Question

Best setup for music Stereo Five or Stereo One with Sub or Arc with Sub / Ones

  • 14 July 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 1859 views

Userlevel 2
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Hi guys,

Since music is most important to me i wonder what setup to buy. I currently own a pair of Ones which are positioned on stands quite good to fire into the living room.

I wonder if i should buy a sub to make a 2.1 setup or sell the Ones and go for stereo Fives setup (or even with a sub but.. MONEY..).

Since the tweeters and woofers on the Five are “positioned” for horizontal use im doubtful of the vertical use.. the side fire tweeters stop or hit the floor and ceiling and the woofers aim towards floor and ceiling a bit.. feels kinda not right.. Like its not REALLY designed for stereo/vertical use.

Is there anyone who has both a stereo pair of fives / play 5 and stereo pair Ones with sub to compare?

Also an Arc with the ones as surround is an option, so i have tv and music audio but i read alot of mixed feelings about the Arc, especially lacking bass. I do kinda like bass in music. Would anyone consider using an Arc for music ?

Or how about a full surround setup for music arc sub ones compare to 2.1 setup with ones or fives with a better listening position then surround (speakers from all directions with music…)

 

Sorry for my bad english and the lots of text, many thanks for any advice! 


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6 replies

Userlevel 2
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I have 2 play5 in stereo with Sub and its amazing, Fills my entire room with good sound, room is 7X7 M 

Given that music listening is more important than TV for you, what is missing today with your music sound that you are trying to improve? 

Have you placed the Ones for best results in your room and have you done Trueplay tuning for them?

What are your music sources? Do you have or will you ever in future get a turntable?

Userlevel 7

Hi @Nadian 

If you are mainly interested in music I wouldn’t consider an Arc as it’s main purpose is a home theater speaker. 

From personal experience I can say that two Fives (in stereo pair) will trump a stereo pair of Sonos Ones. I use my Five’s in horizontal mode. 

A stereo pair of One’s with Sub will sound close to the Five’s and some might say equal or slightly better at no more than 12 feet away. However, they will not fill a large room like the Five’s and IMO adding a sub to them is even better. 

My personal setup is Five x 2 with Sub for music. @Kumar is correct that the Five’s will serve you better going forward if you plan to add a turntable someday. Besides if Sonos didn’t think the Five’s are betters than One’s I doubt they would sell the Five’s. JMO.

Cheers!

If money is a constraint as it is more often these days, the analysis of what is missing is even more important if one is not going to risk going down the rabbit hole of buying stuff. 

IMO, the one pair + Sub, in line with the well proven satellite speakers and sub architecture does very well and I expect that to outperform a 5 pair on its own.  IF there is something truly lacking today of course.

The one thing missing in the One is a line in jack; the 5 has those which allows it to do a lot of things like adding a turntable. Or even, as is my preference now, wiring a cheap Echo Show 5 to them and getting album art for every track, something that no Sonos player can do on its own.

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Since the tweeters and woofers on the Five are “positioned” for horizontal use im doubtful of the vertical use.. the side fire tweeters stop or hit the floor and ceiling and the woofers aim towards floor and ceiling a bit.. feels kinda not right.. Like its not REALLY designed for stereo/vertical use.

 

The Five know which way its positioned vertically or horizontally and makes adjustments to cater for this.

The five is a better speaker if you have a larger space (room volume) to fill with music.

Userlevel 2
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Ok thanks for all the replies! 
 

btw my room isn’t that big, about 30m2 normal ceilings so I probably don’t need the fives power to fill the room..