Contributor I

Expanding Sonos system beyond a single Play:3 in main living area

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I bought my first Sonos (Play:3) in November 2017 and love it. I’m hooked on Sonos.

I’m looking to expand the system with another 2 or 3 speakers and would appreciate recommendations and/or if my plan sounds like a good one.

Prior to buying the Play:3, the last time I bought quality speakers was in 1995 when I bought my Cerwin-Vega DX-7s, which I’m still rocking today in my home office.

Since then I’ve only acquired a smattering of lower quality bookshelf or computer speakers, and a fairly cheap 9-year-old Onkyo HT-S3200 5.1 system I use with my TV.

Needless to say, I’m loving the sound of the Play:3 and have been deliberating how to expand the system. The Play:3 does a great job filling the main living area of my house, but I’d like to take the sound to the next level.

Below is a floor plan of my main level living area, which shows current placement of my existing Play:3 (marked in pink):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sxxheat55sjzbl2/floorplan-sonos-2018.png?dl=0

I marked in green the spots where I’m thinking about adding a Play:5 (living room) and Play:1 or Sonos One (up high in kitchen on top of a cabinet near the ceiling).

I’m also considering a second Play:1 / Sonos One for possible stereo pairing or use elsewhere in the house (or relocating to porch / patio on nice days).

The dining room and living room are open, and the kitchen is mostly closed off, but the Play:3 sound travels nicely into the kitchen.

The dining room is about 13’ x 14’.
The kitchen is about 12’ x 19’.
The living room is about 14’ x 19’ (and open to the foyer).

Thoughts on my plan or other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

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Chris

Lead Maestro

I would put Play:5s in the spots marked Play:5 and Play:3. Put the Sonos One in kitchen looking toward dining room (great to be able to use alexa voice control in kitchen).

Move the Play:3 upstairs.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

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runskiAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for the suggestion, Chris. Good idea for longer-term plan.

For now I'm probably going to start by adding a single Play:5 for the living room (or possibly swap spots with the dining room Play:3 since we spend a lot of time in the kitchen), and a Sonos One for the kitchen.

Then down the road I can expand the system with another Play:5, as you suggest.

...and eventually a new Sonos surround system (and TV) for the family room (not shown in above floor plan).

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runskiAuthor

Contributor I

I decided to go for two Play:5s and a Sonos One to add to my Play:3! Placed my order today, and really looking forward to the new speakers.

Any thoughts on placing the Play:5s together in either my living or dining room to create a stereo pair (potentially with Play:3 in other room, if not relocated upstairs)? Vs. one Play:5 in each room?

What's generally a better sound in a large / open space—at opposite ends or stereo paired closer together? And is vertical or horizontal orientation better sound? I did see below info, but not a lot of details on what's best sound experience:

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1077/~/creating%2C-separating%2C-and-placing-a-stereo-pair

I'll experiment with what sounds best in the space, but curious what others do.

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Framjam

Lyricist III

Love your idea to post a schematic. May I steal it? May I hop on your thread? :)

Here's my very small house (please don't laugh), with three configurations I'm semi-considering:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2un5x96jwzmmcjw/1st_flr_stereo.jpg?dl=0

I'm brand new to Sonos, and I'm trying to figure out what all to get. I'm not an audiophile, but I like music. I don't care about Alexa, and I doubt I'll ever need a surround-sound entertainment system (I haven't owned a TV for close to ten years), but I'm really pleased with the idea of having music that can be heard throughout the house, but still playing quietly enough that it doesn't hurt in any one place. I'm starting with just the first floor.

I originally thought that I wanted stereo pairs on the South wall of the kitchen and the South wall of the living room (both facing North, so they wouldn't argue with each other), but I know that that's more power than my

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shoturtle

Prodigy III

I would consider stereo pairing a set of play 3 where ever you move it, and adding the sub to the living room will finish off the music for the living. The kitchen a play 1 or sonos 1. Stereo sound will greatly improve the sonos system you have now.

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shoturtle

Prodigy III

Love your idea to post a schematic. May I steal it? May I hop on your thread? :)

Here's my very small house (please don't laugh), with three configurations I'm semi-considering:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2un5x96jwzmmcjw/1st_flr_stereo.jpg?dl=0

I'm brand new to Sonos, and I'm trying to figure out what all to get. I'm not an audiophile, but I like music. I don't care about Alexa, and I doubt I'll ever need a surround-sound entertainment system (I haven't owned a TV for close to ten years), but I'm really pleased with the idea of having music that can be heard throughout the house, but still playing quietly enough that it doesn't hurt in any one place. I'm starting with just the first floor.

I originally thought that I wanted stereo pairs on the South wall of the kitchen and the South wall of the living room (both facing North, so they wouldn't argue with each other), but I know that that's more power than my

Option 3 will give you the best sound in the living room. Stereo pairs will really add pop to your sonos system.

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Framjam

Lyricist III

It appears that I was too verbose, and got cut off...

In options 2 and 3, the placement of the two Play:1s is slightly problematic, as they would prevent cupboard doors from opening fully. That's why I wondered about a single Play:3 on the shelf.

I've read a few articles that claim that Play:3 is old tech, so not a good purchase, at this point. I don't really want to replace these speakers in five, or even ten, years. I need a semi-long-term solution. The Play:5s seem like massive overkill for my space, and also a big outlay in $$, esp. since I want a stereo pair. The SUB is also a huge chunk of coin.

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shoturtle

Prodigy III

both the play 1 and play 3 are the same gen. And is "old tech". play 1 and sonos one sound almost exactly alike. Yes it is a older speaker, the play 1, but it will keep working with the sonos system 5 years down the line or even 10. My old gen1 play 5 is old tech, and still works with the current sonos network. Sonos CEO commented, that he wants play1 sonos one pair to be supported. So if that comes, you are pairing "old tech" with new tech. And it will work.

New tech, you need to be careful with, just look at cell phones, every year the old models become old tech. The samsung s8 is still an excellent phone, but it is old tech compare to the samsung s9. I have a 2013 MacBook pro, and it is old tech, but it does everything I need it to do.

With Sonos, they do a pretty good job in keeping their "old tech relevant" just look at their plan to support airplay2 with apple, Your whole system with old tech will be airplay2 compatible by just adding one sonos one speaker. Making the play5, play3, play1, connect, connect amp still relevant.

I have been a sonos user since 2009, and all my sonos still works and support all the sonos updates. From just multi room music system when I started with iPhone and mac iTunes. To all the streaming services that is available to smart assistance. Sonos has keep all my old tech relevant. Just food for thought.

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Framjam

Lyricist III

Thanks for that. I certainly like all my old tech (I keep cell phones for years); just wasn't sure whether the Sonos crew would let me keep using it. 🙂

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shoturtle

Prodigy III

Not sure where my post went, it disappeared. Very strange.

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