Garage Setup

  • 11 August 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 2148 views

I have a 3 car 1250 sq feet garage. My 3rd stall is deep where I have a play 5. I am debating on adding another play 5 on the other side to create a stereo or should I get a play 3 and a sub. Currently the coverage of my play 5 isn't the best due to my deeper 3rd stall. Open to suggestions.

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2 replies

Between those two options, I'd select the play:5. It's cheaper. Probably will sound as good or better. The play:3 has also recently been discontinued, so may be a bit harder to find. I also don't have a lot of confidence that a sub will hold up that well in a garage environment.

Really though, I wouldn't go either route. Instead, I woulld get a pair of play:1s or Sonos Ones. It's even cheaper than a single play:5 and those units are designed to handle potentially damp environments better. You won't get quite the bass you would from a play:5, but you do get stereo imaging (and airplay 2 and alexa support with the Sonos One).

A lot of this depends on the particular environment, as not all garages are the same. If you live in a location without a lot of heat and your garage stays mostly clean, a play:5 might be a better option. As well, I think it depends on what you do in the garage. If your garage is more of a workshop, then goes with 1s/Ones. If you never park cars in their or doing any work, it's another room for entertainment, then again maybe the play:5
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I'd look carefully at stereo imaging with your speaker locations and where you'll be spending most of your time. You might be better grouping the two Play 5 than making a stereo pair. You can easily try both and see how it sounds.

You don't mention which Play 5 you have which is critical, you can't pair Play 5s of different generations so if your existing one is Gen 1 you couldn't pair a new Gen 2 with it. If you want to do that a used unit may be your only option.

I love the Play 5 and having a pair of them in my smaller garage would be awesome but right now I have a single Play 1 and it is good enough for background level music, not enough to crank it up and fill the space. Adding a second Play 1 across the garage is a nice improvement and I do that if I'm going to be out there for a long time.

What I'd consider would be something like for Play 1s, grouped and placed where you get the best sound after running TruePlay. Might be center wall or in corners but it is easy to fiddle with to see. The option (if grouping all) to add a single Sonos One to have the newer abilities it offers while saving money on the other three is a possibility too. Other combinations would work too. Do consider the voice control options, I'd think that would be really nice with greasy hands.