down a bit please.

In a 5.1 system, playing either a film, or music DVD for example, the 5’s will react quite the same as if I had 1’s.

Yes

But, if feeding them with a spotify stream directly, then they come alive? Is that what you mean please?

No, you can’t send a stream to them ‘directly’, they are still part of the 5.1 system. You can change the options for that ‘room’ so that the surround speakers are playing as ‘full’ rather than ‘ambient’, but in both cases, the soundbar will continue to play. In that same area of settings, you can alter the volume between the surrounds and the soundbar in streaming mode versus TV input mode.

Another scenario, what if I was to feed the 5.1 system with a music stream, would they sound the same as 1’s, or, come alive?

Judgement call. Depends on you, the room, the music.

What I am trying to understand is under what exact circumstances they will come alive.

Hope that makes sense.

Perhaps there’s another user who might have a similar setup who can comment.

What I did instead is a 5.1 system using the PLAY:1s (Sonos Ones) as surrounds, and put a pair of PLAY:5s as a separate ‘room’ flanking the soundbar to use for music purposes. I prefer my music to come from in front of me, not behind my couch. 

Wow, thanks Bruce. So much detail in your reply, thanks very much indeed.

So, in your setup, you have have a sounder, two 5’s either side, a sub, and two 1’s at the back?

In that scenario, you have them all on for TV/Film etc?

Also, why don't Sonos allow the rears to be “full” when using 5.1? Seems strange?

No, the two Sonos PLAY:5s can not be part of the 5.1 ‘room’, as no Sonos soundbar can be set up as a center speaker, and the software doesn’t support front right and left separates. So I have them set up as a separate ‘room’ in the software, so I can use them for music, and AirPlay uses. 

Understood Thanks Bruce.

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I’ve recently swapped out a pair of play 5 Gen 2s to replace play 1s as rears. For movies the difference is noticeable, but not significant. Slightly fuller sound. But whether it is worth the extra £700 is debatable. But for music in ‘full mode’ the improvement is much more noticeable so I’m sticking with the arrangement. 

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I have an Arc with Sub and I also replaced the One surrounds with Fives. I agree with both Bruce’s comments and Sonosjunkie.

For movies, the difference isn’t that significant and the Fives are definitely overkill.

However when listening to music, I wasn’t happy with the “fullness” of the sound using the Ones. The Fives transformed the music experience. The only downside is that if you are used to listening to a traditional hi-hi set up, the main body of sound is now coming from the Fives behind you. I am getting used to this.

Ideally I would create a set up similar to Bruce and have the Fives up front as a separate “room” for listening to music and revert to Ones or even Ikea Symfonisk’s as the rears in a surroond system with my Arc & Sub. But I do like powerful bass and can’t justify buying a second Sub just for the “room” with the Fives. There is currently no quick and easy way to share the Sub between the two “rooms”. Requests have been made to Sonos in the past, so perhaps one day it may be possible.:pray_tone1: Until then, I’m sticking with the Fives as surrounds.

Not sure in which country you live, but if Sonos offer the no quibble return policy in your region, why not order a pair of Fives and try them. I suspect that once you have, you will end up keeping them!!